I have a few websites with articles that bring in traffic and generate some income. However, simply using web hosting is no longer sufficient, and hiring a team of programmers can be quite costly.



My websites are focused on travel and are relatively simple, consisting mostly of static content. I write about the places I have personally visited and have created my own WordPress theme to ensure speed and convenience for my readers. While it started as a hobby, I am now striving to monetize my websites through affiliate programs such as TravelPayouts and Myrentacar, which I use only for trustworthy companies that I have personally verified.

While there are some drawbacks to affiliate programs, they generally help reduce the prices of tourist services and lead to more informative articles on the internet. As for building the infrastructure for my websites, it was a process of trial and error to ensure that they remain stable during seasonal traffic surges and occasional downtime of hosting providers.

Synchronization can be problematic, and it's uncertain whether a stable setup can be achieved without the help of a competent administrator. Configuration errors will likely occur more frequently than hosting failures, which can lead to crashes. To prevent data loss, backups are necessary, and I have implemented backups in four different locations.

While I have not measured the stability of my sites, these backups have saved me from a few hours of downtime. I conducted tests on two comparable sites, one with my infrastructure and the other without. Results showed that the crutches I used noticeably improved site speeds, especially for longer routes from web hosting to the user. The spread of values was quite large, and I am open to suggestions for a more objective way to compare site speeds.

The statement "if cloudflare falls, then half the Internet will fall and no one will need my blocky" is incorrect for a perfectionist, even though everything else said about DNS is accurate. Instead, a primary/secondary DNS system should be used for duplication.

This can easily be provided by normal DNS hosting services, as they have fully automated processes in place to transfer an entire zone with all records instantly and automatically from the primary to secondary server.

To handle high traffic loads, it is recommended to generate static pages from Wordpress using a generator that has been covered in previous articles. It's also suggested to use third-party comments and JavaScript-based counters/ratings, which can work without a backend. With a quick distribution of static HTML pages, it's unlikely that large hosting resources will be required.

For DNS services, Zilore is a recommendable option with its free tier that offers site monitoring and automatically switches to backup DNS in the event of unavailability. This service uses Failover IP with a minimum TTL of 600. The convenience provided by this service makes it a good choice for many users, including myself.

With regard to the quality of file transmission, CloudFlare is lagging behind other CDNs with a percentage of errors at 7.2%, compared to less than 1% for traditional CDNs according to www.cedexis.com/country-reports (as seen in the last graph). This discrepancy may be the reason for the dissatisfaction expressed by many commentators.

It's important to note that error percentages are not the only factor affecting the quality of work, and CloudFlare may have other strengths in its services that outweigh this particular weakness. Nonetheless, it's important for CloudFlare to address this issue to maintain its competitiveness in the industry.

It's commendable that you've taken the initiative to build your own WordPress theme and ensure speed and convenience for your readers. However, as your traffic grows and your monetization efforts intensify, relying solely on a shared web hosting environment may not be sufficient. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Consider migrating to a managed WordPress hosting solution: Providers like WP Engine, Kinsta, or Flywheel offer optimized hosting specifically for WordPress websites. They handle server-level caching, content delivery networks (CDNs), and automatic backups, ensuring optimal performance and scalability.

2. Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN can significantly improve website speed by caching your static content (images, CSS, JavaScript) on servers closer to your visitors, reducing latency and improving load times, especially for users in distant locations.

3. Implement server-level caching: Tools like Varnish Cache, Redis, or Memcached can cache your frequently accessed pages and reduce the load on your server, leading to faster response times.

4. Optimize images and media: Compressed images and optimized media files can significantly reduce page weight and improve load times. Tools like Imagify, ShortPixel, or TinyPNG can help with image optimization.

5. Consider a serverless or headless architecture: As your traffic grows, a serverless or headless architecture can provide better scalability and cost-efficiency. Solutions like Gatsby, Next.js, or Netlify combined with a headless CMS like Contentful or Sanity can offer a modern, performant, and cost-effective solution.

6. Explore cloud hosting or virtual private servers (VPS): If you outgrow shared hosting, cloud hosting providers like AWS, DigitalOcean, or Linode offer scalable and flexible solutions with virtual private servers (VPS) or containerized environments, allowing you to scale resources as needed.

7. Implement a robust caching strategy: Leverage browser caching, server-side caching, and object caching to reduce the load on your server and improve performance.

8. Monitor and optimize database performance: As your content grows, optimizing your database queries, indexing, and leveraging caching strategies can help maintain optimal performance.

9. Continuously monitor and analyze performance: Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest, and GTmetrix can help identify performance bottlenecks and provide actionable insights for optimization.

10. Consider a progressive web app (PWA) approach: PWAs can offer a fast, reliable, and engaging experience for your users, combining the best of web and native app functionality.

CloudFlare hosting significantly enhances site speed by optimizing content delivery through its extensive global network of data centers. By caching content close to users, CloudFlare reduces latency and improves load times. When comparing site speed, websites using CloudFlare often experience faster performance than those relying solely on traditional hosting. Its features, such as image optimization and automatic compression, further boost efficiency. Additionally, CloudFlare provides real-time analytics to monitor and improve site speed continuously, ensuring a swift and smooth user experience.