To understand why hosting matters, you have to understand a little bit about how the internet works, and you need to know that the internet it not a cloud. It’s not in the cloud, it’s not on a cloud.
It’s a line that connects a series of servers, which are computers that host information like websites. When you visit a website, your device connects to a server and the website pops up on your computers. Or if you use a host like Flywheel, you have access to content delivery networks, which put the information physically closer to the receiving computer and it loads more quickly.
This might be one of the most oversimplified explanations, but let’s go with it.
Back to website hosting. It matters for three reasons:
- Speed. This is definitely a ranking factor for SEO because it makes the internet better for people. Web caching and content delivery networks are features that can help improve the speed of a website – those things can be taken care of by a good hosting company.
- Uptime. You can use simple tools like Uptrends to check if your website is up and also to see the load time from different parts of the world.
- Security. Visiting a website that says “unsecured” just screams amateur. It also makes consumers less likely to want to put in their credit card information and buy something on a website. Having the SSL or green padlock on the browser makes for a better internet experience. It increases the trust factor.
Quick one-sentence summary: a good host like the one I use – Flywheel – which is also a sponsor of 100 Days of SEO will help you optimize website speed, uptime and security, and improve your SEO.