How important is server location for SEO and website speed?
I've been moving one of my small websites to a different hosting provider, and now I'm second-guessing where I should keep the server. Most of my visitors are from Europe, but I also get some traffic from North America. I noticed the pages seem a little faster after the move, although I'm not sure if it's just my imagination. Has anyone actually seen a noticeable difference in rankings or user experience after choosing a server location closer to their audience?
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I ran into something similar with a client's blog last year. We switched to a data center that was much closer to where most visitors were located, and while it didn't magically boost rankings overnight, loading times became more consistent and people stayed on the site a bit longer. I think speed matters more for visitors than people sometimes realize. When I was comparing providers, I also looked through
because it had some useful background alongside my hosting market research, and it helped me compare a few options before making a decision. I'd still focus on overall hosting quality, caching, and a CDN instead of relying only on server location.