Whilst Ezoic recommends JavaScript integration for most sites, Cloudflare integration is a viable alternative. In this article, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of integrating your site with Ezoic via Cloudflare. You'll also learn about the benefits of Cloudflare integration and how it works. Whether you're new to Ezoic or an existing user, this guide will provide all the information you need to get started with Cloudflare integration.

Cloudflare integration allows you to access Ezoic’s technology at the server level, providing a fast and secure connection. Whilst JavaScript integration generally delivers the best overall performance, Cloudflare integration is still a great option for some sites.

Cloudflare integration

1. Ensure you already have an active Cloudflare account and that your name servers are pointed to Cloudflare.

2. Log into your Ezoic account and click on Integrate Your Site (existing users should go to https://pubdash.ezoic.com/settings/connection/cloudflare):

3. Click the green Activate Via Own Account button:

4. Enter your Cloudflare account details and press the Save button once these have been updated:

While integrating your site via Cloudflare is generally a smooth process, you may encounter some common issues. Below are some troubleshooting steps to help resolve these issues:

1. SSL issues:
   • Symptom: Users receive SSL certificate errors after integration.
   • Solution: Ensure that SSL is enabled on your Ezoic Dashboard and that you've followed the steps here.
2. Performance degradation:
   • Symptom: Noticeable decrease in site performance or speed after integration.
   • Solution: Ensure your site is properly cached by the Ezoic CDN network. You can check caching statistics in your Ezoic dashboard. Additionally, review any other performance settings or optimizations that were in place before the integration to ensure they are compatible with Ezoic’s technology. More help can be found here.
3. DNS records not matching:
   • Issue: After integrating, users may find that their DNS records and IP addresses do not match between Ezoic / your host and Cloudflare.
   • Solution: This is expected behaviour. When Cloudflare integrated, Ezoic will overwrite your DNS records at Cloudflare to point towards Ezoic. As long as Ezoic's copy of your site's DNS records matches those at your host, there should be no issues with the routing of requests.

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve most common issues encountered during cloud integration. If problems persist, you may want to reach out to Ezoic Support for specialized assistance.

1. What are the benefits of cloud integration?

Cloudflare integration is fast, secure, and performs nearly as well as JavaScript integration for revenue and user experience. Your site is automatically connected to a robust CDN network, providing security, SSL, and privacy features, whilst also caching your site around the world to make it readily available and accessible to all. 

2. How does Cloudflare integration work?

Ezoic is a Certified Cloudflare partner (see here for confirmation of Ezoic partnership status) so if you have an existing Cloudflare account and are using Cloudflare name servers, you can easily integrate with our platform. Cloudflare's name servers will route all traffic through Ezoic’s platform before reaching the origin server. As with name server integration, this setup means that the Ezoic system can apply its optimizations without having to make any changes to your site's original code.

You’ll still benefit from Cloudflare’s robust CDN when using this integration, meaning your site can deliver cached pages from servers located closer to your visitors. This minimizes latency and speeds up load times. At the same time, the proxy connection allows Ezoic to seamlessly experiment with and improve ad placement, layouts, and overall site performance.

As with name server integration, Cloudflare integration doesn’t require installing plugins or handling complicated manual configurations. Publishers retain full control of their DNS records, while Ezoic and Cloudflare’s proxy layers work together to ensure that every user session is enhanced by their combined performance, optimization, and revenue-boosting technologies.

At no time does Ezoic store your Cloudflare password either. Your username is stored, but as soon as your password is used to authorize/create a token for Ezoic to make changes to the DNS Records (so that traffic can be routed through Ezoic at the DNS level), that password is deleted, so our system no longer has any record of the password.

3. What will change on my Cloudflare account?

Once you integrate, the system will point your DNS records to Ezoic so that traffic can be routed through our servers, allowing us to optimize your site. We will also turn off Rocket Loader. This is because Rocket Loader loads scripts asynchronously and that hinders our optimization efforts. No other changes will be made to your settings (and your original settings will be restored if you decide to remove integration).

4. Does Cloudflare's caching impact Ezoic's optimizations?

As long as your cache at Cloudflare (including any page rules) is set to 'Standard' (sometimes called 'Aggressive') and not 'Cache Everything', Ezoic's optimizations will work.