How Does Web Hosting Affect SEO & Which One is Best?

Today’s Ask an SEO query comes from Julio in Houston, who asks:

“How does internet hosting have an effect on SEO, and particularly what options one ought to search for when trying to host an affiliate web site?”

This is an important query and I see a whole lot of misinformation about this on the web.

Unfortunately, hosting is an enormous area of interest within the affiliate area. That means there’s an actual incentive for individuals to jot down all types of articles and make all types of claims about how their internet hosting might help push your SEO over the restrict.

In truth, I did a fast Google seek for some SEO internet hosting questions and each end result I discovered was from a website that additionally had internet hosting affiliate hyperlinks on it.

I promise you, there gained’t be any internet hosting suggestions or affiliate hyperlinks on this publish.

The reality is that web hosting issues little or no for SEO. Now, I can think about what a few of you’re saying… and we’ll get to the stuff that does matter under.

4 Web Hosting Factors That Can Impact SEO

You’ll wish to think about these components as you select an online host, as they’ll influence SEO in numerous methods.

1. Page Speed

We all know that page speed is a rating issue. How large of an element is nonetheless up for debate (regardless of Google saying it’s a ‘teeny tiny’ factor) however that’s not the query right here.

If you decide a small internet host with out the bandwidth you want, your pace might be affected. The sort of plan you decide issues an important deal right here, too.

If you’ve a significant information website, for instance, you gained’t wish to host on a shared plan with restricted bandwidth that may’t assist breaking information site visitors.

You’ll must resolve based mostly in your web site’s wants if you would like shared internet hosting, a digital non-public server, a devoted server, or a cloud-based scalable internet hosting resolution.

All of those could be completely tremendous for SEO, relying on what your web site is doing and the way a lot site visitors/assets it wants.

2. Hosting Limitations

Some internet hosts have bizarre limitations. I had one consumer who hosts on a platform that doesn’t give them entry to their very own .htaccess information. They had a restrict of 1,000 redirects they’ll do when, in idea, that ought to be limitless.

Again, this doesn’t essentially have an effect on SEO by itself – but it surely may, relying on what you’re making an attempt to do along with your web site.

Make positive your host can deal with the entire regular, day-to-day belongings you wish to do in your website.

3. Location

With CDNs like Akamai and Cloudflare, host location issues rather a lot much less lately than it used to.

Where this nonetheless issues although is on the authorized aspect and worldwide aspect. If you wish to do enterprise particularly in China or Russia, for instance, it’s finest to host the positioning in China or Russia.

If you wish to do something that’s unlawful in some international locations however not in others (like a bitcoin pool, or sports activities playing, or criticizing some royalty), ensure you don’t host in these international locations.

Again, these items aren’t actually SEO however may undoubtedly throw a wrench into your SEO plans.

4. Uptime

This is one thing we used to speak a few lot with internet hosting again within the days of dial-up and T1 strains.

It’s not likely a lot of a problem in the present day with CDNS and redundancies and issues like Microsoft Azure or Amazon cloud providers.

Yes, components of the web and cloud generally go down, and sure you must decide a dependable internet hosting firm that may decrease your downtime. But all these points are normally solely short-term.

Things That Don’t Really Matter

One factor I continuously hear about is Class C IPs. This matter was tremendous standard amongst spammers wanting to cover their spam from Google.

The idea was in the event that they’re all on the identical internet hosting atmosphere, Google can extra simply discover them. While there’s some reality to that, I’ve discovered there are various simpler methods to uncover individuals’s spam networks that don’t consider the noise and uncertainty of who may additionally be in your server.

Analytics and promoting tags, social widgets, themes, and HTML feedback have all given away individuals’s spam earlier than.

Google is aware of this, and so they additionally know you haven’t any management over who else hosts in your neighborhood – so that they most probably gained’t maintain that towards you.

One of my different pet peeves is “___ internet hosting” the place ___ is a platform like WordPress or Angular or React or AEM or Contentful or no matter CMS/framework you wish to use.

Sure, some hosts focus on that. But if you recognize what you’re doing, there’s no purpose you possibly can’t select your server setup at any good internet host.

You can management Windows/Linux or Cpanel/Plesk or any of the server software program proper right down to the working system, model of PHP and MySQL (or one other language of selection) to get the optimum setup for what you want.

Now, if you happen to’re simply beginning out and don’t wish to handle a server (like me) then you definitely would possibly wish to make the most of having a upkeep group who is conversant in your selection of structure that will help you out – however that’s not likely an SEO resolution.

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Editor’s observe: Ask an SEO is a weekly SEO recommendation column written by a few of the trade’s high SEO consultants, who’ve been hand-picked by Search Engine Journal. Got a query about SEO? Fill out our form. You would possibly see your reply within the subsequent #AskanSEO publish!