Server Location Irrelevant" Says Google's Mueller"

Pete Prestipino
by Pete Prestipino 16 Jan, 2023
Server Location Irrelevant
There will come a time in an enterprise's digital life when going "global" starts to become appealing, internationalizing the brand and its SEO efforts in order to acquire more visitors and capture more business. 

While there are a whole host of issues brands will need to contend with (translation and all the business and cultural nuances of operating in a foreign land), one aspect that has caused some confusion and concern over the years has finally been cleared up.

Google's John Mueller recently addressed on Twitter how the search engine geotargets search rankings to users in different locations around the world and it turns out, server location just doesn't matter. 

Mueller, a well-known Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, indicated that for geotargeting, Google "mostly" uses the ccTLD or search console setting, suggesting in essence that the server location was not that important. Essentially, if you're in the U.S. and want to expand into the UK or Germany, there's no need for a separate hosting provider in that area (just use what is most convenient) and make the necessary change in Google Search Console. 
Pete Prestipino
Pete Prestipino
Digital marketing executive with proven experience in all aspects of search engine optimization (SEO), performance-based advertising, consumer-generated/social media, email marketing, lead generation, Web design, usability, and analytics. - 20-year Internet marketing veteran, currently serving as the Digital Marketing Campaign Manager at Antenna Group (formerly Chicago Digital). - Former Editor-In-Chief of Website Magazine, and a regular speaker on Web technology digital marketing strategy - Author of several books on digital marketing Including Web 360: The Fundamentals of Web Success; Affiliate 360: The Fundamentals of Performance Marketing; Domains 360: The Fundamentals of Buying & Selling Domain Names, and SEO 360: The Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization.