There is much “stock” advice out there, so to speak, that every new affiliate planning to launch a website encounters at some point. One of the specific pieces of such advice is to get a server in the exact location where your main audience is.
However, does it really matter? Apparently, yes and no. Here’s why.
Server Location and Search Engine Optimization
From an SEO point of view, it seems that server location doesn’t matter all that much in the big picture.
Even though your location might a factor if you’re directly competing with someone else having the exact same number of quality backlinks, from the same places, and with the same level of on-page optimization, but as you can see, such a situation is very unlikely in itself.
What we’re trying to say here is that server location is obviously not the most important SEO factor out there.
One good example is a site called Smashing Magazine. It’s one of the biggest design, tech and creative arts blog on the internet. They are #1 for many competitive keywords around the world (in multiple locations), yet their main server is located in Germany. No problem here.
Server Location and Site Speed
This is where the server location really does matter. It’s a simple situation, actually.
If you’re catering your offer to an audience in, say, Argentina then it’s obvious that you’ll get the best delivery times if you host your site, indeed, in Argentina.
This is also how the location can impact your SEO.
For example, if you’re targeting Argentina, yet your server is placed in Dallas and it takes 10 seconds to load your site (for an Argentinian visitor) then you cannot hope for a good Google rank.
However, if your competitor is also based in Dallas, but has a much better web host than you then they can outrank you purely through their server location and site speed.
Using a CDN
Using a CDN is a sensible solution for anyone who wants to do business in multiple locations and get an additional edge of having great load times in all of them.
A CDN, which is short for Content Delivery Network, is a distributed system of servers that work all together to serve your site as effectively as possible.
In plain English, if your site is a part of a CDN then its contents will be served always from a server that’s closest to the current visitor’s location. This is simply great in theory, and it works just as great in practice.
Comes with a price tag, though. Feel free to check out some of the possible providers like MaxCDN, and CloudFlare CDN.
You can make any WordPress site work with a CDN through the W3 Total Cache plugin.