Cloudflare Setup

Faster, Safer, More Reliable. Without Changing Your Hosting.

Your website is slow. Or it went down that one time and you're still not sure why. Or you're worried about security but don't know where to start.

Cloudflare sits in front of your website and makes all of this better. Faster load times through caching and their global network. DDoS protection that stops attacks before they reach your server. SSL certificates handled automatically. And you don't need to change your hosting provider to get it.

We configure Cloudflare properly for your site, not just the defaults, but tuned for your specific situation.

What's Included

Cloudflare Account Setup We create and configure your Cloudflare account with appropriate security settings.

DNS Migration Your domain's DNS records moved to Cloudflare carefully, with verification that everything still works. Email, subdomains, all of it.

SSL/TLS Configuration HTTPS configured correctly with proper certificate settings. No mixed content warnings, no insecure connections.

Caching Rules Custom caching configuration based on your site. Static assets cached aggressively, dynamic content handled appropriately.

Security Settings Firewall rules, bot protection, and threat blocking configured for your risk level. Not so aggressive that it blocks real visitors, not so loose that it lets bad traffic through.

Performance Optimization Minification, compression, and other performance features enabled and configured.

Page Rules Custom rules for specific URLs or paths that need different handling.

What Cloudflare Does For You

Speed Cloudflare has data centers worldwide. Your content gets served from the location closest to each visitor. Images, scripts, and stylesheets load faster because they're cached at the edge.

Security DDoS attacks get absorbed by Cloudflare's network, not your server. Malicious bots get blocked. Known threats are stopped before they reach you.

Reliability If your origin server has a brief hiccup, Cloudflare can serve cached content to keep your site online. Not a replacement for good hosting, but a helpful safety net.

SSL Made Easy Free SSL certificates, automatically renewed, with options for full encryption between Cloudflare and your server.

What You Get

• Fully configured Cloudflare account
• DNS migrated and verified
• SSL/TLS properly configured
• Caching rules tuned for your site
• Security settings appropriate for your risk level
• Performance optimizations enabled
• Documentation explaining your setup

Who This Is For

• Websites that load slowly
• Businesses concerned about security or DDoS attacks
• Sites that have experienced downtime
• Anyone paying for SSL certificates they could get free
• Companies wanting better performance without changing hosts

Who This Isn't For

• Sites with extremely complex DNS requirements (we can discuss)
• Businesses requiring enterprise-level Cloudflare features (we can help you evaluate)

How It Works

1. Current State Review We look at your existing DNS, hosting setup, and any current CDN or security tools.

2. Cloudflare Account Setup We create your account (or access your existing one) and configure base settings.

3. DNS Migration We move your DNS records to Cloudflare, verify everything resolves correctly, and monitor for issues.

4. Configuration SSL, caching, security, and performance settings configured for your specific site.

5. Testing We verify the site works correctly through Cloudflare, check SSL, and confirm caching behavior.

6. Handoff Documentation and a walkthrough of your Cloudflare dashboard.

Timeline

Typically 3 to 5 business days. DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours, so we build that into the timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will this break my email? Not if done correctly. We migrate all your DNS records, including MX records for email. We verify email still works before considering the migration complete.

Do I need to change my hosting? No. Cloudflare works with your existing hosting provider. Your site stays where it is.

Is Cloudflare free? Cloudflare has a generous free tier that works for most small to medium businesses. If you need paid features, we'll discuss that during setup.

What if something goes wrong? We can bypass Cloudflare quickly if needed. And we monitor during the transition to catch issues early.

Will Cloudflare slow down my site for local visitors? No. Cloudflare has data centers across Canada. Local visitors get served from local nodes.

I already have Cloudflare but I'm not sure it's set up right. We can audit and optimize existing Cloudflare setups. Same price applies.