Does server location affect Google search ranks?
In short, YES!
Allow me to put forth a theory:
You have your very own website at yourwebsite.com. Your site is becoming more popular by the day and you decide to look for a better hosting deal. You notice that servers in the Netherlands are cheap, so you pay your first month’s rent and move your website on over. A couple months down the line, you notice you aren’t getting as many hits from Google search.
Conclusion: Google thinks your site is for the Netherlands.
No way, you say? Well, it’s true! Google has to try to work out what country your domain resides in. Generic names such as .com and .net don’t necessarily reside in the US, and so Google takes a look at the IP address of the server hosting the domain. In this case, the Netherlands server suggest to Google that this is a Netherlands site regardless of the .com address.
A solution to this is to buy the appropriate domain in the first place, for example if you have a UK business make sure you buy a .co.uk domain name. If you have a generic domain name, Google provides webmaster tools that allows you to verify site ownership and then target traffic to the correct country.
This blog, in its few months of life, hasn’t received any hits from Google.com. Fingers crossed, the winds are changing direction.
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
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