Server/Website hosting Speed matters!
In Australia and around the world there are a diverse range of devices accessing the internet through a wide range of bandwidth qualities. In Australia and New Zealand this can vary from very good fibre (NBN) to down right poor dial-up in some rural locations. For the business owner with a website one of the easiest methods to improve your websites performance is to locate it closer to your main market. For Australian Businesses targeting the local market this often means locating your web hosting to an Australian based datacentre.
There is more to consider than just being in the country
While physical distance is a factor, the ping or latency to your server is the actual measurable factor to be concerned with, offset by server performance, cost and accessibility.
Top things to consider
Location map
Here is an interactive map to show where the major internet backbones are around the world. This may help with finding an interesting or logical place to host your site.
A word of warning. Always web host with providers who offer at least 24/7 email support, the last thing you want is to have a done website at 4pm Friday and they are closed all weekend. The second thing is consider the local environment, so exotic locations have fantastic bandwidth and cheap pricing. However this is often offset by, poor infrastructure (Yes it is true Indian, Kazakhstan don’t have the same level of maintenance and speed of repair as western countries), Natural risks, such as; Earthquakes, floods. WAR I think this is over looked sometimes, but you should consider if the country your hosting is attacked what would happen. If your datacentre is blown up its gone, there is no one literally who can recover that. Even if it is just at risk of attack staff will unlikely be staying behind to make sure you site is up and making a backup available to you. Insurance! there won’t be any so you could be opening yourself up to being sued as well.