After putting in time crafting the perfect SEO phrases to drive traffic to your website, you find that your numbers did not improve as much as you expected. After weeks of investigating the mystery you are still baffled by what went wrong.
Take heart, its not your keywords that caused the problem, but your choice in web hosting service. The wrong kind of web hosting service can derail even the best SEO keywords. You may ask why, lets take a look at some of the reasons a bad web host can ruin traffic flow to your website.
Server Outages
It is assuredly a negative experience if a potential customer clicks on your carefully composed pay per click ad and the website is down. A lesser web hosting service may have periods when their servers experience issues and they don’t have sufficient backups, leading to your website going dark.
In this scenario a potential customer may try again after finding your webpage down, and upon finding it down again they may assume you are out of business or a disreputable company. SEO keywords can not get a customer back once they have decided to move on from your website.
When considering a web host, check to see if they have enough backups, or another location that will take over in the event of a power outage or server issues.
Slow Speed Kills
Speed kills, or in the case of SEO, slowness kills. Once again, your ad or meta description has lead potential customers to your website, only to find that they are dealing with speeds only slightly above that of dial-up connections.
It is highly unlikely that a user will sit patiently and wait for the website to load. Slower speeds will lead to customers who bounce and to poor search engine rankings.
Conversely, faster website speeds will lead to satisfied customers and improved search engine rankings. It is important to note that unless you are using cloud hosting, the number of miles between your server and potential customer, the slower the speed they experience.
SSL Certificate Friendly Web Host
In the age of stolen identities and stolen credit card numbers people are rightly concerned about the safety of the website they are visiting. An SSL certificate friendly web host will allow you to place an SSL certificate on your website and bolster your company’s image. A secure connection between your user and your server is sure to improve trust and satisfaction.
Just as important, an SSL certificate will improve your standing with search engines like Google and Bing, and thus improve your rankings. When you store data in the cloud with a web host you expect it to be safe, sadly this is not always the case.
If security is not a priority for your web-host then you are at risk of having data stolen or held hostage, which will take time and money to undo. Maybe you accidentally deleted all your data from your server only to find that it was not backed up by your web-host, that data can never be retrieved.
When choosing a web host, it is crucial that they back up your data and have multiple locations where it is stored in case of natural, or man-made disasters. A loss of data means back to square one with your search engine rankings.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that your web-host should be an asset to your SEO, not an obstacle. Check out comments from users on websites that track such issues to see if your web-host is going to be a hindrance to your SEO efforts. Do they guarantee that your website will stay up, even if one of their server locations crashes?
With a little research, and common sense, you can find the right web hosting service to serve your SEO needs.
Let MosierData give you peace of mind with reliable web hosting and security.