Web hosting solutions are vital for lots of corporations all over the world. There are tons of aspects that impact the success of the website, for instance, the speed of loading. Sometimes users neglect the fact that the location of the servers can greatly influence speed so we will go deeper into this. Except for the speed characteristics, location can greatly influence SEO.
Here in the writing, we will discuss how the selection of the server location can impact your SEO. Once you understand the correlation between those 2 factors, you can buy a dedicated server with a precise knowledge of the requirements towards location.
Why does the location of your server influence performance?
The location of the server influences lots of factors and in particular, it impacts the response time. That means the closer the server is to the user, the better will be navigation and response. For huge businesses that have users in lots of countries, the selection of a strategic location is crucial for having fewer delays.
CDN or Content Delivery Networks can tremendously help with the hosting location. Due to this type of network, the content is distributed worldwide. With the utilization of the CDN, it is possible to improve the loading time and minimize the latency.
In case, you have a small local business or most of your clients are located in one area, then you should select a location based on your target audience. For instance, if 85 percent of your users are from Italy, then you should choose a server there to minimize the latency for the majority of your clients.
Performance is the major factor that influences SEO
Sure, there are lots of areas that you can improve for the better SEO ranking of your websites such as keywords, the quality of posted content, backlinks, and more. Each mentioned aspect is crucial, but here we will talk more about performance.
A couple of factors that directly influence performance characteristics and in such a way affect SEO ranking:
- Latency. This factor is tightly connected with location because it means the delay between the request and the response from the server. The closer the user is to the physical server the better results will be.
- Bandwidth. This is a characteristic of the capacity to deal with the information transfer.
- Response time from the server. The location also affect this factor greatly, because it measures the time needed for the server to process a request and return needed information.
- Caching. With the serving of the cached content, the repeatedly accessed information is delivered much quicker because it is stored in the cache.
- Content optimization. It is highly important to optimize the content because it is directly influencing loading time and performance in general.
- Resources of the server. It is crucial to monitor the used resources regularly (storage, RAM, and CPU), otherwise the server can be overloaded and have a slower response.
How to choose the server’s location?
To choose the location of your dedicated server, you should pay attention to the next recommendations:
- CDN. The utilization of CDN will help with delivering content around the globe. For instance, if you have a huge business in a lot of countries, then such a network can deliver content to Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, and the USA at the same time with fast loading time for all users.
- The target audience. Try to determine the region where most of your users are located and select this location for your server. If more than 70 percent of your clients are from one geographical zone, then you can easily determine the needed location.
- Test the response time of the server. There are available lots of tools that can help with the monitoring of the response, for instance, GTmetrix. So, if you are oriented on users from Europe, then test response time from the major cities.
- Quality of the data center. The reliability of the data center is also an important factor to consider. For instance, such centers can immensely influence network redundancy and performance characteristics.
- Scalability. Choose a web provider that offers quick scalability in case of increased traffic from a certain location. So, if you have lots of new users from the USA, you can easily deploy servers in the United States.
Summing up
As you’ve understood the location of your server is incredibly essential for better SEO ranking. If you have an online business then every small improvement in the performance can be impactful for your SEO ranking. The performance is tightly connected with the location and that directly influences the profit. Hope this article was helpful for your understanding of the location choice and its potential effect on SEO. Except for the current location, you should also plan the future of your business and potential locations as well.