I'm based in the UK and as such the majority of my clients are UK based. For my UK clients I use a British based hosting company, and I am happy with their service. I have one existing client based in the US, and their website is hosted by an American company, but I have been disappointed with some aspects of their hosting service. Another company, based in California, has asked me to build a website for them and I need to make a decision whether I should use the UK host, that I know and trust, or utilise an American based hosting company. The majority of my client's target audience will be US based. I would like to receive your opinions on two subjects: Are there any disadvantages to using a UK host, for a US based business? If you believe that it would be better to use a US Hosting firm, which are best and are there any to be avoided? Key factors are reliability, php scripting, e commerce / shopping cart, databases. I would be grateful for any thoughts you may have. Jon
I think there is no difference...What you need to do is to set right regional settings on google webmaster panel...
I do both and from my experience so far choosing US or UK hosting does not seem to make much difference. You would be better off hosting in the US because it would be cheaper. The top level domain seems to make a difference though. Overall I think Google is quite good at determining geography. Again these are my experiences.
1.Yeah it will slow down the website loading speed.Coz all your user is US based 2.I would suggest you use well known company such as hostgator.
told your clients frist . us hosting can severce well in usa but you didnot make sure can work in uk well
Thanks everyone for your comments and I am reassured that the geographical location of the hosting does not seem to be a factor. I will set the correct regional setting in webmaster tools (thanks Uzi for the reminder). Cost is not the primary concern, but of course it's a factor and certainly current exchange rates would come out in favour (or favor depending on where you're reading this ) of a US host. Any more good or bad hosts?
The only time that location of the host plays a role in a website is for adult content. Other than that there should be no problems where you choose to host your site at.
1) Incorrect. If a host is severely oversold, then you'd probably get better speeds pulling your content out of "Nowheresville, Bermuda Triangle". 2) Well known companies aren't necessarily at the top end of the game when it comes to quality. ----- To the OP, there should be no issues in hosting within the United Kingdom. In regards to the "top level domain" that someone mentioned, having UK hosting does not mean having a .co.uk domain. The geographical location of a host is obviously when important when dealing with say, real-time streaming services (audio/video); but for generic websites, it does not post an issue. So, it boils down to quality of service and support. If you are happy with your UK host, then go with them.
A digression but I'm impressed you're working with US companies from the UK - I didn't think they could afford UK prices. I was talking to someone on here (US based) about selling their design services (to US companies) but I heard nothing more from them when I told them my charge per lead to UK design companies seeking UK business.
Country is not necessarily a factor of price, you get both expensive and "cheap" people seeking "work" all over the world.
I don't think it should make difference other than minor effect on local search results because google prefer to pick results from local search.
I would suggest you will host your sites at 1and1.co.uk the servers are very good and the administrators are from germany who are very techie.
at Internet we are doing business virtually..so hosting place would not make any major difference...I suggest you to do your hosting at www.godaddy.com.
1) I don't believe there is must of a difference at all, there is a small speed difference but I think it's lest then 1%-2% slow difference which is nothing unless you will be hosting large files in whice case may bring a download speed problem. 2) If you do use a US Based Hosting company you should either go with Godaddy or LiquidWeb. It does matter where you get your hosting from so I do recommand getting it from a large and respected companies.
Both 1and1 and godaddy have appalling reputations for hosting. I would have thought hostgator would be the obvious choice:dedicated if you need it for the traffic/bandwidth. I host all my sites in the US (hostgator) and there performance is fine in Australia. IF you site is targeted to the UK use .co.uk - that's a big indicator to google
It does make quite a big difference from an SEO perspective. Google local search is based on the IP address of the user. E.g. if I typed in "taxis" whilst in Paris, I would get taxi companies in Paris. If you are a UK company and your site is hosted in the US, this will affect your ranking. Yes, if you have your address on your site it will help, added to local business centre etc, but with the servers located abroad that will suggest that the business might be too. Only a minor cog in the whole SEO wheel, but might be the difference to the top spot if your local rival is ahead of you in the rankings. It's worth your consideration.
go daddy is one of the worst company ever you can find . the are server are very slow and is hard to use . i recommend www.liquidweb.com www.hostgator.com www.hostmonster.com www.ixwebhosting.com