Title: Gary Illyes from Google Discusses the Impact of Switching Web Hosting on SEO Rankings
Google’s Gary Illyes addressed whether changing web hosting platforms could negatively impact rankings and SEO. This is a pertinent question since migrating a site to a new host involves multiple technical factors that, if mishandled, could have immediate negative effects.
What Does Changing a Website Host Entail?
Switching web hosts can be complex; however, migrating a standard WordPress site is relatively straightforward, especially when utilizing plugins. Even manual migration can be manageable if you’re familiar with website database administration using tools like phpMyAdmin and SFTP software. Gary Illyes mentions doing it "by the book," which can be daunting if you’re inexperienced in this area.
Does Changing Website Hosting Affect SEO?
The query posed was:
"My company is considering switching hosts for our website. Would switching have a negative and lasting effect on our SEO rankings?"
Gary Illyes answered:
"If you do things by the book, meaning the website keeps being resolvable and the actual downtime is minimal, changing hosts should not negatively affect your pages’ rankings in Google’s search results."
Two Things to Be Mindful Of
Gary Illyes’ advice assumes the new web host is as competent as the previous one. Downgrading hosting services might lead to negative outcomes. He emphasized two key considerations:
- Website domain resolution
- Minimal downtime
1. Website Is Resolvable
This refers to correctly translating the domain name to an IP address where the website is hosted. This generally involves acquiring the Name Servers (NS) details from the new host and updating these at the domain registrar. Additionally, the A Record should display the correct IP address for the new hosting location and include entries related to email.
2. Downtime Is Minimal
Although it may seem unlikely, your website can be offline for weeks without permanently losing rankings, provided that when it returns, everything remains unchanged. Based on personal experience from operating websites for 25 years, issues like hard drive failure at a dedicated host, incorrect settings leading to 500 errors, and temporary shutdowns to repair hacked files have occurred.
A website can recover from extended downtime, and in my experience, it might take a couple of weeks for Google to recrawl and add all the web pages back into the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Featured Image by Shutterstock/New Africa
