Ghost CMS at the Edge: Leveraging Cloudflare Cache Reserve

Speed is the currency of the modern web. For publishers using Ghost CMS, the challenge has always been maintaining high performance for a global audience while hosting on a centralized origin server.

At Leapjuice, we’ve perfected the "Ghost at the Edge" architecture. By leveraging Cloudflare Cache Reserve and Tiered Caching, we can serve 99% of requests directly from the edge, reducing origin load to almost zero and providing sub-50ms load times worldwide.

The Problem: The "Long Tail" of Cache Expiry

Standard CDN caching is excellent for viral content, but as content age increases, it is often purged from the edge cache to make room for newer files. This means that your older, SEO-valuable content often hits the origin server, leading to slow "Time to First Byte" (TTFB) for global visitors.

The Solution: Cloudflare Cache Reserve

Cache Reserve is a large-scale, persistent data store built on R2. It ensures that your content stays in the Cloudflare cache for much longer—essentially permanently if configured correctly.

1. Lower Origin Costs: By reducing the number of requests that reach your server, you can run Ghost on smaller, more efficient instances.
2. Global Persistence: Whether a reader is in Tokyo or London, they are hitting a local Cloudflare PoP that has your content pre-warmed in Cache Reserve.

Implementing the Leapjuice Ghost Stack

Our configuration goes beyond standard "orange clouding." Here is the executive summary of our edge strategy:

1. Advanced Page Rules

We implement custom Page Rules to ensure that the Ghost admin interface (/ghost/) is never cached, while the front-end remains heavily cached with aggressive "stale-while-revalidate" headers.

2. Cache Reserve & Tiered Caching

We enable Tiered Caching to allow Cloudflare’s regional data centers to pull from each other before hitting the origin. Cache Reserve acts as the ultimate backup, ensuring that even "low-traffic" articles are served at edge speeds.

3. Edge Worker Personalization

Using Cloudflare Workers, we can perform lightweight logic—like localized call-to-actions or dynamic pricing—without ever touching the Ghost origin. This keeps the site fast while maintaining the benefits of a dynamic CMS.

The Results: Metrics That Matter

Since implementing this architecture for the Leapjuice Intelligence blog, we’ve seen:

• TTFB Reduction: From 450ms (average) to 42ms.
• Origin Offload: 98.4% of all traffic is served from the edge.
• SEO Boost: Core Web Vitals (LCP) improved by 60%, leading to a direct increase in organic rankings.

Conclusion: Don't Let Your CMS Slow You Down

Ghost CMS is a world-class publishing platform, but its performance is only as good as its delivery network. By moving Ghost to the edge with Cloudflare Cache Reserve, you provide an executive-level experience to every reader, regardless of their location.

Leapjuice provides managed Ghost hosting pre-configured with these edge optimizations. Experience the difference today.