Google updated its algorithm again in May 2020 and tweaked a number of its ranking factors that are related to the quality of your Web Hosting. Below we will look at what aspects of your Web Hosting Package will influence your Website’s ability to rank and explain why it is important to understand this.

1 – Site Loading Speed

Your Websites loading speed is very important to the search engines because it improves customer experience. Google knows that slow loading Websites have a much higher abandonment rate because users are impatient and do not want to wait for the site to load. This is the reason why the slower a Website loads, the less likely Google will feature it in its results because it looks bad on them (Google). Websites need to perform quickly on both Mobile and PC’s. Website loading times are treated as an important feature for Google.

Whilst there are other factors that can affect page load speeds, such as image optimisation, caching, compression, minification, ultimately the performance of your server is critical. Choosing a Web Host that uses high performance servers, SSD drives, fast connectivity and one that is not shared by thousands of other users is important. Better still upgrade to a more powerful solution such as VPS, Cloud or dedicated server.

2 – Server Uptime

 More worrying for Google than sending users to slow loading Websites, it is sending them to sites that are off line. It is not in Googles interest to send users to sites that are not available, it reflects badly on them and people may look to alternative search engines. Therefore Google monitors the amount of time a Website is online and uses that as part of its ranking algorithm.

There are numerous reasons your site can go offline. Some of these are related to things you do on your site, such as putting it into maintenance mode or causing it to crash by installing incompatible software or making coding errors. Other reasons include operating system upgrades, software patching and plugin updates.

However, with some hosting solutions, the amount of time your website goes offline can be down to running hardware that is outdated, unreliable and keeps breaking down. It can be down to your Web Host server offering too few resources and the server simply can’t cope with the amount of traffic. In these instances, it can affect the site’s ranking ability.

To protect yourself, ensure your web host offers guaranteed uptime backed by service level agreement (SLA). The minimum you should be looking for is 99.95% uptime. If you require 100% uptime, then you need to choose a cloud hosting solution.

3 – Server Location

 Data needs to travel from A to B (from the server to your PC/Mobile) and the further it has to travel the longer it takes. We have all seen on TV when interviews are heled with people in say America from the UK and the delays in response to questions. This is exactly the same with Servers; it is know as “latency” which makes your server respond slower to requests from a user’s browser and, thus, reduces site speed.

Ideally therefore, you need a server geographically located closer to where most of your users are. Some web hosts, however, store their data all over the planet, much of it in huge US data centres. Even if the company is UK based, its servers may be anywhere.

It is therefore extremely important that if your user base is predominantly Europe, then you ensure your servers are physically located in a European data centre with fast connectivity.

4 – SSL Certificates

You will see in one of my previous articles the importance of SSL Certificate (see https://www.cbba.es/news/do-i-need-an-ssl-certificate-for-my-website/ )

The padlock icon displayed on browsers is a clear indication of how seriously Google takes security. The last thing it wants is to send its users to sites where their financial or personal data may be at risk of interception because of an insecure connection between the browser and the website.

Today, the security of that connection is key to performing well in search engine results. Google Chrome is displaying a ‘Not Secure’ warning in the browser bar of websites without an SSL certificate. Google implemented this in July 2018.  Google is also giving a small rankings boost to sites that use SSL.

It is important that your Web Hosting server offers SSL. There are different types of SSL certificate and the one you need depends on the level of security required for your organisation.

Less well known and suitable for many Websites, is that a basic Domain Validated SSL which can now be obtained free of charge from the Let’s Encrypt certificate authority. However, many web hosts prevent this, forcing customers to buy alternate SSLs and pay an annual fee for their use.

Conclusion

In its drive to provide better services to its users, Google is pushing websites to up their game. From a web hosting perspective, this means having a site that loads quickly on all devices, has minimal latency, is reliably online for 99.5% of the time or more and which provides secure, encrypted connections. Websites with these things in place will find themselves better positioned by Google’s algorithm.

So Why use Webvision’s Web Hosting Solution?

Webvision has their own flexible and powerful fully managed, Dedicated Cloud Server that delivers the ultimate in optimised performance. It ticks all the boxes that Google looks for!

Included with our hosting is…

Lightning Performance

Powerful, fast, reliable web hosting. Our cloud server runs a specialised, optimised software stack to ensure your site performs its best and is lightning fast compared to normal hosting.

Using latest generation Dell systems, SSD flash based storage and 100 gigabit networking ensures your websites are served in the quickest possible time.

We guarantee your site will run quicker on our solutions or your money back.

100% Uptime

We guarantee 100% uptime of your hosting backed up by our Service Level Agreement. (SLA). Automated security and kernel updates without having to reboot – keeping you online all the time.

UK Based Web Hosting

Hosted in the flagship Centro UK facility within a secure compound, razor-wire fences, 24 hour security personnel, CCTV throughout and of course a team of technicians on site, always.

Free SSL Certificates, HTTP/2 & QUIC

You will have a free fully trusted 256-bit SSL Certificate as standard, enabling HTTP/2 & QUIC for your site. Other SSL solutions available.

Fully Managed & Monitored 24/7

Security updates, management, monitoring, backups, we do everything leaving you to focus on your business.

Hourly Off-site Backups

Your entire server is backed up to a secure off-site location every hour. It’s easy to restore individual files, folders and databases should you experience any issues.

If you want to find out more about this article please contact:-

Andy Barnish
Webvision
Tel: 966 470 482
Mob: 699 972 089
Email: andyb@webvision.es