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How important is the location of your web host? Here I explain how much more important it is then you think!

All the way from FTC regulations for blogging websites through to Global Warming, when choosing a web host you should really consider where their servers are located and if this effects the industry that you are in. Recent regulations say that Bloggers from USA need to follow the new FTC laws. So this also means if you are a blogger with a site on a US server you have to consider the legalities.

I recently started to use servers that are located in Canada because Canada is a cold destination and is a good way to keep the servers cool. There were recent talks from BBC that some countries such as Iceland are becoming more known now for IT hubs and server space. 100% of the country’s electricity is renewable and basically carbon free, much generated from water heated far below the ground. So carbon dioxide savings are enormous. Banks who have hundreds and thousands of servers are also looking at alternative re-location methods such as this.

Another example is if you are targeting website traffic from say New Zealand, then a server from New Zealand wil help you get your site more optimized for the New Zealand search engines. Search engines such as Google rank your site based on server location and IP. So for SEO purposes location plays a big role.

Also beware when having your server located in US. Never presume this is totally safe. For example, personally I wouldn’t host my websites on servers that are based in Florida as there are quite a lot of hurricanes, if your server is also located in earthquake areas then your chances of losing your data or sites are fairly high. There are alot of web host companies that have servers located in Texas and this area seems to be very safe.

UK Web Hosting companies are also another hot topic at the moment. Registration of European domain names are much easily accepted through UK host companies. Domain name registrations for .eu web addresses peaked at three million earlier this year. So this is a prime real estate area!

Be careful when having your websites located on Asian servers such as China or Thailand. If you state anything politically incorrect on your sites you can get fined big time, your sites will not only be shut down but you can also be imprisoned.

Having a local host is also an option for some as faster upload and download speed is a luxury for your websites and customer care is quicker for support.

Hope this is helpful for you for when choosing a host and remember to take into as much consideration as possible.