🖥️How Your Web Hosting Service Affects Your SEO

🖥️How Your Web Hosting Service Affects Your SEO

Read time: 5 minutesHey, Shane here,In the vast landscape of SEO strategies, there's one often overlooked aspect that plays a pivotal role: your website's hosting provider.Beyond mere technicalities, your hosting service choice holds the power to shape key facets of your site's search engine performance and user engagement.In this issue, we dive deep into the intricate connections between hosting and SEO, offering insights enriched with real-world examples and compelling statistics. Join me on this exploration to uncover how your hosting decisions can profoundly impact your SEO outcomes.What you’ll find in today’s newsletter:

  • How to Boost Your SEO with Optimal Hosting

  • Featured Tool/Agency of the Week

  • The Latest Blog Updates

Disclosure: This content has a few affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I will get a commission (without any extra cost to you).

Boost Your SEO with Optimal Hosting

Your website's hosting provider wields a significant influence over its SEO performance. It impacts crucial aspects that determine your site’s search engine visibility and user experience.When considering which hosting provider to use, you should consider these 3 important factors.

  • Website speed

  • Reliability (up-time)

  • Security

Here's a detailed exploration of the ways your hosting can shape your SEO outcomes, accompanied by real-world examples and statistics to highlight their impact.1. Site SpeedFast-loading websites enjoy higher search engine rankings, as Google factors in site speed as a key ranking signal. According to Google's research, a delay of just one second in mobile page load time can lead to a 20% drop in conversions.

Walmart witnessed a 2% increase in conversions for every second of improvement in site load time. By optimizing their website's performance, they achieved a significant boost in both user experience and search rankings.This highlights the importance of a hosting provider that guarantees fast and optimized loading times.To get an idea of your website’s current load times, you can use a host of tools, including Google PageSpeed Insights, SERanking, and Semrush.Here’s an example using Google’s PageSpeed Insights. Simply enter your website address and select the mobile tab to assess your website’s mobile performance.

2. Reliability

Reliable hosting providers ensure your website is available 24/7, preventing downtime that can negatively impact SEO rankings. Google avoids ranking websites that are frequently inaccessible.Although Google’s John Mueller has expressed that a bit of downtime won’t negatively affect a website’s rankings, a site that suffers from constant downtime could get de-indexed.The biggest loss when a website goes down is traffic. Depending on your site’s performance, an hour of downtime could result in thousands of organic clicks lost.When Amazon's website experienced a 40-minute outage in 2013, it reportedly lost an estimated $5 million in sales. This underscores the importance of uptime for both revenue and SEO.

3. Security

Security is a critical factor in SEO, as Google avoids ranking websites that pose security threats to users. A secure hosting environment safeguards your website from malware and cyberattacks.Website security's impact on SEO is substantial. A secure site boosts search rankings, leading to higher traffic and visibility.Google's endorsement of HTTPS as a ranking signal elevates the chances of higher SERP placement. The "not secure" marking for unsecured sites further drives HTTPS adoption, promoting security awareness and aiding user recognition.A report by Sucuri revealed that websites experiencing security incidents can see a 90% drop in organic traffic.In 2017, Equifax suffered a massive data breach that exposed sensitive personal information of millions of users. This breach not only led to reputation damage but could have also affected their search rankings due to security concerns.Incorporating these considerations into your hosting decision-making process can significantly bolster your SEO efforts. Remember that hosting is not just a technical choice; it's a strategic investment that can directly impact your website's performance in the digital landscape.