how important does is server location to SEO?

Hi,

Does location of a server affect the results a site?

Eg, if a site is targetted for france but the server is located in the USA, does this affect how the search engines regionalise the results?

 

no server location is not a big factor.But the IP of backlinks are important.

 

I dont know if its true but ive read that server location does have an impact if your targetting a particular country/region.

Ive read before people suggesting if they target the UK then use a UK host, im unsure of what is correct though.

 

Yes, for purposes of geo targeting, choosing of server location is important.

 

I have also heard that you want your server to be in the same country as you are.

 

If you are targetting a particular country/region, then its important.

 

Yes, it is a factor.

You can use the DP geotargeting tool to see where your server is located.

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/website-country/

 

yes it will help if you targeting geographical location. for example if you want to target google.co.uk than it will more batter to host your site at uk server.

 

Only if you're trying to target a keyword in a country-specific search. But you can have your server in the US and still target the other country just fine with Google. Just set the geo-location field in your Google Webmasters Central account. Having a country-specific TLD will also help.

 

Your IP address is given according to your server location so they are related. You won't get a US IP address from Asia.

 

Server location matters.

TLD extension matters.

Geographical origin of links matters.

You can get by without some or even any of them but if you are trying to rank well for a keyword in a particular country, do yourself a favour and get all three.

 

Here's an old case study on this exact issue:

http://www.netlash.com/log/googles_dirty_little_secret

 

google is now localizing their results so if your site is hosted in US they will prioritized your rankings in US.

 

It really helps, if your website targeted business region is uk and you want to be on top on G UK, website hosted in UK will get high priority

 

No its not a big factor so no need to worry about that !!

 

i am not agree with you.. it does matter with your hosting location..i have experience with many sites on which i did work for long time.

 

I think a bit. Location of servers affects the search results. Other factors which are required for coming in the Google regional search result page can be found at: http://alok-vats.blogspot.com/2006/09/factors-for-coming-in-google-regional.html

 

Actually, it doesn't matter - unless you are trying to rank well for a country-specific search engine (such as google.co.in or google.co.uk or google.com.au for example).

The main thing to keep in mind regardless of where you host is to make sure the server is as fast and responsive as possible for the vast majority of the people who will be accessing the pages on it.

 

Dan is correct, do a search on Google for any search phrases than use a DNS tool to locate where the hosting is actually located at. 9 times out of 10 all the results will be spread about.

As Dan stated, using the geo-targeting in Google Webmasters Central is how you could target a specific region, boost that value by using a ccTLD, but isn't at all "nessessary".

 

I'll go out on a limb here, as I have no data to back this up, just a sense from experience working with many websites in several locations and varying languages.

If you are targeting a specific country, such as Google.ca or Google.fr, the most important factor is the TLD. If you establish that your site is Canadian or French with a .ca or .fr TLD, then server location does not matter very much.

However, if you have a .com or a .net TLD, then it appears that server location is the next thing the search engines look at to establish location.

A third factor, which I would say is the weakest but still counts is the location of inbound links. If you have a heavy weighting of links from sites the search engine has established are Canadian, it can help you be recognized for the Canadian market.

So, strategically, a US company doing business North America-wide would likely use a .com TLD, and should therefore be hosted in Canada and seek an overrepresentation of Canadian links. It will help with Google.ca and it won't hurt with Google.com .