SEO, which is short for Search Engine Optimization, is absolutely essential for improving your website’s visibility in search engine results, so that you can attract more visitors and grow your online presence.
A lot of different factors influence SEO, like the quality of the content and backlinks, keywords, etc., but we’re not here to focus on these aspects of SEO, but your choice of hosting provider instead. The hosting service you choose can massively affect important SEO elements like site speed, uptime, security, and server location.
This choice is often overlooked as it has no immediate effect, but it will come into play (from an SEO perspective) later on once the website is up and running. But if the choice wasn’t made/considered from the start, then switching providers or upgrading later on might become a complex technical challenge.
In this article, we’ll explore how hosting providers impact SEO and help you determine which one might be the best fit for your website.
4 Key SEO Factors Influenced by Hosting Providers
Your choice of hosting provider is extremely important when it comes to your website’s SEO performance.
From site speed and uptime to server location and security, each aspect is a factor in how search engines rank your site.
So, let’s break down each of the four key aspects that affect how good (or bad) a hosting provider is when it comes to SEO.
Site Speed and Performance
Site speed has become a crucial factor, especially with Google’s page experience update and Core Web Vitals.
Websites that load faster tend to rank higher because they provide a better user experience. Hosting directly influences site speed through server resources, the type of hosting plan you choose (shared, VPS, dedicated, or managed), and whether a CDN (Content Delivery Network) is available.
More affordable hosting providers offer shared hosting, which is great until your website starts picking up traffic. If the traffic grows, your website will start losing performance-wise (loading slower, and it’ll start crashing or not loading properly). And while this would be the time to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated hosting plan (if it’s even available), you’re still better off starting with such a plan from the get-go if you expect growth.
According to a report by WebTribunal, even a 1-second delay in page loading can lead to an 11% drop on page views and a 7% drop in conversions.
A website that loads fast doesn’t just make the users happier, but it also reduces bounce rates, both of which signal to search engines that your site is providing valuable content.
Uptime and Reliability
Uptime is the amount of time your website is accessible to users, which is another critical SEO factor. If your site goes offline often, search engines might lower your rankings because of unreliable access.
Downtime can be caused by server issues, inadequate hosting resources, or maintenance. According to Website Builder Expert, reliable hosting providers offer higher uptime guarantees, often 99.9% or higher. This makes sure that your website is always available, which helps maintain SEO rankings.
A hosting provider with poor uptime can result in search engines crawling an unavailable site, which will have a negative impact on visibility; plus you won’t seem trustworthy to users.
Server Location and Geographic Targeting
Server location affects how quickly your site loads for users in different regions, which influences both user experience and SEO.
If your target audience is located in a specific geographic area, then it would be better to host your site on a server close to that region because it can reduce load times and boost your site’s SEO.
If you’re targeting a global audience, CDNs can distribute content across various server locations all over the world and make sure that users everywhere have fast loading times.
Security and SSL Certificates
Security is a huge deal for SEO, especially since Google makes secure websites priorities.
Although a “lightweight” signal, Google has confirmed that having an SSL certificate (HTTPS) has been a ranking factor since 2014. Having an SSL certificate is necessary to keep user data safe and to boost your SEO.
Most hosting providers offer SSL certificates, either as part of the package or for an extra fee. Security features like firewalls, regular backups, and malware protection are also important to prevent hacking attempts that could bring your site down.
4 Best Hosting Providers for SEO
Now, a lot of people will immediately jump towards some of the more popular hosting providers (e.g., Bluehost, Hostinger, Hostgator, etc.), but being popular doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the best.
This article covers the best hosting providers for SEO, meaning they provide reliability/uptime, and great speed (especially after the 2010 ‘Google PageSpeed’ update, 2018 ‘Google Speed’ update, and now the latest 2021 ‘Core Web Vitals’ Google algorithm update), and availability of SSL certificates.
So, without further ado, here are the (current) four best hosting providers when it comes to SEO.
WP Engine
WP Engine (only) offers managed WordPress hosting, so it’s great for those who use WordPress SEO services. It focuses on fast site performance with features like dedicated caching, built-in CDN, and high-speed servers.
WP Engine also provides strong security with automatic backups and malware protection, so your site is safe and SEO-friendly. It’s more expensive than some other hosts, but its speed and security features are worth it.
SiteGround
SiteGround has different hosting plans with features that are designed to improve SEO. It uses SSD storage to help with speed, caching tools, and a free CDN. It also provides free SSL certificates and promises 99.9% uptime.
The downside is that renewal prices can be higher than initial rates, but the SEO benefits make it a good way to go.
Kinsta
Another managed-only option, like WP Engine. This is a premium option and it’s managed by a WordPress host that runs on Google Cloud’s infrastructure. This gives Kinsta excellent speed and uptime.
It also offers automatic caching, free CDN, and high security. Although it’s up there price-wise, its reliable performance and speed make it perfect for sites that need top-notch SEO features.
A2 Hosting
This one is known for its fast servers. It uses SSD storage, Turbo servers, and offers a free SSL certificate, which helps your site stay secure and load quickly.
A2 Hosting also provides an anytime money-back guarantee. Its control panel is a bit tricky to use for beginners, but it’s still an excellent solution for those that want to boat site speed for better SEO.
Conclusion
So, if these (the four listed above) hosting providers are so great, why isn’t everyone using them?
Why even opt for (mediocre) providers like Bluehost, Hostinger (and similar ones)? The answer is actually simple. It comes down to two things: cost and user-friendliness.
Hosting providers such as Bluehost or Hostinger are very user-friendly and affordable. And they also are (or at least feel) familiar. Anyone, with little to no knowledge could handle/tackle them.
This is not the case with the four options mentioned above (WP Engine, SiteGround, Kinsta, and A2 Hosting). First, you’ll have to pay; quite the amount compared to the more casual hosting providers. Also, it’ll be difficult to use (to the point that you’ll need expert help, which will end up costing even more). But in the eyes of SEO, you can pay a premium to get better results (speed, reliability, ability to handle more traffic).
The choice should reflect your website’s needs, your budget, and your long-term SEO strategy.
