Web Hosting and SEO: Why It Matters

Looking to improve your website’s speed and performance? Invest in quality hosting.

Using a cheap web host is no longer justifiable for any business.

Website performance is crucial for enhancing search rankings, driving traffic, and increasing conversions.

This guide will outline the importance of web hosting for SEO and its impact on your online success.

What is website hosting

A website hosting service provider, often referred to as a web host, is essential for making your website accessible on the internet.

Think of a web host as the foundational home base for your website. Websites and webpages are stored on specialized computers known as servers. These servers are responsible for connecting your content and delivering it to users’ internet browsers. When users want to access your site, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser, and the web host facilitates this connection.

In the process of building a website, companies typically invest a significant amount of time and resources into aspects like design, development, digital marketing, and search engine optimisation (SEO). They focus on creating an appealing user experience, optimising content for search engines, and implementing marketing strategies to attract visitors.

However, web hosting is often treated as an afterthought, despite its crucial role in the overall performance of the website. If you’re willing to invest in making sure the website looks good and driving traffic to it, it only makes sense to ensure that the actual website is fast, functional, and flexible.

Using a high-quality web host can enhance your website’s speed, which is a critical factor for user satisfaction and retention. A reliable host can also improve your site’s uptime, ensuring it is available to users when they need it. Additionally, a good hosting provider often comes with features like robust security measures, customer support, and scalability options, which can all contribute to maximising your conversion rates and delivering a positive user experience.

Ultimately, investing in quality web hosting is a vital step in creating a successful online presence. By prioritising your web host, you can ensure that your site operates smoothly and efficiently, allowing you to focus on other critical areas of your business.

How web hosting benefits businesses

If you want to establish a website for your business, securing a web host is essential. While web hosting often takes a back seat in business planning, it plays a vital role in your online presence.

A dependable web host can offer several advantages for your company, including:

– Improved site performance

– Efficient data management

– Enhanced security

– High uptime

In summary, investing in a trustworthy web host is a smart decision that can contribute to the growth of your business.

Expected features from hosting providers

Web hosts provide much more than just basic hosting services for businesses. These companies offer a range of features designed to create a seamless experience for business owners, allowing them to concentrate on growing their operations without unnecessary distractions.

Here are some essential features you should look for in a quality web hosting provider:

Email accounts: Most hosting providers allow users to create email accounts using their own domain name. This feature not only enhances professionalism but also helps with brand recognition.

FTP access: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access is crucial for transferring files from your local computer to the web server. This functionality enables your website to be accessible on the internet, as files can be uploaded directly to the server. It is particularly important for web developers who need to manage site content efficiently.

WordPress support: Given that WordPress powers nearly half of all websites online, having a hosting provider that offers dedicated support for WordPress can simplify the process of creating and managing your website content.

Enhanced security: Many hosting providers, including WPEngine, offer free SSL certificates as part of their hosting packages. This added layer of security is essential for protecting sensitive data and building trust with visitors.

By choosing a web host that provides these features, you can ensure a more efficient and secure online presence for your business.

Why web hosting is important for SEO

When it comes to SEO, Google aims to provide the best results for its users. A strong and reliable web host serves as the foundation for effective SEO strategies.

Google considers various factors to ensure users have a positive experience after conducting searches. Websites that load quickly and offer a good user experience (UX) can benefit from higher rankings.

SEO is a priority for almost all businesses and brands today, as everyone wants their site to appear on the first page of Google for relevant search queries. Websites that do not rank on Page 1 are unlikely to be discovered. As the saying goes, “the best place to hide a website is the second page of Google.”

There are three key reasons why web hosting is crucial for SEO: speed, security, and location. A good web host can enhance site speed, improve security, and provide a server location that helps with local search rankings.

Speed

From a practical perspective, speed is a crucial factor for SEO.

Using a slow and inexpensive web host can lead to a sluggish website, which in turn negatively affects rankings, reduces organic traffic, and limits lead generation.

So, what’s the solution?

Choosing a good web host ensures high speeds, which will help reduce the loading time of your pages.

In 2022, websites should aim to load as quickly as possible, with Google setting a benchmark of two seconds or less for mobile speed.

However, a study from that year found that the average loading time for mobile sites was approximately 4.5 seconds, with 20% of the mobile landing pages taking longer than 6.6 seconds to load.

Given that speed directly impacts revenue, these loading times are still too slow.

Tools for Measuring Page Speed

Need to measure your page speeds? Use these helpful tools:

Google Page Speed Insights
GTMetrix
Pingdom

Target Metrics for Websites

The Core Web Vitals report provides insights into how your webpages perform based on real-world usage data, often referred to as “field data.”

This report details URL performance through status, metric type, and URL group, allowing for a comprehensive view of how your site is functioning.

Core Web Vitals are assessed using three key metrics:

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): This measures the time it takes to render the largest visible content element in the user’s view, starting from when they request the URL. The largest element is typically an image, video, or a large block of text. This metric is crucial as it indicates to the user that the page is loading.
FID (First Input Delay): This metric tracks the time between a user’s interaction with the website, such as clicking a link, and the browser’s response to that action. It’s important because it signifies when the page becomes interactive for users.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): This measures the total of all individual layout shifts that occur unexpectedly during the entire lifespan of the page. The score can range from zero, which means no shifting, to a positive number indicating how much the layout has shifted. This metric is vital because unexpected shifts can lead to a poor user experience while interacting with the website.

Security

Without a solid security system in place, your website could face serious issues like hacking, spam pages, and fraudulent backlinks.

These problems can adversely affect your Google rankings and might even lead to a manual action against your site. Additionally, the risk of malware infection looms, which can result in your site being blacklisted by search engines or displaying security warnings in search results.

Failing to choose a web host with strong security measures can hinder your SEO efforts significantly.

Many hosting providers offer a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, which is essential for securing internet connections. This technology helps protect sensitive information and fosters trust with users.

Furthermore, reliable technical support and customer service are critical components of strong security. As a business, it’s essential to select a web host that provides high-quality support. Should your website experience slowness or downtime, having a responsive support team can quickly resolve issues, alleviating any concerns you may have during such events.

Location

Location plays a vital role in the SEO performance of your website. Search engines consider location-based signals when determining the most relevant results for users.

When evaluating your hosting options, consider the following questions:

– Where is the user located?

– Where is your business based?

– Where is your website hosted?

These factors are essential for deciding where to host your website, as they affect the distance data needs to travel and the loading speed for users.

For instance, if your business is in the United States, it is advisable to host your website in a U.S. data centre. Similarly, if your company operates in the United Kingdom, hosting it in a UK data centre is ideal.

For businesses with a global presence, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) with servers worldwide is beneficial. This ensures fast hosting regardless of the user’s location.

Opting for a low-cost web host might mean that your site is not hosted in a local data centre. This can negatively impact both your website’s performance for users and its organic search rankings.

Which web hosting service should you use?

All hosting platforms come with their advantages, but some are not up to standard.

To select a reliable service, consider these key factors:

Experience: Check how long the web host has been in operation.
Reputation: Look at reviews and feedback from other clients and companies.
Security Measures: Ensure the web host provides security features like SSL certificates.

Why WP Engine is (almost always) my recommendation

I have worked with various hosting platforms and continue to do so. However, when it comes to recommending a top choice, I often suggest WP Engine.

In my experience, WP Engine stands out for several reasons:

Responsive Customer Service: Their support team is highly responsive, helpful, and available whenever needed.
Exceptional Security and Speed: They offer excellent security features and fast loading times, which are crucial for website performance.
Daily Backups: WP Engine conducts daily backups to ensure your website can recover in case of any issues.
Affordable Pricing: The pricing is quite reasonable, with the beginner package available for only $23 per month, making it suitable for most websites.
Performance Optimization: The speed and performance of WP Engine significantly support your efforts in optimizing for mobile speed and core web vitals.

Additionally, WP Engine provides a free SSL certificate for its members, enhancing website security and meeting Google’s standards.

Overall, working with WP Engine has enabled me to concentrate on my SEO efforts rather than worry about server performance issues that can arise with less reliable hosting services.

Educating your clients/stakeholders on the value of good hosting

Your clients or stakeholders are already investing significantly in creating a successful website through content, SEO, and more.

Choosing the wrong web host can undermine those investments. On the other hand, selecting the right web host can lead to immediate improvements in your website’s speed, Core Web Vitals, and overall performance.

If your website suffers from poor hosting, it can have a negative impact on your SEO efforts. Downtime is particularly detrimental, providing a frustrating user experience.

A slow web host increases the likelihood that users will leave your site for faster alternatives. Load times directly influence your reputation; websites that take longer than a few seconds to load will lose visitors, resulting in fewer conversions and reduced revenue.

To put it simply, if you invested in a new Bentley (your website), you wouldn’t want it to perform like a Kia Soul (a slow web host/server). (I drive a Kia Soul, so no offense intended!)