It is tempting to immediately buy the cheapest VPS that offers ample security, space, speed and features. However, it is also essential that you pay attention to where your servers are physically located. Physical location seems like it should not play much of a role in your site's success, but it certainly does.

Optimal Connections Increase Rankings

If your primary readership or customer base is in the United States, choosing a server in Southeast Asia or Europe is probably not the best decision. Any problems with the ocean cables will immediately be reflected in the connectivity of your server. Additionally, the overall Internet traffic where the server is located will receive priority over foreign connections. Your users could experience slowness, frequent timeouts or “page cannot be reached” messages. Not only will this annoy your users, but Google and the other search engines will start docking your sites for it. That translates into lower rankings, because part of the algorithm that determines your rank is how fast your content loads for users. Read More…