Installing Cloudflare doesn’t automatically fix everything. But in many cases you can get big “free wins” with a few settings. Here are 7 quick Cloudflare optimizations that often improve speed + security right away: 1) Force HTTPS correctly - Turn on “Always Use HTTPS” (or configure redirects at your origin). - Make sure you don’t create redirect loops. - If you have www/non-www, choose one and redirect to it. Why it matters: Multiple redirects waste time and reduce performance. 2) Caching (the real speed booster) - Cache static assets: images, CSS, JS. - If you have pages that don’t change often, consider caching them too (carefully). Quick check: If every refresh downloads everything again, your caching is weak. 3) Compression: Brotli / Gzip - Enable Brotli in Cloudflare. - Make sure your origin also supports compression where needed. Why it matters: Smaller files = faster load. 4) Minify (only if it’s safe) - Cloudflare can minify HTML/CSS/JS. - In some projects it’s fine, in some it can break things. Tip: enable one by one and test. 5) Basic WAF / managed rules - Even on basic plans, use security rules to block obvious bot traffic. - Turn on bot fight mode if it makes sense for your site. Why it matters: Bots can slow your site and attack your forms/admin. 6) Rate limiting / protection for sensitive endpoints Protect endpoints like: - /admin - /login - /wp-login.php (if WordPress) - form submit endpoints Why it matters: It blocks brute force and reduces abuse. 7) DNS & Proxy setup (don’t proxy everything blindly) - Some subdomains should be proxied (website). - Some should not be proxied (mail, certain APIs, special services). Wrong proxy settings can break services. Practical advice: After these 7 settings, measure again: - speed on mobile - server load - security logs At KeyTD, we usually apply this checklist during deployment so clients get speed + protection without extra costs.