Why does network information such as IP address matter for SEO?
July 25th, 2007
Here’s an example network information report from The Reaction Engine as of v3b1:
| Test | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Parent Site | www.google.com | This (sub)domain ‘owns’ the content of the URI, and is the subject of the network tests below |
| IP | 216.239.59.103 | IP addresses can identify site owners and connect seemingly unrelated sites |
| Location | US | Where a site is located affects its perceived audience, especially if it uses a non-regional domain name (e.g. .com) |
| Reverse Dns | gv-in-f103.1e100.net | Reverse DNS usually identifies the ISP or company behind a website |
| Spam Blocklists | Not listed | Sites that send email spam are more likely to be spam themselves |
| Server Software | gws | Server software may be more (Apache) or less (IIS) configurable to improve performance |
Now, you may ask, what’s the significance of this? Can this information really affect search engine performance?