We’ve been thinking about users’ first interactions with Hosting Companies, and the first time they become aware of this critical element of the Hosting Ecosystem.
Among the first questions that come up are whether or not the name of your website will have any repercussions on your site, and if all hosting companies are created equal.
So, how do Domain Name and Web Hosting Affect Your Online Business?
If you’re in the process of setting up shop, researching your options for hosting, domain registry, or brainstorming what your site should be called, at some point you may have wondered about the impact these things will have on your business, if any.
Web Hosting affects search engine results?
If you have an unreliable web hoster, one of the possible risks is that your site could be down when search engines are attempting to visit. If this happens repeatedly, your ranking will be affected. Another extremely important factor is security. You can only do so much on your end- if your hosting provider has not taken the necessary measures, your site security will suffer. No one wants a hacked website. Additionally, if your site is taking too much time to load, this will also hurt your rankings. It is true that you have some control over how fast your site loads, but a lot of that responsibility also falls upon your web hosting provider, which should have enough resources to allow your page to load quickly.
The location of the servers can also affect you; Google recommends making sure your website is “hosted in a way that will give your users fast access to it (which is often done by choosing hosting near your users).”
Choosing the right web hosting company won’t propel you to page 1 of Google, but you will definitely avoid the pitfalls we’ve listed here!
Domain Name
Gone are the days where your web domain name was an exact match for your keywords (howdoiloseweight.com, wheretobuyflowers.com) and that was enough for a good position in search results. With Google’s many updates, this has become less and less relevant, and it is advisable to consider other factors when picking your domain name, such as how memorable it is, whether it is easy to spell, and its length.
You will, of course, look for a name relevant to what your website is actually about, and it will inevitably have some of your keywords; just don’t try to stuff all your keywords in there.
- Is it recognizable and memorable?
- Does it help brand my business and give customers an association to who we are?
- Is it limiting in any way (geographically, future product/industry extension, etc.)?
- Is it short, easily spelled and pronounced?
What is most important is that your domain name will not do the work by itself. Once you’ve chosen it, all your marketing efforts will be aimed at promoting it, generating great content for it, getting people to write about it, mention it, visit it and recommend it.
Still curious on what else you should keep in mind when picking a domain name? Moz has 12 handy rules.
