If you live in Canada, you might at first be frustrated when doing a search for web hosting companies that could help you run your website. Are all of...
If you live in Canada,
you might at first be frustrated when doing a search for web hosting companies that could help you run your website. Are all of the web hosts returned in your search American? And should you give up your patriotic loyalty just to run your site? The answer, is a resounding “No!” If you’re Canadian, you absolutely should use a Canadian web host, and not consider using any other kind. And the reason has very little to do with patriotism.
One of the biggest reasons Canadians should only use a Canadian web host is because of the privacy issues. When you run your website using an American host, your data won’t be nearly as secure as when you use a Canadian host. This is because the United States is governed by the Patriot Act, which allows any American government authority to view, and even block, any data that’s on your website. Through this act, you could even be prevented from accessing your own data!
However, through the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act that recognized in Canada, Canadians are guaranteed much more privacy and security over their own data. Not only will nobody retrieve and analyze your information without your permission, or without your knowledge, but your data will also be protected from everyone – from hackers, to government officials.
But aside from privacy issues, there are other reasons why Canadians should only choose a Canadian web host as well.
One of those is that your load time will be much faster. When someone tries to visit your website, the pages within the site have to load onto their computer. In order to do this, the data needs to go through a complex network of servers just in order to appear on the other person’s end. The farther your website’s data is from the data center, the longer that data will have to travel – and the longer it will take your page to load.
This can be frustrating to anyone who visits your website. Internet users are not a patient group today, and they expect to have sites and information returned to them the very second they request it. When it takes too long, they will simply leave your website and move onto a competitors where they don’t have to wait as long. That competitor, if they’re Canadian, probably has a Canadian web host and so, faster load times. And if you’re not using a Canadian host, you’ll probably lose business to those competitors because of it.
Finally, when your web host is located close to you, so is your server and all the information that’s on your website. This is beneficial because, instead of just taking a web host at their word that they run a state-of-the-art facility with only the best equipment, you can actually go check it out for yourself and see it with your own eyes. This can be especially beneficial when you’re first trying to decide on a web host, and which one to use.
As a Canadian, you probably want to buy as local as possible and probably prefer to use Canadian companies over American. When it comes to your web host though, it’s about more than just national loyalty. It’s about getting the best possible service for your site!
