Tech Cloudflare and SEO - GoFuckYourself.com

mightymatt · 10-20-2024, 10:17 AM

Hey guys,

I’m facing a weird issue with Cloudflare. When I use it, my SEO gets directly affected, and traffic from search engines gradually decreases. I thought it was just a temporary effect, but I waited two weeks before stopping the decline by disabling Cloudflare, and as soon as I did, things got better.

Has anyone here experienced something similar? What do you think the solution could be? Keep in mind that the site speed and user experience haven’t been negatively affected.

LeMeLiN · Today, 01:42 AM

It's not uncommon for site owners to experience SEO fluctuations when switching to Cloudflare or any content delivery network (CDN). Here are some potential reasons and solutions for the decline in SEO traffic you experienced:

Caching Issues: If your website uses aggressive caching settings in Cloudflare, it might have cached old or incorrect versions of your pages. Check your cache settings and consider purging the cache to ensure fresh content is being served.

Firewall and Security Settings: Cloudflare's security settings may inadvertently block search engine crawlers from accessing your site. Review your firewall rules, and check the Bot Fight Mode, which may be preventing search engines from crawling your website.

IP Whitelisting: If you have IP restrictions set up, make sure you are allowing the appropriate IP addresses for search engines (e.g., Googlebot).

SSL and HTTPS Issues: If you have issues with SSL or HTTPS configuration, it can lead to indexing problems. Ensure that your SSL certificate is properly configured and that your website is accessible via HTTPS without issues.

Page Rules: Review any Page Rules you have set in Cloudflare. Misconfigured rules could lead to disruptions in how search engines access your site.

Redirects: Ensure that there are no improper redirects in place that could confuse search engine bots.

Server Response Times: Even though you mentioned speed and user experience are fine, it's crucial to ensure that your origin server responds correctly and consistently when Cloudflare forwards requests. Check server response times via tools like Google Search Console and adjust settings accordingly.

Bots and Crawlers: Verify in Google Search Console whether any manual actions or crawling issues have been reported. This can often give insights into why traffic has declined.

Incorrect DNS Settings: Ensure your DNS settings are correctly pointed in Cloudflare and not causing any issues with how users (and crawlers) reach your site.

Monitor Analytics: Check your site analytics to see if there are any specific patterns or if a particular page type is being affected. This can help you diagnose the problem.

Solutions to Consider
Temporarily disable specific Cloudflare features (like security settings or caching) to see if that resolves the SEO issues, before re-enabling them one at a time.
Conduct a thorough SEO audit to identify any issues that may be more closely linked to your use of Cloudflare.
Consider reaching out to Cloudflare support for assistance. They may have insights specific to your website and configuration.
Restoring your traffic may take some time, so keep monitoring both your analytics and Google Search Console for changes after tweaking settings.

10-20-2024, 10:17 AM	#1
mightymatt Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2024 Posts: 6	Cloudflare and SEO Hey guys, I’m facing a weird issue with Cloudflare. When I use it, my SEO gets directly affected, and traffic from search engines gradually decreases. I thought it was just a temporary effect, but I waited two weeks before stopping the decline by disabling Cloudflare, and as soon as I did, things got better. Has anyone here experienced something similar? What do you think the solution could be? Keep in mind that the site speed and user experience haven’t been negatively affected.

Today, 01:42 AM	#2
LeMeLiN Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2016 Posts: 152	It's not uncommon for site owners to experience SEO fluctuations when switching to Cloudflare or any content delivery network (CDN). Here are some potential reasons and solutions for the decline in SEO traffic you experienced: Caching Issues: If your website uses aggressive caching settings in Cloudflare, it might have cached old or incorrect versions of your pages. Check your cache settings and consider purging the cache to ensure fresh content is being served. Firewall and Security Settings: Cloudflare's security settings may inadvertently block search engine crawlers from accessing your site. Review your firewall rules, and check the Bot Fight Mode, which may be preventing search engines from crawling your website. IP Whitelisting: If you have IP restrictions set up, make sure you are allowing the appropriate IP addresses for search engines (e.g., Googlebot). SSL and HTTPS Issues: If you have issues with SSL or HTTPS configuration, it can lead to indexing problems. Ensure that your SSL certificate is properly configured and that your website is accessible via HTTPS without issues. Page Rules: Review any Page Rules you have set in Cloudflare. Misconfigured rules could lead to disruptions in how search engines access your site. Redirects: Ensure that there are no improper redirects in place that could confuse search engine bots. Server Response Times: Even though you mentioned speed and user experience are fine, it's crucial to ensure that your origin server responds correctly and consistently when Cloudflare forwards requests. Check server response times via tools like Google Search Console and adjust settings accordingly. Bots and Crawlers: Verify in Google Search Console whether any manual actions or crawling issues have been reported. This can often give insights into why traffic has declined. Incorrect DNS Settings: Ensure your DNS settings are correctly pointed in Cloudflare and not causing any issues with how users (and crawlers) reach your site. Monitor Analytics: Check your site analytics to see if there are any specific patterns or if a particular page type is being affected. This can help you diagnose the problem. Solutions to Consider Temporarily disable specific Cloudflare features (like security settings or caching) to see if that resolves the SEO issues, before re-enabling them one at a time. Conduct a thorough SEO audit to identify any issues that may be more closely linked to your use of Cloudflare. Consider reaching out to Cloudflare support for assistance. They may have insights specific to your website and configuration. Restoring your traffic may take some time, so keep monitoring both your analytics and Google Search Console for changes after tweaking settings.