No matter what industry you belong to, search engine optimization is likely the cornerstone of your digital strategy.
Your website's SEO will determine how high you rank on the results pages of search engines such as Google, thus playing a major role in your site's reach and engagement. Studies have shown that the vast majority of consumers now conduct search engine queries before buying a product or service.
How your site ranks on Google can be the difference between thriving and sinking. That's why SEO has developed into a multi-billion-dollar global industry of SEO experts, promising businesses that they will be able to make their websites rank highly on Google.
Many key tenets of SEO strategy, such as keyword placement, mobile optimization, and link-building, are already well-known. What is less talked about in the SEO industry is the role that web servers play in SEO. For example, the web hosting location of a website is already known to play a significant role in a website's search engine rankings.
Let's take a closer look at the multiple ways in which the type of web server you use can impact your website's SEO.
Web Servers and Load Speeds
One thing that we know for certain is that website loading speeds have a significant impact on SEO rankings. Google explicitly lays out the importance of faster load times when it comes to their result selection algorithm.
Load speed also matters to consumers. Google's own research has revealed that a full 53% of web browsers will close a site if it takes more than three seconds to load, meaning that every second of latency significantly reduces the chance that you will get meaningful web traffic.
The type of web server you use is arguably the most significant factor for the loading speeds of your website. That's why the team at Verpex has worked hard to develop the best hosting services for WordPress on the market right now. Quality servers provide the kind of speed that will keep customers happy and greatly boost your SEO.
The Importance of Web Hosting Location
It is difficult to overstate the importance of web hosting location when it comes to SEO ranking. One of the reasons for this is that server location plays a key role in load speeds.
If your website uses a shared, VPN, or dedicated server, then visitors to your site that are physically further away from where your server is located will experience more latency when accessing your site.
Depending on the audience you wish to target and whether or not you wish to appeal to a genuinely global audience, the type of web hosting you choose will be crucial. If you opt for a cloud server, then the physical distance from users is less likely to be an issue.
Web Hosting and Domain Names
The domain name of your website plays an important role in SEO in a number of ways. The domain name is how people will access your site and it is obvious why it should be clear, simple, and easy to understand.
Google has also specifically stated that domain names play a role in SEO rankings, with grammatically correct, clear names, and trustworthy domains often performing the best. The location of your web server also plays a role in the domain name you will end up with.
A server based in the UK will give you the '.uk' suffix, just as a server that is based in Finland will give your website the '.fi' suffix. You want a domain name that gives your website a trustworthy appearance and that will also help you rank highly on the search results of the people and places you are targeting.
That's why the best way to choose a domain name is to begin by choosing the right kind of server.
Local Web Servers Aid Local Results
If you are part of a business that offers goods and services in specific regions, then you will want to choose a server located in or near those regions if you want to boost your SEO ranking. Google prioritizes websites that are relevant to the local area of a user conducting their search.
Consider a user who is looking for a specific service in the UK, perhaps a plumber. They will likely Google 'plumbers near me' as a first step.
Google will immediately give preference to a plumbing website with a web hosting location in the UK, with a '.uk' domain name, over a similar website that is based in Canada, for example. This is why you should prioritize local servers, especially if you are targeting localized markets.
Uptime and Downtime
Any web downtime that you experience will drag down your SERP and SEO rankings. Google algorithms do not prioritize websites that frequently suffer downtime. If you are using an unreliable, poor-quality server that repeatedly suffers downtime, then your SEO rankings will plummet.
It is recommended that you maintain uptime of around 99.9% in order to remain on the first page of Google search results. Choosing high-quality and reputable web hosts that are based in reliable locations is one of the most important steps you can take toward ensuring a high SEO ranking.
Web Servers and Geopolitics
Finally, it is important to note the role that geopolitics can play in a website's functionality. If your server is based in a country that experiences high levels of internet censorship or is subject to sanctions or internet shutdowns, then your website and SEO will likely suffer as a result.
Typically, the best web hosting results come from servers based in countries that are stable, free, and have a strong track record when it comes to internet provision and protection. Anything less than this will affect your website downtime and reputability, in turn affecting your SEO.
These are the main reasons why your web hosting location and the type of web hosting service that you use will affect your SEO. Make sure to choose a reputable web hosting service so that you can continue to reach the people that you need.
