Critical SEO factors to Consider When Choosing a Hosting Provider for Better Ranking

Choosing a good SEO Web Host alone will not take your site to the top of the rankings, as there are other important factors that search engines look up to for site ranking like mobile-friendliness, link building, screen optimization, and others. 

But, the web host you choose will impact uptime, user experience, and loading time, which are critical SEO factors. Here, we’ll discuss important SEO factors to consider when choosing a web host.

Uptime

Uptime refers to the amount of time the web host stays online and is accessible to visitors. It is very vital that your website has little to no downtime and is free from error pages. 

This is because if your site is offline, users will bounce back to Google, resulting in loss of customers and other penalties from search engines. Plus, constant downtime will affect your search engine optimization directly as your site content will be inaccessible as long as the site remains down

Loading Speed

Loading speed is the speed it takes for your site to completely load after users click on it from search engines. Search engines like Google prioritize websites with fast loading speeds when ranking them in desktop and mobile search forms, and they have begun to penalize websites with slow loading times. It is critical that your website loads fast because no user likes a slow-loading site, which is why choosing the right web host is critical for your SEO and user experience needs.

SSL Certificate

The SSL certificate is the security certificate for your website and having it will help improve your site’s ranking. Search engines like Google trust HTTPS websites as they are secure and they do not like insecure websites without an SSL. Besides, Google recently confirmed that sites without SSL rank lower in SERPs, so it is critical that your web host has a solid SSL.

Server Locations

The server location is linked to the Hosting speed as it is dependent on how close you are to your server. The best web hosts for SEO offer servers in multiple locations with a secure data center and well-run equipment. Thus, enabling users to host their website closer to their target audience and boosting their website’s performance.

Backups

It is critical that the hosting provider you choose offers backups to save your site if any disaster occurs. This is because if your site gets hacked or loses all its data, search engines will have nothing to rank.

Customer Support

Efficient customer support from your hosting provider helps to keep your website running smoothly. Even though help and support don’t directly make your site rank higher on search engines, it shows the reliability of the company. Good customer support will help fix your hosting issues quickly, which will, in turn, help you maintain your site ranking on search engines.

Best Hosting Provider for General SEO

Choosing a good SEO web host alone will not take your site to the top of the rankings, as there are other important factors that search engines look up to for site ranking like mobile-friendliness, link building, screen optimization, and others. But, the web host you choose will impact uptime, user experience, and loading time, which are critical SEO factors. 

Here, we’ll discuss important SEO factors to consider when choosing a web host.

1. WPX

If you don’t have any unique SEO needs, WPX is one of the best hosting platforms to consider. This WordPress platform stands out in uptime, loading speed, hosting types, customer support, and others – making it the best option if you want to develop an SEO-focused site. 

You can use this hosting platform to host large e-commerce websites, and the servers are designed to deal with large amounts of traffic – so you can rest assured that your site will not give out when the traffic is high. 

Plus, with this managed web host, you will get fast speed and great support.

Favorite SEO Features

• Great customer support – WPX is well known for its fast customer support response time, which shifts them to the top of the list. With good customer support, users are certain that their SEO needs will be met.

• Free SSL certificates – WPX offers users free SSL certificates sponsored by Google, ensuring the security of their website.

• Free site migration – You can migrate your site to the WPX hosting servers for free but the number of free migrations depends on your plan.

• Fast Loading Times – This managed WordPress host loads pages and sites very fast regardless of whether or not it is image-heavy or with numerous plugins.

• Free CDN – WPX offers users a free content delivery network with over 20 endpoints globally. This way, visitors can load your website from a nearby server rather than from the origin server, resulting in superfast load times.

Pros

• Fast CDN
• Free daily backups
• Enterprise-level DDoS protection
• Daily malware scanning and removal
• User-friendly dashboard
• Free site migrations

Cons

• No CPanel

Pricing
WPX prices start at $24.99 monthly

2. SiteGround

SiteGround is one of the best hosting platforms for beginners as it offers all types of hosting. 

They have a reputation for being innovators in the hosting industry, from their customizable web hosting solutions to their reliable customer support. SiteGround claims to have an uptime of 99.99%, and they offer free SSL offerings and multiple server locations.

Also, this web host offers managed WordPress hosting on all plans, and it supports other content management systems like Drupal, Joomla, and Magento.

Favorite SEO features

• Reliable Customer Support – Customer support is available 24/7 to help users with any of their needs, and there are resources available in the knowledge base to ensure your website stays up at all times.

• In-house Server Isolation – SiteGround developed this feature to prevent vulnerable accounts from taking down the whole server network, especially for shared hosting.

• SuperCacher – This advanced website optimization caching system was built to improve the performance and speed of your website.

• Cloud hosting – This feature is for users that need to scale up their website on-demand without losing their data or experiencing downtime.

• Downtime Prevention Software – SiteGround’s downtime prevention software monitors the statuses of different servers in real-time, enabling early performance issue detection and resolution.

Pros
• 24/7 customer support
• Free site transfer
• Automatic WordPress updates for users
• Free daily backups
• Free Cloudflare CDN
• CPanel with SSH access
• Easy to use

Cons
• Limited disk space
• High renewal price

Pricing

SiteGround offers multiple hosting types and plans, and the price starts at $3.99 monthly.

3. GreenGeeks

This web host is perfect for users that want to develop small websites, blogs, or e-commerce stores – regardless of your website use, there is a GreenGeeks plan available for you. 

They also provide you with a robust knowledge base and 24/7 live chat customer support to ensure you don’t lose revenue as a result of any downtime. 

GreenGeeks is well known for offering a wide array of hosting types from VPS to WordPress-specialized options, reseller, dedicated server, and basic shared hosting as well as their incredibly fast website performance. Besides, this hosting provider is an ecofriendly one that uses advanced technologies like unlimited MySQL databases, MariaDB, LiteSpeed, and LSCache.

Favorite SEO Features

• Free Cloudflare CDN – Every GreenGeeks hosting plan comes with Cloudflare CDN for speed, security, and SEO.

• Disaster recovery backups – GreenGeeks carries out backups every day for their shared, reseller, VPS, and WordPress hosting customers to ensure they don’t lose any data in case of disaster.

• Free Website Builder – This web host offers users a free website builder they can use to create their website, and it comes with different customizable templates, responsive themes, and SEO tools.

• PowerCacher – This feature helps improve the app and page load times

Pros
• Free site migration
• Multiple data center locations
• Free domain name
• Solid uptime performance
• Extensive knowledge base
• Reliable customer support

Cons
• No 24/7 phone support
• Higher cost for renewal

Pricing
GreenGeeks offers multiple hosting plans starting at $2.95 per month

Best SEO Hosting Providers for Blogs

If you want to create your website specifically for blogging, there are some SEO features that you have to look for when choosing a web host. 

For one, your web host has to be reliable and compatible with the blogging platform of your choice. Other factors you have to consider if you want your blog to rank include SEO blog plugins, cost-friendly hosting packages, fast setup times, and stable performance. 

The hosting providers discussed below provide site owners with the right set of tools to develop their blogs, build a web presence, and attract visitors to their site.

4. HostPapa

With the plugin compatibility this web host offers, it is one of the best SEO hosting providers for bloggers. Newbies can successfully use this platform to host their blogs and websites for their small business as it offers different hosting types like VPS, reseller, email, and WordPress Hosting as well as complimentary website products like domain names, email services, and website builders. 

Just like the other reviewed web hosts, HostPapa boasts of reliable customer support with telephone and chat options available 24/7. 

Plus, there is less possibility of your blog having downtimes or loading slowly with this web host.

Favorite SEO features

• Free SSL – HostPapa provides users with an SSL certificate to help secure their website and aid in search ranking.

• Website builder – You can use the drag and drop site builder available to develop your blog and include SEO features.

• Unmetered bandwidth on all plans

Pros
• Good customer support
• Beginner-friendly
• Good uptime record
• Free site transfers
• Free CDN
• Multiple server locations
• Different hosting types
• Supports WordPress hosting

Cons
• The lowest plan has no backup functionality
• No free backups
• High renewal costs

Pricing
HostPapa offers different hosting types and pricing plans starting from $3.95 per month

5. A2 Hosting

With this web host, your blog will load faster, resulting in better SEO rankings, increased conversion rates, and lower bounce rates. 

A2 hosting offers multiple types of hosting to suit any of your needs, like shared web, managed VPS, WordPress, and dedicated hosting. 

You can go wrong with this platform as it provides high-security measures and innovative hosting solutions to keep your site secure and online.

Besides, A2 Hosting supports different Content Management Systems like WordPress, Drupal, Magento, Joomla, and others.

Favorite SEO features

• Free CDN – A2 Hosting offers users solid-state drives, a free CDN, and a choice of data centers, enabling them to host their site closer to their visitors.

• Turbo Servers – These servers allow your page load speed to be 20 times faster than other web hosts.

• CPanel control panel – This control panel makes it easy for you to manage your databases, websites, files, emails, and others.

• WordPress optimized plugin – This plugin helps prevent hacks to your WordPress site.

Pros
• Free site migration
• Unlimited website hosting
• 24.7 customer support
• Free Cloudflare CDN
• DDoS protection
• Multiple data center locations

Cons
• No free domain name
• High renewal costs
• Restrictions on lower-tiered plan

Pricing
A2 Hosting offers multiple hosting types and pricing tiers starting at $10.99

6. InMotion Hosting

This web host is one of the oldest SEO hosting platforms in the industry and they are best known for their reliable data backup functionality.

InMotion provides users with multiple hosting types to choose from, and there are SSD drives attached to the shared plans, adding an extra boost to your website loading speed. 

Users can use this web host to build their blog or website for their business, and it allows them to scale up with ease. 

Additionally, customer support is available around the clock to help you with any hosting issues you have.

Favorite SEO features

• Automatic backups – with this free automatic backup feature, users will not lose their data or their search ranking as a result.

• Zero Downtime site transfers – You can switch between hosting plans without fear of your website going offline.

• Free Website Builder – Every plan comes with a free website builder to enable users to build their websites quickly and with ease.

Pros
• Unlimited disk space
• Free SSL
• Automatic WordPress update
• Multiple datacenters
• Reliable customer support
• Free domain
• CPanel included
• Free premium malware and hack protection

Cons
• Storage limitations
• No Windows servers

Pricing
InMotion offers multiple pricing plans starting at $2.79 per month. 

As a business owner, you want to save money in any way you can but contrary to what most people think, cheap doesn’t always mean a lack of quality. 

There are numerous affordable hosting providers available in today’s market that will satisfy some if not all of your SEO needs. 

The web hosts discussed below, although cheap, are reliable, have transparent fee structures, and have good SEO features.

7. Bluehost

Bluehost offers users reliable shared hosting plans at affordable prices, and although it doesn’t offer as many features as the expensive options, they will not affect your search rankings adversely. 

They offer important SEO features like 24/7 customer support and free SSL to ensure your site is protected and free from search engine penalties. 

Bluehost has a solid reputation in the hosting industry and it powers over 2 million websites. The performance and speed this web host offers result from a global Cloudflare CDN. Besides, this web host offers PS, WordPress, and dedicated hosting options.

Favorite SEO features

• Free SSL certificate – Every Bluehost plan comes with a free SSL certificate.

• Site backup – This we host backs up your account on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to ensure you don’t lose any data in case of disaster.

• Website Builder – Bluehost offers a website builder to enable users to build their SEO-friendly WordPress site without any coding.

Pros
• Beginner-friendly
• Free domain
• Unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Reliable customer support
• Built on CPanel
• 1-click WordPress install

Cons
• Limitations on the basic plan

Pricing
Bluehost’s pricing plan starts at $2.95 per month.

8. Hostinger

Hostinger is another affordable yet reliable SEO web host that offers an effective SEO toolkit and good loading speeds. All three shared hosting plans offered by this hosting provider are incredibly cheap compared to other web hosts. 

The premium and business hosting plans, although slightly more expensive, are still affordable and they come with free domain name registration, free backups, and unrestricted computing power. 

Hostinger does not sacrifice effectiveness and performance in their cheap plans, and it offers users a free SSL certificate, speed boosts, and an easy-to-use website builder.

Favorite SEO features

• Free SSL – This hosting platform offers a free SSL certificate to users of all plans

• Automatic 1-click WordPress Installation

• Google Ads Credit – Hostinger provides users with Google Ads credit to help in their search ranking.

Pros

• Unlimited storage and databases
• Free backups
• 24/7 chat support
• Scalable hosting plans
• Easy to use
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• GIT access

Cons
• Limited features on the basic plan
• Limited servers

Pricing
Hostinger’s pricing plan starts at $1.39 per month.

9. Hostgator

Even though Hostgator is an affordable web host option, it still delivers on speed and uptime, and it boasts of 99.99% uptime. Regardless of the type of site you want, this web host has a hosting type for you from VPS to cloud, dedicated, and WordPress hosting. 

Hostgator also offers unlimited disk space, bandwidth, emails, and MYSQL databases, and it is a cheap option if you want to scale up your website in the future. 

Besides, this hosting platform offers different pricing plans to suit your varying needs.

Favorite SEO features

• Website builder – This web host offers over 4500 drag and drop templates to enable users build their website, e-commerce store, or blog.

• CPanel – You can use the CPanel interface to manage emails, domains, and databases with ease.

• Free SSL certificate – Hostgator offers free SSL certificates to users on all pricing plans to enable them secure their sites.

Pros
• Easy to use
• Affordable pricing plans
• Unlimited bandwidth and disk space
• Multiple hosting types
• Flexible
• 24/7 support
• Free domain
• Free site transfers

Cons
• Limited for complex websites

Pricing
Hostgator offers multiple affordable pricing plans starting at $2.75 per month.

Best WordPress Hosting Providers for SEO

WordPress is one of the top content management system used globally, and most SEO professionals recommend it because it was built for SEO and very easy to set up. 

Because of its widespread use, most hosting providers offer multiple WordPress hosting plans but they are not all the same. When looking for web hosts for WordPress it is imperative that they offer WordPress specialization, plugins one-click installs, and other features. 

Besides, the web hosting providers discussed below all fit this criteria. Let’s check them out.

10. Kinsta

Kinsta is one of the top WordPress hosting providers in the industry, and they offer users premium managed WordPress hosting that comes with fast speed and exceptional security. 

This web host is perfect for you regardless of whether you are running a website, an e-commerce store, or an enterprise. 

Even though Kinsta is slightly costlier than some low-cost web host, it offers users with comprehensive features and reliable customer support.

Favorite SEO features

• Google’s C2 machine – These enable Kinsta to offer users industry leading loading speed, improving their search ranking.

• In-built application performance monitoring – This feature helps users to identify the performance issues affecting their site’s loading time.

• Global CDN – Users can choose from more than 20 data centers available worldwide to deliver fast pages to their site visitor

• Free SSL offerings

Pros
• Multiple data centers
• Free Cloudflare enterprise
• DDoS protection
• 24/7 expert support
• Easy to use and manage
• Free site migration
• Automatic daily backups

Cons
• Limited to only WordPress
• No unlimited storage or CDN
• No email hosting

Pricing
Kinsta pricing plan starts at $30 per month.

11. WP Engine

This web host is one of the leaders in the managed WordPress hosting industry, and the best part is you get a fast and reliable WordPress site without doing any work. WP Engine exclusively hosts WordPress and its servers are optimized for only WordPress sites. 

This hosting plan offers 1-click staging and backup, threat blocking, and customizable themes, and you can also use it to set up your WooCommerce store. Plus, with WP Engine, the maintenance of your website’s performance and security is covered by the hosting provider.

Favorite SEO features

• Free SSL certificate – WP Engine offers users a free SSL certificate for their site security.

• Free data backup and restoration – With this feature, users will not lose their site data in case of any disaster.

Pros
• Reliable WordPress support staff
• Automatic WordPress updates
• Free Global CDN

Cons
• It hosts only WordPress sites
• It is quite costly

Pricing

WP Engine offers multiple pricing plans starting at $30 per month.

12. DreamHost

DreamHost is well known for simplifying the web hosting process, and it offers both entry-level shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting. With this web host, your site will be fast, secure, and always available, enabling search engines to trust you. 

The shared hosting plans available on this web host are very affordable, and with it, you can install WordPress but with the managed WordPress plans, you have access to the comprehensive features available.

Favorite SEO features

• WordPress Builder – Users can build their WordPress site seamlessly using this feature.

• Free SSL – DreamHost offer let’s Encrypt SSL certificates to all their plans

• Custom Control Panel – This feature enables you to access all your DreamHost products.

• Solid State Drives – With these drives, your database queries, caching, and websites are faster.

Pros
• 1-click instant WordPress install
• 100% uptime
• Unlimited email
• Free automated WordPress Migrations
• Automated backups
• No bandwidth limit

Cons
• Limited live chat support
• No email for the starter shared hosting plan

Pricing
DreamHost pricing plans start at $4.95 per month.

Best Site Builder Hosting Providers for SEO

Website builders that double as hosting platforms help to remove the hassle involved in site-building and SEO implementation, and there are multiple options for you to choose from. 

However, ensure that the site builder web hosts you choose have multiple themes, building tools, and SEO tools available. 

The following web hosts discussed offer drag-and-drop functionalities and professionally designed templates to enable you to build SEO-friendly websites.

13. WIX

Guess what? This website used to be built on Wix. 

I have been with Wix since 2014 and while I consider it inferior to WordPress, it also has some amazing features that are unique and innovative. 

On the plus side, Wix continues to add new features every month to make sure bloggers can optimise their site for SEO. 

Wix is one of the leading website builders in the industry and it features customizable themes and templates, enabling users to build their websites without needing any coding skills. 

You don’t need to have any design skills when using this platform as the drag-and-drop feature makes site building seamless. Besides, Wix offers reliable web hosting to ensure your website stays online and running.

Favorite SEO features

• Wix SEO Wizard – This monitoring and optimization tool makes it easy for your site to rank on search engine results.

• SEO reporting tool – Wix reviews SEO aspects of your websites and provides you with a report on areas you need to improve.

• Free SSL certificate

Pros
• Easy to use
• Relatively cheap
• Great customer support

Cons
• Not possible to optimise the site for another language. 

• Can’t add a sub folder slug on the URLs.

Pricing
Wix has multiple plans starting at $18 per month

 

How to Set Up an Hosting Account with WPX

If you’re wondering how to start a blog, the first thing you need to do is to set up an hosting account. The customization and setup seem intimidating, but don’t stress.

To start, you’ll need a domain (site name) and then the website hosting (your website host “hosts” your site files so it can display on your website).

There are plenty of hosting as we have seen above, but my recommendation is WPX. Here is the 3-step process.

Step 1.
Click the orange Start Now (1) button in the top-right side of your screen and you will arrive at our hosting plans page.

Step 2.
Choose your ideal plan by clicking on BUY NOW (2).

This means you have the ease of creating your site while still having capabilities to scale it more significantly.

Step 3.
Next, select whether you only need a hosting account OR if you need a new domain name as well.

After choosing your account preference (4), enter your existing domain name (5) if you do not need a new domain. Once you’re ready, select Continue (6) and proceed to the next step;

Once the set up is done, you’ll enter the payment page where you can finally purchase your brand new hosting.

You’ve purchases your hosting – What comes next? 

Now you have your own hosting with the fastest CDN, which means the site will load extremely fast all over the world.

What comes next?

It’s time to build your own website, choosing the right website builder and then start blogging.

If you are wondering which website builder is better, I have got you covered.

Next, you’ll be wondering how to get traffic to your website, just follow the link to the left and go through our recommended SEO strategies.

Finally, you have to think about how to monetise your website with affiliate marketing, and I got you covered here as well.