If you host a website in Nepal (or anywhere), Cloudflare is not optional. It is mandatory.

Why? Because it makes your site load faster for global users (CDN) and protects you from DDoS attacks (Security). And the best part? The Free Plan is more than enough for 99% of businesses.

But setting it up involves changing “Nameservers,” which sounds scary. If you mess it up, your email stops working.

Don’t panic. Follow this exact guide.

Step 1: Create Account & Add Site

  1. Go to Cloudflare.com and sign up.
  2. Click “Add a Site” in the top right.
  3. Enter your domain (e.g., nepalbusiness.com). Do not add www or http://.
  4. Select the Free Plan (Scroll down to the bottom; they try to hide it).

Step 2: DNS Scan & Verification (The Critical Part)

Cloudflare will scan your current DNS records (A Records, CNAME, MX Records).

  • Review: Look for your MX Records (Mail Exchange). These handle your email. If they are missing, you will stop receiving emails.
  • Proxy Status (Orange vs Grey Cloud):
    • Orange Cloud (Proxied): Cloudflare is protecting this subdomain. (Use this for your root domain @ and www).
    • Grey Cloud (DNS Only): Cloudflare is bypassing this. (Use this for mail, ftp, or cpanel subdomains to avoid connection errors).

Step 3: Change Nameservers

Cloudflare will give you two nameservers, like:

  • max.ns.cloudflare.com
  • sue.ns.cloudflare.com

Action:

  1. Log in to your Domain Registrar (Godaddy, Namecheap, or Mercantile for .np).
  2. Find “Nameservers” or “DNS Management”.
  3. Replace your old hosting nameservers with these two new ones.
  4. Wait: It can take 2-24 hours to propagate. (Usually 15 mins).

Step 4: The Perfect WordPress Settings (2026)

Once active, go to your Cloudflare Dashboard and configure these specific settings for WordPress:

SSL/TLS

  • Mode: Set to Full (Strict) if you have an SSL certificate on your host (which you should).
  • Avoid: “Flexible” mode often causes “Too Many Redirects” loops in WordPress.

Speed (Optimization)

  • Auto Minify: Check Javascript, CSS, and HTML. (Cloudflare shrinks your code size).
  • Brotli: Toggle ON. (Better compression than Gzip).
  • Rocket Loader: BE CAREFUL. Toggle ON, but verify your contact forms and sliders. Sometimes it breaks heavy JavaScript themes. Ideally, test it.

Security (WAF)

  • Bot Fight Mode: Toggle ON. This blocks simple scrappers.
  • Security Level: Set to Medium.

Step 5: Install the Cloudflare Plugin (Optional for AP0)

For extreme speed ($5/mo), Cloudflare offers Automatic Platform Optimization (AP0) for WordPress.

  1. install the official Cloudflare Plugin in WordPress.
  2. Connect it via API Key (Get this from your Cloudflare Profile > API Tokens).
  3. Enable “Apply Recommended Settings”.
  4. If you pay $5/mo, enable AP0. This caches your dynamic HTML at the edge servers globally. Your site will load in London as fast as it loads in Kathmandu.

Troubleshooting: Common Errors

  • “Error 521: Web Server is Down”: Cloudflare can’t talk to your host. Check if your hosting firewall is blocking Cloudflare IPs.
  • “Error 522: Connection Timed Out”: Your server is too slow to respond. Optimize your database or upgrade your hosting.
  • Email Not Working: You likely proxied (Orange Cloud) your mail A-record. Turn it to Grey Cloud.

Conclusion

Cloudflare is the “Bulletproof Vest” for your website. It takes 15 minutes to set up and saves you hundreds of hours of headaches later.

You might also be interested in

External Resources