More than 98% of Web hosting companies in Nigeria host their customer’s websites on servers overseas or resell services of other foreign webhosting companies. They should not be mistaken for local Webhosting companies, as their servers are domiciled outside the country.

Local Web Hosting in a nutshell, means servers are resident locally in Nigeria and support is local.

Here are some reasons why you should consider hosting locally:

1. SPEED
Local hosting enables your website run about 3 times faster than hosting overseas because of ultralow latency. It is vital for you to pinpoint your business’ needs before settling on a decision between hosting your website locally or overseas. Latency is better and faster when you host locally because local traffic is routed locally through the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria

2. PRICING

One of the drawbacks of hosting overseas in this current economic situation is due to the current devaluation of the Naira i.e. the ridiculous increase in exchange rate, you find out you are paying up to 4 times more now for the same service as opposed to 12 months ago. Hosting locally beats this issue and you pay less because local hosting is not influenced by FX

3. DATA PRIVACY LAWS

Knowing where your information and client data resides is vital, and the data privacy laws of the country where your data is being hosted. To avoid the complexity of international Laws, once important information is being hosted outside the country the Laws of the land no longer apply; for example, if you host your data with an international service provider and they were to be involved in a case of national security and had to shut down because of a motion against them, you might lose access to your data because the laws of the hosting country will be applied against you

4. BOOST LOCAL ECONOMY

It is said that Nigeria loses billions annually from hosting abroad. Hosting locally enables you grow the economy and also enables local hosting companies to export services and in turn generate revenue for the country.

5. LOCAL SUPPORT

When hosting locally you will also notice a better quality of support when you need it the most. For example, time difference and language will not be an issue. Using a reputable local company to host your website means you have easier access to quality support. 24/7/365 telephone, email, and/or chat support and could resolve any issue for you on the spot, where possible. One phone call connects the small business owner to a customer care rep instead of an automated phone tree.

Finally, it is advisable that you host locally rather than overseas, if your target market is local. Hosting your website locally will ensure more uptime for your website, high speed loading time for your web pages, and faster browsing for your local visitors, along with greater access to expert support and optimum access for your target market, creating great user experience.

Perhaps right now, more than any other time would be good to reassess your website hosting.

- See more at: https://www.wikinaija.net/2017/01/5-reasons-host-website-locally/#sthash.iC4WhpaP.dpuf

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