Before we start to provide answers to this question, it’s important to know that every byte that can be found on the internet, is physically hosted somewhere.
There’s a machine somewhere in the world that has that particular piece of information on it, and it’s sharing it with everyone else.
Sure, you can reach all types of data from almost every corner of the planet, but you got to know that how and where this certain data is located and hosted, will play a big part in the quality of its distribution.
A lot of people who live in countries that are part of The United Kingdom, more often than not find better and cheaper hosting deals outside of their borders.
Although they don’t initially want to, they come to an understanding that it’s better for their business to host their websites in such countries as Netherlands and Sweden.
Why? – Because, as businessmen, they’re always looking to get the most for their money’s worth, so it’s quite natural why these entrepreneurs are considering the option of hosting their websites abroad.
Netherlands has the best internet connection in Europe. Maybe not the fastest, but it has over 50 ISP’s. Amazing, Right?
The Dutch own a great, highly accessible and extremely stable network, and it’s peering with the whole world is pure gold.
Why should I overpay for something in my backyard, when I can get a lot better offer for it just next door? – A lot of UK entrepreneurs who invest in their websites are faced with this question.
When it comes to server location, a lot of different factor come into play.
In order to help you better understand just how big a part this plays in your websites success, we have decided to answer some of the more common questions people tend to asked when choosing a location for their server.
Should I Stay In The “Neighborhood”?
It depends. Generally yes, but there are exceptions.
When it comes to SEO, it’s recommendable that you keep your servers close.
Google ranks on loads of different factors. The geo-IP location of your server is one of them, but it’s certainly not the most important one.
We have a lot of Swedish and Dutch clients, because they have locally oriented businesses.
It’s quite logical for them to choose us to host their websites.
Just How Close Should I Stay?
For practical purposes, I wouldn’t worry about what city your site is hosted in, but I’d recommend keeping it in the same country. If you, for an example, like some of our clients, sell primarily to Swedish people, then it would be quite smart for you to host your website on a server that’s located in Sweden.
If you primarily sell to Canadians, then you should host your business on Canadian servers. You can find acceptable hosting solutions in both countries.
Are you screwing yourself if you host a Canadian site on Swedish servers? No. But that being said, you might improve your SERPs slightly if you host it in your “homeland”.
So, What are The Exceptions?
If you’re hosting videos and audio files on your server, or if you’re part of a gaming industry, then you should focus on different factors.
You should focus on the quality of your network, above everything else.
For example, if you’re from Europe and you’re interested in playing Counter Strike or some sort of a different game online, you’ll have a lot better ping if you use Dutch or Swedish servers, instead of US ones.
Like I wrote above, Netherlands has the best internet in EU, and in these situations you could really benefit from it.
Geographical location of your server matters only in a straightforward sense. It has effect only on the number of hoops that it takes for some piece of data to move around. The fewer hoops it uses, the faster your information will move around.
If you’re uploading videos and distributing video, and playing real time games, speed and stability is something that you should be looking for in a network.
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I hope that we have answered some of your questions about server location in this blog post. If we missed something, feel free to ask a question or add something in the comments section below.
Also, before we part ways for now, I would like to add that when you shop for servers, you should also focus that you don’t rent ones that are situated in locations that are prone to natural disasters. You don’t want your server to go down because of an earthquake, floods or bad weather.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post.
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Have a great day!
Goran @ AltusHost B.V.
The author is highly qualified and writes blog posts weekly.
