Server Location & SEO - Your Opinion

Hi All,

I have a question - does a server location effect SEO. Eg. I have a current server in my country Australia - however it is slow and laggy. I can get a fast server overseas however I am worried will it effect SEO.

So which is better

Slow server located in Australia OR Fast Server Located say in the US.

Kind Regards,
GG

Well Google does look at the IP address of your web server and uses that as a ranking factor as well. So in theory you could obtain a benefit by having your website hosted in the country of the audience you’re targetting.

But that’s not the only “location” factor, they also use the domain to detect the location, and you can specify it in google Webmaster tools.

Check out this video where Matt Cutts mentions these things:

So what does physical location of a server offer as a benefit?

Why are you worried it will effect SEO? Is it because your site is for an Aussie audience and you think a site hosted overseas won’t rank as well on Google Aus?

I’d opt for server performance (ie. speed) over physical location because that will primarily be better for users of your site, and secondly will have some benefit as a ranking factor.