Wednesday, 20 July 2016

Why Local Hosting Beats Overseas

local hosting
Getting the right hosting is important when you have a website. It can be tempting to just go for the cheapest, but it is worth thinking about what you need before you buy. One part of this is deciding whether you want local hosting as opposed to hosting from abroad. Foreign hosts may be cheaper, but you need to make sure you think through the decision before you go with them. There are advantages in using local hosting and some of these are explained below.

Search Engines

It has been found that search engines prefer sites that are hosted in the country which they relate to as well as having a domain which is their own country domain. Although search engines presence is not always so highly rated as a marketing technique these days, compared to using social media, it cannot be ignored. Many people still use search engines regularly to find information and so you need to do what you can to appear as high as you can on them. It would be annoying if you were not appearing very high just because your hosting was not from the country that your business was based in. Think about how important search engine presence is to your website and how country of hosting may effect this and how that will relate to your business overall.


Of course speed is really important when it comes to choosing your hosting company. If your host is geographically far away then it will slow things down as data has further to travel. You may think that this will not make a significant difference, but it may do. If the person connecting already has a slow connection anything that can speed it up will help them. If you have a site heavy with videos or other content that takes time to download, then again speed can be very relevant. If you have a ecommerce aspect to your site, then it could mean that payments take longer to process and this could inconvenience customers. It is important to consider that any small change in speed could have a significant effect on users.


Hosting companies may run updates from time to time. This should improve the service that they provide to you and tend to be run at times when the websites that they host are quietist and therefore providing the least amount of disruption that they can. However, if your host is abroad then they may do this at a time when your site happens to be the busiest and cause it to run slowly or even crash. Consider whether you are likely to have a peak usage time and whether updates are likely to be run at that time and have a negative effect on your site speed.


If you need support, then it can be much easier speaking to a company based in your own country. This is because they will have opening hours on the helplines that fit in with times that are convenient for you. If you need to telephone, then it is likely to be cheaper if you are calling a company based in your own country, although this may not always be the case. Communication is also likely to be easier with a company based in your country as they speak the same language and will understand you better. Also if you have a problem, then you will have a better understanding of the law in your country and what rights you have as a consumer. If you do not know, then it will be easier for you to find out and be able to exert your rights than if your host was abroad. Hopefully this will not happen, but it is always worth considering as if a lack of hosting causes a significant change in your sales, then you may want to take action.

Value for Money

Many people are tempted by foreign hosting because it is cheaper. However, it is important to consider value for money rather than cost. If something is cheap then there is usually a reason for this. It may be that you are not getting such a good service as you would if you paid a bit more and went with a local host. Make sure that you know exactly what you are getting for your money.


It can be really good to support businesses in the country that you live. It helps the economy of your country and helps businesses to grow. All businesses pay tax, employ people, who also pay tax and spend money in the country they are employed. If you support them then this will help to grow the economy in the country that you live and improve things for you and other people you know living in your country.


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