Title: Should You Move Your U.S. VPS to Germany? A Consideration for Hosting Static Sites
As a website owner, ensuring the best possible performance and search engine visibility for your sites is crucial. I currently manage a VPS in the United States that has served me well for years. This server hosts around a dozen U.S.-based websites, all of which have built up solid rankings over time.
Recently, I’ve been contemplating a move to a dedicated server at Hetzner in Germany. The potential cost benefits are enticing, especially since the dedicated server would provide dedicated resources and German IP addresses. Since all of my sites are static, there’s also the option of using Cloudflare to enhance performance—effectively allowing me to “proxify” the websites.
However, I have some concerns that need addressing:
1. Would migrating my server to Germany negatively impact the search engine rankings of my well-established websites?
2. If I do use Cloudflare for proxying, will search engines like Google recognize that my server is located in Germany due to the German IP addresses, particularly given that MX records would still point to the server’s new IP?
I appreciate any insights or experiences you might have regarding server location changes and their effects on SEO. Thank you!