New website owners aren’t usually as aware as they might need to be regarding how your web hosting affects your SEO. There are a number of factors that indeed make a significant difference, and it is wise to at least bear them in mind when choosing a web host or a particular hosting package. Let’s look at some of them, and what you can do to help yourself!
Where Does Your Site Reside? – There are such things as bad web neighborhoods, and your site could be sitting smack dab in the middle of one. This happens when another site, usually on a shared server, is penalized for whatever reason by Google. Unfortunately for you, this often paints your site with the same brush, as you typically share an IP address. Until you prove to Google otherwise, you are in just as bad a position as the offending site, and you didn’t do anything wrong! There is really no way to know this ahead of time. All you can really do if you have to use a shared hosting account is to pay for a few more IP addresses you can use, (if your host allows this) in the hopes of distancing yourself.
Does Your Site Disappear Often? – If you have a web host that keeps experiencing problems with uptime, you’ve got serious problems. If your visitors can’t get on your site, or if search engine robots are unable to index your pages because your site is down, you’ll be hurt not only in the short term in lost visits, but in the long term with a non- or poorly indexed site. Stuff happens, but frequent outages in service and downtime are grounds for desertion. Don’t tolerate it.
Software Updates – This has to do with the software that your web host uses in the operation of your web hosting account, as well as any scripts they are offering as part of your deal. It’s not unusual for hosts to neglect to upgrade to more current versions of software. This can have a negative effect on the operation of your site, and subsequently, affect other aspects of how the search engines view your site. Again, this is usually through no fault of your own. Ask if the software is current, particularly if you are using a WordPress installation, or any other type of CMS.
How Fast Is Your Server? – More and more these days, it looks like search engine rankings are factoring in how fast your site loads and performs as a part of their ranking algorithm. Like it or not, Google is all about end-user experience, and if your visitors have to wait around for your site to load, while your competitor is up lickety-split, you have a problem. The only way to ensure that this never happens to you is to make sure you are using a web hosting plan that affords you the amount of server resources you need, particularly if you get busy. Many webmasters spend all their time and money trying to get traffic, and when they do, they find that the plan they are on can’t service them. Get the most you can afford, and don’t be afraid to upgrade when the time comes. Your web host will gladly help you!
Making sure you have the proper web hosting plan for your business is a crucial link in your web business. Get it wrong, and you’ll find a lot of your efforts wasted. Don’t get it wrong!
