Content Delivery Networks and SEO


At Web Design Townsville we explore all options and all avenues of search engine optimization. Generally speaking, we approach this from a very technical lens, meaning that we focus on the microscopic technical points behind web sites to understand what Google likes and what Google doesn't like. One of the key areas that we have seen is the presence of a content delivery network. A content delivery network (generally speaking) is a good thing, but it's important to understand that the primary reason that a content delivery network is better is because you get the website content given to you from the nearest “point of presence”. Let's break this down into plain English: 

  •  When somebody goes to Google and they click on your website, they are sent from their computer in their house to wherever the website is hosted. Google will know if that website is hosted in Australia or in the United States. When a website is hosted in the United States it is often cheaper which is why many website companies decide to do it.

  • If your website is hosted in Australia, this is typically the best option because it allows your customers in Australia to see your website nice and quickly with no delay when the page is opened.

  • A content delivery network on the other hand is almost like having your website in 50 different spots across the world. So when one of your customers is trying to visit your website and they live in NZ, your website will appear very quickly to them because they will be seeing the New Zealand content. You could think of this like having that single web host copied all across the world into 50 different locations.

A content delivery network when we look at search engine optimization can have negative impacts on your website. Our Web Design Townsville experts believe this is because when Google crawls your website to see new content, new images that you've added and next text that you've put on the page, it might do this from a Google server in the United States. If Google goes looking for your website, the content delivery network will show them The United States version of the website, which means Google will see your website hosted in the United States. Google does not like when a website host and a business are in two different countries, it prefers them to be in the same country. 


For this reason, we typically say to our customers that if you want a fast website and you have international clients, then there is a strong recommendation to use things like Cloudflare as a content delivery network. If you have a local business on the other hand, such as a painting business in Townsville, QLD then the best option for web design results is to keep that website on an Australian server for the best results possible. 


At Web Design Townsville we have covered hundreds of similar topics, and we know exactly which web design technologies to use and when to use them. As with most things in web design it is not a one size fits all approach, it is a case of having the right tool to achieve a specific task. We also take exceptional care to make sure that our customers understand these decisions. Although you may think a website is built by another company and therefore the decision is up to them, as a business owner it is your responsibility to understand everything under your roof. We make this as simple as possible by explaining it to you and your team in ways that you will understand. 


Speak to one of the friendly staff at Web Design Townsville, to see just how easy setting up a new website can be.