Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO) is an important component in marketing your business online to increase your rankings, drive more website traffic and generate more leads. One factor that confuses many business owners is whether web hosting has an impact on SEO. Well… it does, but maybe not in the ways you think. Web hosting’s effects are primarily indirect and related to website performance.
Web Hosting Impacts Page Speed
Today, people expect to be able to zip around the internet at lightning speed. They don’t want to wait for web pages to load. You may have great meta descriptions and meta titles that get you noticed, but if people click through to the page and it takes too long to load, they’re going to quickly bounce. When they leave your site that fast, chances are they won’t come back, and you lose a conversion opportunity. High bounce rates reduce your rankings!
Choose a web host that has sufficient bandwidth to meet your needs. If you have limited bandwidth, your website can slow down significantly. Many web hosts offer multiple plan options… your needs should drive your plan choice. Choose an option that can handle the level of resources and traffic you need.
For WordPress Websites, we always recommend “Managed WordPress Hosting” through a company like www.WPengine.com (this is who we use with all of our client WordPress Websites). Following are the benefits of using a Web Host company and platform like WPEngine:
- Maximize speed, performance & SEO
- Proactive threat blocking & security
- Automated WordPress & PHP updates
- Effortless 1-click staging & backup
- Daily Website Backups
*NOTE: Sprout Media Lab Offers FREE Website Hosting to all of our Marketing Clients! I know… what a BONUS 🙂
Web Hosting Can Limit Geographical Visibility
Often, web hosts operate within specified geographical ranges, though Cloudflare and Akamai reduce location limitations. However, you still need to make sure your host serves the locations where you want to do business. This is particularly true if you hope to attract visitors from overseas. If you want your website visible in a foreign country, you may need to do some extra legwork to find a host that operates in that country.
Location is also a consideration within the legal context of your company’s operations. It’s important to verify that your business is legal in the places you want to do business. While this isn’t necessarily relevant for everyone, if you know that you provide products or services that have legal limitations, it’s important to make sure your website doesn’t show up in the locations where they aren’t legal.
Web Hosting May Reduce Your Control
The last thing to verify when you search for a web host is how much control you have over your website. You want a host that allows you to do everything you need to keep your site functioning optimally.
Not every business’s needs are the same, so it’s important to understand yours and know what you require from a web host.
Website Design Optimized for SEO
Sprout Media Lab offers expert website services. We can build a website that is optimized for SEO and host your Website for Free with any of our Marketing Packages.
Let us create a website that works for you. Contact our digital marketing experts online, or call our team directly at (800) 617-6975 to find out how we can help, today!
