cloud computing

Cloud computing involves the use of storage and computing capacity from external providers. This facilitates file sharing, but also improves e.g. the loading times of web pages.

Definition

Cloud computing in general involves users accessing software and hardware that is not part of their own local system. This allows a single user to access more resources than are available to him. Cloud computing also makes it easier to share and collaborate on data.

For search engine optimization (SEO), proper handling of cloud computing solutions is important because some strategies are affected by cloud computing. This includes IP targeting, for example, since the IP address of the cloud is different from that of the user. In addition, cloud computing is interesting for technical SEO, as it can influence the loading speeds of websites.

Cloud computing in general

Cloud computing is essentially a content delivery network (CDN). In this process, several servers are connected to each other so that data can be accessed more quickly. Cloud computing goes one step further. Unlike a CDN, cloud computing allows not only the software to be accessed on other devices, but also the hardware to be used.

For example, physical storage no longer needs to be provided; instead, companies, for example, but also private individuals, can rent storage space from cloud providers. Something similar works with computing power and so on.

What is the importance of cloud computing for SEO?

Google itself has confirmed that information obtained from IP addresses and servers of the providers have an impact on the ranking of web pages. This location-based data is used by the search engine to calculate page rank and other key performance indicators (KPI). Therefore, the data of a website that is not stored on a server, but decentralized in a cloud, is captured differently by the crawlers of a search engine. Google, Bing & co have already programmed their algorithms with these innovations in mind, so they are already taken into account when the SERPs are created.

Likewise, technical key data of websites, such as the loading speed, are important for the page rank – especially for keywords that are subject to a lot of competition. The combined computing power of a cloud can offer advantages here and shorten loading times, for example, which in turn positively influences the ranking on the SERPs.

Conclusion

Cloud computing has many advantages that are being used more and more in the working world as well as in our personal lives. What consequences this system has for SEO, is so far only in rudimentary foreseeable. But as more web pages are stored on cloud servers, the relevance of the issue will become more important.