Isn’t it strange that we spend so much time optimizing our blog but never bother about some other factors which also impact SEO? Many readers would not be surprised when I say that starting with domain name and your web host provider; everything has an impact on your SEO effort. This post is for those who are unaware of the fine print.
Choosing the right Domain Name
Your domain name is your identity by which others recognize you. Even Google search engine pays significant importance to domain names. I suspect that 50% of your SEO is done if you choose an appropriate domain name. If you are selling roses in Rome, rosesNrome.com is an ideal domain name. To test this assumption let’s search for roses in Rome. Here is what the results look like.
You will notice that no domain with this name exists (I have chosen it at random). The results therefore are related to web pages associated with these two keywords. If there was a domain rosesNrome, I am absolutely sure that it would have been first in search results.
Another factor related to domain name which impacts SEO is the number of years you have registered it. Normally we register a domain name for a year and renew it as we go along. This is a bad practice where SEO is concerned. When Google search engine finds that you are only registered for a year, it assumes that you will no longer be there next year. This obviously raises some serious issues. If you were registered for 5 years, Google knows that you will be there for some time to come. Even if you have to spend a few dollars more, it is advisable to register for longer tenure.
Web Host and SEO equation
There are many factors related to web host which play a significant role in SEO. One of them is download speed. Everyone knows that everyone is in a hurry and will not wait for more than a few seconds for a web page to download. Google search takes this factor into consideration. If your web server is slow and lazy, Google will penalize you for it – it doesn’t want people waiting. Slow download speed can also occur if your web server is far away from a user. For example if a user is in Bangkok, he would experience slow download time if the server was in Sudan. Conversely, if both user and server were in the same place, user experience would be much better. Location of your server and its specifications are equally important.
Server outrage due to overload
Blog owners usually go for shared hosting due to cost considerations. Typically a shared server hosts a few hundred sites. If due to any reason, traffic from a site increases, the server experiences stress and slow down as a result. Because of this your site will also experience slow speed. If you observe such degradation on your site, you must speak to your web host provider. After all, these factors impact on your SEO.
Mariana Fang Lin spends most of her time writing about the web hosting industry including small business web hosting . Follow her on Twitter here.