Why is this important to webmasters? Well, it’s not that big of a deal really. There is some debate amongst search engine experts as to whether server location effects search results. It is, however, a known fact that domain extensions affect search engine results, especially for Google. For example, the domain pastrommy.us will be higher in the search engine rankings for users submitting the query from inside the United States. The same goes for .ca, .uk, and so on.

Either way, it’s up to you whether you want to run the risk of lower SERP’s because of your web hosting location. I’ve found a very reliable host located in Canada that I’ve decided to stick with despite the possible altercations.

Today I discovered something mildly hilarious. My school runs some educational software called Desire2Learn on a web server in order to manage classes. It’s basically a way for students to connect with their teachers over the internet. The funny part is that the server is hosted in Canada. You would think a state school with government grants and the like would be putting the money back into the United States economy. What ever happened to logical thinking?