It’s too easy to get so absorbed in the latest SEO tactics and fads and lose sight of the best ways to optimise our websites and neglect the underlying factors that have the biggest impact on ranking. Among the factors that have a really significant impact on SEO campaigns can be the web hosting service that you use. Indeed, there are a few hosting issues that can have a significant negative effect. Lets take a look at the big five hosting issues that need urgent attention.
1. Slow Website Speed
Website speed is a big ranking factor for Google, but a lot of us focus on improving website design without addressing a slow hosting service. Unnecessary script, oversized images and slow-loading content only make this problem worse. Choose a fast hosting service and minimise your website loading times. Look at VPS hosting instead of shared hosting and check that you are up to speed by using Google Webmaster Tools or the Pingdom website speed test.
2. Website Downtime
Website downtime is generally a hosting issue, perhaps because the bandwidth limit has been exceeded or the server has gone down. This will severely affect your search rankings and even lead to you being removed from Google’s index, according to the Google Webmasters blog.
3. Database Connection Failure
“Internal Server Error” and “Database Connection Failed” are error messages your visitors do not want to see. These may happen if too many users are trying to access your site at once, so you might want to look at upgrading your hosting to a dedicated server.
4. Shared Hosting Services
This is rare, but there is a chance your ranking could be negatively affected if you use shared hosting services. Since you share your web space with other websites, you could be unlucky and have a spammer for a roommate. Check who you are sharing with on your server by putting your URL into a Reverse IP Domain Checker. Any good quality specialist company, such as https://www.net9design.com/, will be able to advise you on this, from a website design company in Gloucester to a digital marketing agency in Glasgow.
5. Domain name
Many of the memorable, short .com domains have already been taken. If you look to an alternative, choose with care as people may still assume you are .com.