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Website hosting services play a crucial role in your search engine rankings. A good hosting solution enhances site performance, improves user experience (UX), and boosts your search rankings.
In this blog post, we delve into how site hosting affects your SEO performance and answer key questions, including:
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What is website hosting?
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How does it affect your ranking?
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What are the best qualities of a site hosting provider?
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What are the top web hosting providers for small businesses?
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How do you find the best hosting services to improve your ranking?
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What Is Website Hosting?
Website hosting involves services that allow businesses and digital marketers to store essential files (e.g., images, code, scripts) and publish their websites. Essentially, website hosting companies provide space on their web servers for you to use.
Website hosting manages your website files on a host computer, allowing users to access them.
Once your website files are uploaded and published on these servers, anyone online can view your site. When a visitor goes to your website, their browser downloads your files and displays your site as intended.
This process is facilitated by web servers, which are powerful computers connecting web users with your published site. Your website hosting services include space for your site’s files, connectivity, file protection, and other services necessary for maintaining your website.
Given this, it’s clear that choosing the best website hosting significantly impacts your SEO strategy and performance.
How Poor Website Hosting Can Impact Your SEO Performance
With Google’s Page Experience update rolling out in August 2021, poor hosting services can undermine your SEO efforts more than ever. Most of these negative effects are related to user experience (UX).
Let’s examine each one:
Slow Loading Times
Website speed, or how quickly site pages load on browsers, is crucial. Cheap hosting solutions often have low bandwidths, increasing page loading time. This lag frustrates users, causing them to leave your page, which signals to Google that your site is not worth ranking.
This lag can occur because servers host too many websites. The best hosting companies ensure that servers are not overloaded with too many sites.
To avoid lags, consider static website hosting or self-hosting for smaller websites with fewer than five pages.
Server Downtimes
An offline or unavailable website is worse than a slow one. Imagine a customer visiting your eCommerce store to make an important purchase, only to find it temporarily down.
This increases your website’s bounce rate and causes you to lose customers and sales opportunities. Google will lower your ranking if your site experiences significant downtimes.
Hosting Space Shared With Unscrupulous Owners
Today’s best hosting companies do not host scammers and spammers, but low-cost providers might. Shared hosting means you compromise hosting quality and site security.
A shared host increases the risk of data theft or loss and diminishes your ranking and authority, as well as site speed and reliability.
Google tends to de-prioritize sites on shared servers, so avoid this cost-cutting practice.
Internal Server Errors
Internal server errors indicate that browsers have trouble accessing your site’s files due to database connection issues. This often happens when your content becomes viral, and your hosting provider can’t handle the high volume of connection requests.
Google flags frequent database connection errors, deems your site unreliable, and lowers your ranking.
Bottom line: Poor UX reduces your profits.
Remember, Page Experience includes signals and metrics from previous updates. Ensure factors like mobile-friendliness, Core Web Vitals, and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certification are in order when considering website building and hosting services.
Features of the Best Website Hosting for Your Business
Entrepreneurs and digital marketers need the best site hosting solutions to meet their business goals and drive growth. Consider these factors when selecting website hosting services:
1.Guaranteed Uptime
Many small business hosting providers guarantee 99 percent uptime. Uptime refers to the percentage of time your site is accessible.
A 99 percent uptime equates to:
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Around 14 minutes and 24 seconds of potential downtime daily
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1 hour, 40 minutes, and 48 seconds of weekly downtime
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6 hours, 43 minutes, and 12 seconds of monthly downtime
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3 days, 15 hours, 21 minutes, and 36 seconds of annual downtime
Be cautious with guarantees, especially if you run an eCommerce site. Avoid providers promising 100 percent uptime, as some downtime is inevitable.
2.Fast Page Loads
Several factors can enhance site speed. Providers offer options like WordPress hosting, Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosting, and Google hosting, each packed with features to improve loading times.
Check for server location proximity to your target market and the availability of a content delivery network (CDN), which boosts speed and performance.
3.Highly Responsive Support Team
It’s unrealistic to expect zero hosting problems. Instead, focus on resolving issues quickly. A responsive support team available 24/7 is crucial for fast problem resolution.
4.More Service Options
Hosting plans should include automatic backups, free SSL certificates, SEO tools, and multiple hosting plans. These aren’t extras but vital components for improving UX and performance.
Top Hosting Options for Small Businesses
Smaller enterprises need scalable solutions that meet current needs and adapt as the business grows, all while fitting their budget and enhancing SEO performance.
These options include:
1.Google Website Hosting
In 2017, Google started offering a free website with a Google My Business account. It’s beginner-friendly and suitable for self-hosting or static website hosting.
Pros:
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Free
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Integrates with Google services
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Cloud-based
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Easy and fast page editor
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Ideal for beginners
Cons:
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Limited design features
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Not suitable for eCommerce
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No access to source code
2. AWS Website Hosting
Amazon Web Services supports numerous educational institutions and government agencies, making it popular among small and medium-sized enterprises.
Pros:
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Easy to use
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Unlimited server capacity
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Strong encryption and security
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Flexible payment options
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Cloud-based hosting
Cons:
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Resource availability limited by region
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Confusing billing
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Potential data leakage
3.Managed WordPress Hosting
Many SEO hosting companies offer managed WordPress hosting. It’s user-friendly, SEO-friendly, and secure.
Pros:
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Optimized for WordPress
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Easy to use and versatile
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Simple user panel
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Comprehensive hosting management
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Enhanced security
Cons:
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No built-in email solutions