Cloudflare is a content delivery network CDN, and it provides more features to the users than a standard CDN. It can provide security to your website against DDoS attacks. To load faster, it caches the static resources of the website. As a result, it lasts fewer loads on web hosting. To provide the best experience to the users, it sits in the middle of your domain name and web host. It will filter all the traffic that is reaching your website. It will send traffic to your website after validating it. If you use free Cloudflare for a business websites, you will have to face lots of problems. Here, we will discuss the disadvantages of using free Cloudflare for a business website.
1. Extra Layer Between User and Website:
When you use free Cloudflare for a business website, it will provide an extra layer of security between the users and the website. Some professionals say that it can protect your website against spam activities. According to them, it is also helpful to you to save your website against the DDoS attacks of hackers. Cloudflare provides an extra layer of security against spam activities or DDoS attacks; still, it is not the best choice for your website. This extra layer may disallow the users to get access to your website.
2. False-Positive:
Lots of free Cloudflare users have reported that they have experienced the problem of false positives on their websites. As a result, it can block the users of your website. If they want to view a website’s content, they must enter a captcha. Most website users don’t like to enter Capthcas all the time. On the other hand, turning on a high-security setting on Cloudflare can also block the owners from getting access to their websites. To access your website, you will have to list your IP on the website. The problem is that if you are using a network where your IP address is dynamic, your IP address will change frequently. Due to this reason, it will also block your access to your website. When you face this kind of problem, you will have to whitelist your IP most of the time. This will not provide the best user experience to your website’s visitors. Due to this kind of problem, they try to browse another website. Due to the false positive, you will have to face lots of interruptions to get access to your website.
3. Host Support for Cloudflare:
If you are using free Cloudflare for a business website, your website users will not get direct access to the server. That’s why the users’ IP addresses are not available in the same way as these IP addresses are available without Cloudflare. For example, if a code validates your IP address, it may not validate it with Cloudflare. Its reason is that it will change the IP address with Cloudflare. If your website users face this kind of problem, you will have to take immediate steps. It means that you should install a server module on the code.
This server module will show the IP address in the same way without Cloudflare. If you are using shared hosting, you should know whether shared hosting supports free Cloudflare or not. Its reason is that most of the shared hostings are not supporting free Cloudflare. On the other hand, if you use Virtual Dedicated Server, you will have to add the Cloudflare module to the webserver. When you use it on the webserver, it will easily fetch code. As a result, it will work well. Anyhow, you will have to update it regularly. When you update it regularly, it will not stop fetching the users’ IP addresses and provide a seamless experience to the users.
4. It Can Slow Down Page Load:
Research by a dissertation writing services firm shows that some people think that if they use Cloudflare for business websites, it will speed up their websites. Instead of speeding up your website, it can slow down your website. Its reason is that it will add a step between the users and the server. The developers of this website have to make some additional settings on their Cloudflare websites. This kind of misconfiguration on your website can lead to downtime of your website. It can also become a cause of the traffic drop. Due to the slow speed of your website, your users will leave your website. This thing will increase the bounce rate of your website.
5. Limited Security Rules:
Another problem with the free Cloudflare is that it offers limited security rules to the users. If you use its basic protection, it will provide lots of benefits for your business. On the other hand, if you select the custom security rules for your business website, you can select only three rules. As a business website owner, if you will enable these three security rules, Cloudflare will not provide enough help to you. Anyhow, it can provide help to other kinds of websites.
6. Limited Stats and Analytics:
You will use Cloudflare for business websites because you want to save your website against threats and attacks. To get an idea about these threats and attacks, you want to generate a detailed report. The problem is that free Cloudflare for business websites will provide limited stats and analytics. With the help of these limited stats and analytics, you can’t get enough idea about the threats and attacks on your website. Moreover, it will also provide a limited report of the daily traffic. It would help if you still used Google Analytics to get more information about your website. This thing will also create an issue for your website. To save your website from these kinds of problems, you should rely on another service.
7. Meta Description:
If you use free Cloudflare for a business website, you will have to face lots of problems that can increase the bounce rate at your website.
Conclusion:
Although Cloudflare can help protect your website, there are some risks involved. However, if you have an e-commerce store or a membership site, then there are additional features that you can use to make the most of your visitations. We have listed the disadvantages of using free Cloudflare for business websites so that you can make an informed decision when choosing whether to sign up or not.
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