Enable Smart Tiered Cache (Argo) for Cloudflare Enterprise to Fix Global TTFB & PageSpeed Scores
I am suggesting that Cloudways enable Smart Tiered Cache (Argo Smart Routing) for the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on.
The Problem: The "Cold Cache" Trap for SEO & Analytics
Many Cloudways customers host their origin servers in one region (e.g., Europe) to serve a specific target audience (e.g., the Middle East or Asia). While real visitors in the target region enjoy fast load times due to local caching, we face a major issue with performance testing tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Core Web Vitals.
Google often runs these performance tests from data centers in the US. Since our target audience isn't browsing from the US, the Cloudflare PoPs (Points of Presence) there are "cold."
Without Tiered Cache, every time Google tests the site, the request misses the local US cache and has to travel all the way back to the origin server in Europe. This results in a TTFB (Time to First Byte) of 2–3 seconds in lab tests, compared to the ~100ms our actual users experience.
The Consequence: Good Real-World Speed, Bad SEO Scores
Because the testing tools see high latency, our mobile and desktop scores tank (often dropping below 60). This has severe business implications:
*** SEO Penalties: Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. Artificial latency in tests hurts our organic rankings.
*** Wasted Ad Spend: Google Ads uses landing page experience to determine Quality Score. Low speed scores lead to higher CPCs and lower ad positions, directly wasting budget.
*** Client Panic: Agencies hosting on Cloudways constantly have to explain to clients why their "fast" site has a red score on PageSpeed Insights.
The Solution: Smart Tiered Cache
If Cloudways enables Tiered Cache, a cache miss in a remote region (like the US) wouldn't go all the way back to the origin server. Instead, it would check a regional "upper-tier" PoP near the origin (which is already warm).
This would drastically reduce latency for global testing tools, reflecting the true performance of the infrastructure and saving our SEO and Ad scores.
Since this is a native feature of Cloudflare Enterprise, enabling it would be a massive win for any customer whose server location, visitor location, and Google’s testing location are different.