Can the geographic location of a web server affect SEO?
27 Aug, 2009 | Posted by | under Hosting
Lee from the UK asks: “Hi Matt, could you confirm whether the geographic location of the web host has any significant ranking factors for organic SEO?” Recorded on April 23, 2009.
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GoogleWebmasterHelp | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
Hi macscr, Yes, this is an official Google channel. You can find a link to us from Google Webmaster Central.
macscr | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
GoogleWebmasterHelp: Do you work for Google? Are these official statements from google? Im assuming you do since your saying “we”, but just wanted to verify.
TruthDomains | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
It’s also better for your users to have a server located in the same country as the user you are targeting. As your site will often respond quicker as the connections within countries are often better than international links.
Noodles2525 | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
How will this affect a site served up through a CDN like Akamai? The IP address would remain the same, but it would look like it’s being hosted in every country. Would a Google bot from the UK see the site as a UK site and a Google bot from the US see it as a US site?
micrositer | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
Matt, I host a lot of sites at a colocation company in Phoenix for my clients all over the country. Why do you consider the IP of a site when most web sites are hosted on a servers not in a companys office but rather at a hosting company. Some may choose to host in California or Phoenix or wherever if it’s cheaper even though my site may be trying to geo target Virginia, or Boston or Florida. Not sure I agree with this ranking consideration.
Thanks for the great videos.
rahnas | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
My suggestion is that Google should not care about GEO location of server. In India, cost to maintain a server is twice than a dedicated server located at US. When my target is India ( say an e-commerce ) and I am hosting in a server at US. I never want to target the site at US. But my server is still there and ranks there?
afmedwards | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
Such a subtle, yet vital consideration — thanks for the clear info!
ResaMichelle | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
What about servers within a country? If my client wants to target South Florida and my company’s server is in California, will that make a difference as well?
nnnick03 | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
I love the white shirt, white background and whiteboard. Very colorful!
But on a serious note, great vid as always, thanks Matt!
almightyvegeta87 | August 27th, 2009 at 2:24 am #
Well, i didn’t knew that !
Nice info if you are specific targeting a visitors from a particular country.