I recently took out hosting with 1and1.co.uk assuming the my ip address would be in the UK, however I have discovered it is in fact in Germany, our rankings have faltered in google.co.uk but are better in german google.de Is the Ip address the problem? (I know there was a recent panda update)
It could just be coincidental. Is your site .uk TLD? If so it shouldn't really make a difference that your server is in Germany, but if it is e.g. a .com then it could. One simple thing would be to set your geo target in Wemaster Tools to the UK. I have a .com, I'm in Turkey, my server is in the US but my target is the UK. I have set the UK as my target and have better rankings there than the US.
There was a saying that the hosting positioning matters, meaning if you want to target U.S you will need to get a server in U.S, so i believe it matters.
Yes domain is .co.uk but is performing much better in google.de, it was about a month ago when I moved the hosting, I am annoyed with 1and1 for not explaining where my files would be hosted
That isn't what was said, here is the video from Matt Cutts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keIzr3eWK8I He begins by saying that the IP does make a difference, but goes on to explain that you can overcome this by geo targetting so that Google knows which country you want to aim at, and that there are other factors that they take into account. However he does end by saying that if you do all the things you can and you are still having a problem ranking where you want to rank, it may be worth trying a server in that country. As I have already posted, my server is not in the UK yet that is where I am ranking best, so it is incorrect to say "if you want to target U.S you will need to get a server in U.S" it is certainly not necessarily the case and Google doesn't say that it is.
There is another similar thread to this which was started yesterday: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2415865
Site is set to Uk in WMT, it has always been hosted in Uk though, I just wonder if by moving it to Germany could have upset its serps a bit. As I said it is doing well in google.de what other reason could explain that?
If everything else has remained the same then it has to be a consideration. I guess that as your server has moved to Germany Google could reasonably conclude that it was because you wanted it there. Before I changed my geo target I was doing better in the US and it took some weeks before my UK results took over, perhaps there will be a settling down time for your site. But other factors include what your competitors are doing, whether you have lost any backlinks etc
Yes. Server will influence your SEO. If you host in UK, then you may get better SERP in UK. If you host in germany but with UK website and .uk domain , then i believe your serp will drop. Domain Extension and Hosting Server located will affect your SERP. Because Google will analyse your website as local if you have local domain and host in local server with local ip. Then they will rank you better in local search result.
No, IP is not the problem, My server is in USA but still i have good rank in UK. So , i am confirm IP is not an problem. It depends on the location of the server giving you backlinks.
Yes, IP is a major concern when it comes to regional ranking. But you can overcome this effect by setting your geo target location in Google webmaster tools. And Panda has nothing to do with this.
ip address is not responsible for ranking it doesn't make any diffrence...it may be happened due to panda updates or competition or keywords.
IP is just to show google that the work has been done form some other place so its bit tough to judge about it, as per Rebecca comment it might be your geo target location might had set to some other place, just check it out and clear it. Thank You