During an internal sync on January 22, Mark Hope identified and resolved significant backend performance issues across multiple client websites, including Doodla (also referenced as Adulla/Doudlah Farms). Doodla's Ahrefs quality score improved from approximately 40 to 80 following targeted fixes. Further improvement is expected as Cloudflare configuration changes propagate.
This work was part of a broader initiative to address backend neglect across the agency's managed WordPress sites. See [1] for the general pattern observed across clients.
Doodla's site was exhibiting poor backend performance, including:
Mark's diagnosis: "We've taken good care of the front end of these websites… but we haven't been taking good care of the back end."
| Area | Action Taken |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Updated configuration to block bot traffic and improve cache hit rates |
| Database | Cleaned up database errors and optimized queries |
| Plugin issues | Identified and resolved plugin conflicts contributing to error load |
| Monitoring | Used Query Monitor and WP Engine performance dashboards to validate fixes |
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Quality Score | ~40 | 80 (and improving) |
| Bot traffic | Unmitigated | Blocked via Cloudflare |
| Database queries | Elevated | Reduced; ongoing improvement expected |
Mark's target is to bring all client sites above an Ahrefs score of 80 before returning for polish passes.
For context, Crazy Lenny's was also addressed in the same maintenance push and reached a score of 100 (up from 89). See [2] for that client's record.
When reporting this work to the client, frame it as proactive maintenance, not remediation of past neglect:
"We've been doing some deep maintenance on your website. Your Ahrefs quality score is now at 80 and continuing to improve — we've updated your Cloudflare configuration and cleaned up some backend database issues."
Avoid language that implies the site was previously broken or poorly managed.