Types of Business Website Hosting
Not all web hosting is created equally, and the type that you choose for your company’s website will play a significant role in your SEO and keyword ranking potential. There are many different kinds and configurations available, each with their own properties and nuances. Most hosting plans, however, fall into one of the following categories.
Shared Hosting Plans
Many business websites end up on shared hosting packages. This isn’t because those hosting plans are the best, but because they’re the cheapest, and business owners that haven’t had a chance to do their own research often don’t know any better. Shared hosting means that a server is divided amongst many different websites and each hosting customer is allocated a specific quota of server resources.
This is disadvantageous in many ways. Performance is almost nearly going to be worse than the alternatives, which means that your website is going to load slower. Additionally, the other websites on your server could negatively impact your own, and you get no say in who you share your server with. Securty is also inherently lacking, so storing any sensitive information on a shared hosting plan should be avoided.
VPS Hosting
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. It can be thought of as a middle-ground between shared and dedicated servers. Like shared hosting, the physical space and computing power from one server is distributed amongst multiple VPS customers. Unlike shared hosting, however, there is an additional software layer on the server which simulates a dedicated machine for each. This means that every customer has their own private operating system installation with their own software stack.
VPS hosting sits between shared and dedicated hosting both in terms of cost and performance. It is suitable for most small business websites.
Dedicated Servers
Dedicated hosting means that your website has its server all to itself. The physical server hardware works to serve your website to visitors, and none other. This is typically the most expensive option for hosting, but it also provides the highest potential when it comes to performance, security, and flexibility. For medium to large businesses, or for websites that receive a high amount of traffic or store very sensitive information, a dedicated server is a must.
Just like not every type of hosting plan is equal, neither is every dedicated server. The exact performance and security that you get out of it depends on the type of computer hardware used, network speeds to and from the building where the server is stored, the specific software configuration installed on the machine, and many other factors. Having a dedicated server will, however, always offer the greatest potential in these areas.
How Server Performance Affects SEO
The type of hosting plan you have, as well as the server’s physical hardware, networking capabilities, and software configuration are all major factors in the ultimate speed and performance of your website. No matter how efficiently-coded your site is, or how well compressed its assets are, your site is going to load slowly for visitors if the server it lives on isn’t running optimally.
Pagespeed and site load times are a key ranking factor and a major component of SEO. When search engines like Google are determining which search results to display, one of the major things they consider is how quick and performant each website is. If your server is slow or misconfigured, Google will know it and your keyword rankings will suffer.
Dedicated IP Addresses
Something you may find offered as an option with your shared hosting plan is a dedicated IP address. VPS hosting packages typically come with a dedicated IP by default, and a dedicated server will have one inherently. While we don’t recommend using shared hosting for business websites at all, if you absolutely must, then also purchasing the dedicated IP address option is a no-brainer.
An IP address can be thought of similarly to a street address. It’s an identifier for the location of your website on the internet. If you are sharing this address with other websites, the reputation if your own site can suffer as a result. You wouldn’t want strangers living in your home, and the same scrutiny should be applied to your business website.
Speed Up Your Business Website
Whether you’ve been stuck on shared hosting or are simply chugging along with a slow, un-optimized website, RankStrats can help migrate your site to an appropriate hosting package and optimize the site itself in order to get blistering speed and page load times, thus unlocking your site’s potential and giving you the ability to compete in your market.
If you don’t yet have a business website and want to avoid mistakes and wrong steps, we can ensure that your site gets built the right way the very first time, either through consulting or hands-on development. Whatever your situation is, we’re here to help you get the most out of your digital marketing budget and your company’s online presence.