Cloud & DevOps

Cloudflare Setup and Support

We handle Cloudflare setup and support for business websites. Cloudflare sits between your website and its visitors, so pages load faster and attacks and spam are blocked before they reach you. We help small and medium businesses switch over safely and keep it working well.

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What is Cloudflare?

Cloudflare runs a large network of data centres around the world. When your website uses it, visitors connect to Cloudflare first, not straight to your web server (also called your “origin”).

Cloudflare keeps copies of files that rarely change, such as images, and serves them from a data centre close to the visitor. It also checks each request and blocks harmful traffic before it reaches your server.

Most of it is managed from one dashboard. There is a free plan, and paid plans add more controls. See Cloudflare’s plans page (opens in a new window) for current prices.

Why businesses use it

Faster pages: Cloudflare’s CDN (content delivery network, a set of servers that keep copies of your files close to visitors) caches images, CSS and JavaScript by default. Web pages themselves can be cached too, with a cache rule.
Free HTTPS: Cloudflare issues a free SSL/TLS certificate on every plan, so your site shows the padlock. It renews automatically.
Protection from DDoS attacks: these are floods of fake traffic meant to knock a site offline. Cloudflare includes unmetered DDoS protection on all plans.
A web application firewall (WAF): it filters out requests that try to exploit known weaknesses. A basic rule set is free; paid plans get a fuller one.
Fewer bots and less spam: the free plan includes Bot Fight Mode. Turnstile, Cloudflare’s puzzle-free alternative to CAPTCHA, protects forms and has a free plan.

Cloudflare can also host your DNS (the internet’s address book, which points your domain at your website and email), run Workers (small programs that run on Cloudflare’s network instead of your own server, often called “serverless”) and provide Zero Trust access, a way for staff to reach internal tools securely without a traditional VPN.

What we do for you

Account setup: the right plan, user access and sign-in security for your team.
Moving your DNS safely: we copy and check every record, including email, before your nameservers change.
SSL/TLS settings: we use the “Full (strict)” mode where your server supports it, so the connection is encrypted all the way to your server.
Caching and speed tuning: cache rules for your site, then before-and-after speed tests.
Firewall, bot and spam protection: security rules, bot settings and Turnstile on your forms.
Workers development: small features and fixes that run on Cloudflare’s network.
Monitoring and ongoing support: we keep an eye on things and adjust settings as your site changes.

Is it right for you?

A good fit if

You run a business website or online shop and want it faster and safer.
Your contact forms get spam, or your site gets hit by bots.
You want free HTTPS without managing certificates yourself.
Your staff need secure access to internal tools.

Maybe not if

You must keep DNS with your current provider. That option (“partial” or CNAME setup) is only on Cloudflare’s Business and Enterprise plans.
Your hosting company already provides its own CDN and firewall, or doesn’t support sites behind a proxy. Check with them first.
Most of your pages are personal to each user, such as a logged-in portal. Speed gains are smaller, although the security features still help.
A contract or policy says your traffic may not pass through a third party’s network.

How we work

Talk
We look at your website, hosting, DNS and email, and what you want to fix.
Plan
We list every record and setting to change, and agree a time to switch.
Build
We set up Cloudflare, switch over and test your site, email and forms.
Support
We check the results and adjust settings as your site changes.

Questions we get asked

Something else on your mind? Ask us.

Is Cloudflare free?

There is a free plan. It includes DDoS protection, a free SSL/TLS certificate, a basic firewall rule set and Bot Fight Mode. Paid plans add more. Prices change, so check Cloudflare’s plans page.

Will my website go offline when we switch?

It shouldn’t. Cloudflare warns that missing DNS records can make a site unreachable, so we check every record before switching. If your domain uses DNSSEC (a security setting for DNS), it has to be turned off first and switched back on afterwards. Cloudflare says the switch can take up to 24 hours to reach everyone.

Will my email still work?

Yes, as long as the email records (called MX records) are copied across correctly. We check them before and after the switch.

Do I have to move my domain to Cloudflare?

No. Your domain stays where it is registered. On the Free and Pro plans you change your domain’s nameservers to Cloudflare’s; we can do that for you.

Can we use Turnstile without moving the whole site?

Yes. Cloudflare says Turnstile can be added to a site without sending its traffic through Cloudflare.

Are you a Cloudflare partner?

No. We are independent and work on your own Cloudflare account.

Sources and further reading

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