Hosting - Where to host - Here or there

Only international clients - where to host - here or there

[llmm123]

Hi all,

We have been having some trouble with our host - emails not going through etc etc. Also, we've been listed as "spammers" because of others on our shared server...... or should I rather say, the SERVER has been listed on spamcop which then obviously influences us.

My simple (I hope) question..... Our website only targets international clients (we are in South Africa). We do no local business whatsoever. We currently host in the US (where most of our clients come from). Is this the best way of doing it (hosting where your clients come from) or would it be OK to host in SA.

My first thought is to host in the US as there will then be a a shorter "turn-around/access" time for the mostly US clients to get to our website - "they have a shorter distance to travel". Dont know if this is a valid comment though.

Hope you can help.

Thanks.
LL

[jtara]

I think hosting in SA would be a terrible idea. This topic came up recently here. Apparently, connectivity is horrible and prices are sky-high. There are only a couple of companies that offer high-quality hosting with decent bandwidth. Fortunately for you, international bandwidth is faster/cheaper from SA than domestic - I pity the webmasters that have a SA audience and have to host there.

Besides that, yes, the latency would be an issue. There is about as far as you can get from here. :) Not only because of the distance, but because of the fact that, like air traffic, most Internet traffic between the U.S. and SA goes through London.

[llmm123]

Thanks jtara!