Although many people ignore it, the server’s location is important when it comes to hosting. It can affect your customer’s satisfaction, their likeliness to stay longer on your website and purchase your products, your profits, and SEO rankings.
However, some hosting companies attempt to keep their customers in the dark about the server’s location. Fortunately, HostAdvice can give you insight into the hosting services that companies offer and help you choose the right one for your needs. They’ll teach you all the ins and outs and how to separate a worthy investment in a reputable host from an unwise purchase.
As for now, let’s stick to our topic. Why should you pay the utmost importance to server location when picking a host? We’ll start with the basics.
What Is A Hosting Server Location?
A hosting server location is the physical location of the data center where your site is housed. The data centers may be anywhere around the globe.
When a client is browsing your site, data is sent from the data center to the client’s computer. The goal is to send data with the shortest latency or quickest network pathways possible. So, a key consideration when selecting your hosting company is your audience’s location.
For example, let’s say your business is headquartered in Sweden, and most of your clients are located in the US. The server location will impact the performance of your website if your servers are not close to your target market, so it is recommended to choose servers nearby to your customers, i.e., in the US.
Why Does The Hosting Server Location Matter?
Here are the key reasons why your hosting server location is an important aspect to consider.
#1: It Affects SEO Rankings
Search engines may crawl websites more easily if they load quickly. Crawling enables search engines to find new content, which is important for ranking and indexing. You may select your target regions on search engines. Furthermore, it aids you in geo-targeting and choosing the essential keywords for that area.
#2: It Impacts The Speed of Your Website
Your data transfer will be slowed down if your servers are far away. As a result, your customers will experience website latency. The data will be sent more quickly between servers near your intended audience, and your site will enable them to have faster response times.
You have to choose a data center region that will provide localized hosting for your target audience.
#3: It Sets The Legal Compliance Environment
Different nations have distinct regulations and laws regarding information security. Some countries permit particular authorities to access their servers and keep an eye on the relevant data to the websites they host.
If you are aware of the server’s location, you may research the legislative structure in that area and determine whether the server is appropriate for your needs.
How to Choose the Best Hosting Server Location?
You may choose the optimal location and how much emphasis to give this particular factor by asking yourself the following questions:
- Where are you located? – It might be useful to have a hosting firm close by. In addition to quicker response time, a nearby hosting company is more likely to provide you with support in your language, making it easier to get the required assistance.
- Where are your website visitors most likely to come from? – The page loading speed depends on how close your website’s servers are to the users.
- What is the condition of the infrastructure in the region? – The majority of data centers are constructed in areas with great infrastructure to offer dependable services. If you’re looking for a hosting firm, you want to choose one situated in an area with a solid technological infrastructure.
- What is the type of content on your website? – The location of your servers doesn’t matter as much if most of your website is text-based, as if it includes a lot of videos or support live voice chat. You will want a data center closer to your viewers if you require more bandwidth or real-time responses.
Bonus Tip: Utilize A CDN for Speed and Proximity
The primary servers must handle all user requests if you don’t use a CDN. As a result, the servers might get overloaded, which causes delayed data transfer.
CDN responds to requests from the proximal location of the user. A user’s browser loads some content from the closest CDN server when they click on your website. The hosting server is used to load the remainder.
Your website’s page delivery can be accelerated with a CDN. Additionally, a CDN reduces server load time and improves response times if your consumer base is international.
The Bottom Line
Companies opt for an overseas server to cut expenses or to benefit from superior server infrastructure. Although it could appear to be a wise choice, these advantages are temporary.
The location of the hosting server impacts your website’s performance and SEO rating. Your website will load more slowly the farther away from your target audience your server is located. Therefore, the hosting server location should be close to your audience for better performance.
