Location of the web host provider and SEO

[ninjamarketer]

There has been several debates on the topic of the geo location of hosting provider and the impact on SEO and rankings. As a best practice, it is recommended to host in the same country you are targeting but are there any studies available that confirms the web hosting providers location influences rankings?

[gfiorelli1]

I do not have studies with me to prove (or not) if local hosting providers influences rankings...

But I want to underline that is the IP location what counts, especially if we accept the idea that for Local Search Search Engines are looking also if the website is for real localized in the country it is competing for.

That means, that you can also avoid a physical hosting in the country you are competing for, but you can host your website via proxy in the local country, as very well said Richard Baxter in this comment (http://www.seomoz.org/blog/international-seo-where-to-host-and-how-to-target-whiteboard-friday#jtc132564 )to this WBF: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/international-seo-where-to-host-and-how-to-target-whiteboard-friday

Anyway, the most important is the domain termination, so - whenever it is possible - try always to use the country domain name termination of the geography you want your site rank for.