If you want your website to be successfully listed in UK search engines, including Google, Yahoo, MSN etc then don't underestimate the significance of chosing a UK hosting provider.
It's all very well having a page 1 ranking on an American search engine when you only cater for UK customers. Not only could you be losing valuable customers it could end up costing you more in increased bandwidth from unwated traffic.
You might think its blatantly obvious from your .co.uk domain that you are a UK company/UK based website but search engines don't see it this way. Furthermore, what if you have a .com domain and cater for UK customers? When a potential customer/surfer searches for your site on Google using the "pages from the UK only" option - how is Google going to distinquish whether you are Uk based or USA based? Simple! It traces the IP address of your website and then decides whether its a UK or US site. Simply put Google checks to see if your hosting provider has their servers in the UK or US.
If you have bought US hosting and the servers are physically located in the US then Google (and other search engines) will assume you cater for US customers/surfers.
ALWAYS check that your hosting provider has their servers located in the UK - just because you paid in pounds it doesn't always mean the severs hosting your website will be located in the UK.
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