What impact does server location have on rankings?

Is this info still up to date?

Google is this still available ?

But it is also about the quality of servers and services, features, uptime and the price. Server IP should not really matter that much, Geo Targeting option in GWT is good to set the targeting. Google should understand that, also for page load speed concerns, there are international CDN services.

***** Hi, is this still relevant? Does the server location still have an impact on Google Raking? So, a Canadian site would be punished for being hosted on AWS (US) VS at a local Canadian hosting company?

Does anyone have any idea how much of a ranking factor server location actually is? I need to be able to attribute it to some monetary terms as changing a clients server has to merit the cost.

This is a stupid idea. I don't want to host my sites in my country. (price, quality, freedom, etc.)

same here, I live in Italy but would NEVER host in Italy. Also I would NEVER use dot it but use dot com only. This is because dot com are a billion times more flexible than dot it. To buy a dot it domain I have to fax letters, wait weeks, ask for permissions, beg to move dns, pay more money, it is a nightmare.

I find what you say on this video quite difficult to believe. Simply because I trust Google to be better than others in bringing me GOOD, RELEVANT results. Imagine Italians are searching for the best tires for sale in Milan. If the best shop in Milan has a website that's hosted in the USA, simply because it is cheaper to host it there, then what is google going to do, NOT give the best results?

I have 4 sites about INSURANCE and they rank reasonably well. I have launched another site about insurance. Will it hurt if I interlink various articles between these various sites? Linking up all the articles will improve the content, keeping the users within my "wing". But by doing this I will be "voting" my own sites. How is this seen by google? In the doubt, I avoid linking to my own sites, just to others (!?)

good god how long-winded and non-specific can you possibly be?

Great idea adding subtitles, makes it all easy and quick to digest, even with such a small amout of info. Well done and Thank you!

Well. Here in Slovenia, we do mostly order hostings and VPSes in Germany, because they are a lot cheaper. Guess not good for SEO.

Location 1.02. Location do matters.

It doesn't make sense... So if I live in Venezuela and have a website here, I just can't use a foreign hosting provider from the USA (which are better) because it will affect my regional ranking?? That doesn't make sense at all. I don't trust any hosting provider in my country. Why can't I just use a US hosting provider without affecting my ranking?! Doesn't make sense....

Yes, but Google also say that server speed or website speed is also a ranking factor, so if you have a server in the geo location you are targeting, your target will access your site faster, therefore even if the ip address of your server wasn't a factor, it implicitly becomes one due to speed differences.

This sucks balls. If I have a hostin account which allows me to host unlimited domains with them, then why should I buy another hosting account just to rank better in the targeted country? It makes NO sence at all since most people do not buy a hosting account depending on it's geo location. People buys hosting accounts that fitst their price range and their websites content.

Seems silly as I chose an Australian Hosting company for my .com.au site, but little did I know that they were an affiliate of an American company so technically the server is based in the US? Why should server location really matter!!

This is the worst way to decide whereter or not a website is important for a user. I think most of the servers are located in the US, no matter if the site is from a mexican business

What if a site is run by Americans, but the server is located in another country?

I run a site that is really not location constrained and useful to anyone who speaks English. Where should I put my server to get the best ranking? My guess US would be the largest English speaking area but I am very happy with the service I have now, outside the US (in the Netherlands). Is it worth the move?

All my sites are targeted at the UK because that's where I am. My hosting is in Florida because a friend in DC recommended the company. It's stayed there because they give fantastic service - problems solved in minutes of raising a support ticket. But this suggests I ought to move to UK hosting to maximise ranking. Doesn't sound ideal to me.

This is logical Matt, but my concern is that it puts pressure for some sites which are based out of US but have very local content, which is being updated on the fly or gather UGC from specific geographies

I think that is good, but you are not thinking about us, who live in countries without a good hosting service, and we need to host in USA some non-english content... But on the other hand, if you need to get visits from a country in special, and your hosting is not there, I dont personally recommend to change hosting, I do prefer to use Webmaster Tools from Google to enhance country oriented thing

Rob from reading the other viewers comments you may need to talk a little bit more about this issue. Some people pick servers on pricing aswell, sometimes cheaper to buy outside your own country.

i totally agree , i can understand that google search shows different results depending on where u r searching from but having page ranking depending on where the server is located is not so relevant!

Always suspected this. Sadly the answer is not good for me - my server's in Germany (1&1) and site is in England. I rank well enough anyway, but it's interesting to note I might be ranking better if I went with a local server.