Skip to main content

VPN and SEO: Why professionals should care

Virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that stretches a private network across a public network. It helps you build a secure connection to another network over the World Wide Web. In other words, it shields your browsing activity from almost all kinds of investigation on a public network.

VPN is prevalent nowadays, but not for the reasons it was originally invented for. Initially, VPNs were set up to link different business networks together safely over the internet or allow people to access their business networks from home or any remote place.

Today, the virtual private network has been used for a variety of purposes, ranging from hiding/changing IP addresses, accessing blocked websites, encrypting data, and more. In this article, we will learn about how a VPN works and how you can use it for SEO purposes. However, before that, let’s have a quick look at the VPN market growth over the years.

VPN global market and users

According to stats by Statista, 26% of global internet users accessed the internet through a VPN in the first quarter of 2018. While in North America alone, 18% of people used VPNs and proxy in the first quarter of 2018.

In 2018, the global market for VPN was worth $20.60 billion that has constantly been increasing with each passing year.

How does a VPN work?

A virtual private network routes your device’s internet connection via your selected VPN’s private server instead of your internet service provider (ISP). For that reason, when your data is transferred to the internet, it comes from a VPN rather than your own device. In other words, VPN acts as an intermediator when you connect to the World Wide Web. It hides your IP address and safeguards your identity.

A virtual private network builds a secret “tunnel” from your device to the internet and keeps your crucial data protected through encryption.

Why should you use a VPN service as an SEO expert?

1. Search results across the globe

One of the most significant advantages of a VPN network for SEO experts is, it helps them see what search results look like in different countries. Although there are plenty of tools that can help with the same, nothing is like a VPN. It allows you to appear as a local, surfing the internet from the location of your VPN service. So, if you need to see the search results of a specific location for SEO purposes, you can choose the VPN provider having a server in that particular location.

2. Mask your real IP address

As an SEO professional, you have to work with sensitive accounts. If you don’t have that proper protection, the security of your client will be at risk. Luckily, a VPN can help with this situation.

With a VPN, it’s easy to change your IP address and stay anonymous online. Since a virtual private network gives you a provisional IP address from the chosen VPN server, it hides your real IP address. Therefore, people can’t track your internet activities. VPN allows you to surf the internet in absolute anonymity. Moreover, you can bypass filters and unblock websites. This is something that can be very handy when SEOs are up to research, especially competitor research.

3. Safe remote control

As an SEO expert, you might have to work away from your desks many times a day, which may result in security risks. Therefore, you must connect to a secure network that lets you access the information securely from any remote location.

A virtual private network helps remote users connect to their work network without revealing their work computer system to the entire internet. With a VPN, you can access your drives, email servers, and more safely because it creates an encrypted path for you to communicate with a server or other devices.

4. Improved internet security

Security is one of the biggest challenges most small SEO companies deal with. If you think cyber-attack is a big-business issue, you’re mistaken. According to an article published in Forbes, around 58% of cyber attack victims were small businesses in the year 2018.

Therefore, you must connect to a safe network when surfing the internet for performing different SEO activities. When you connect via a virtual private network, your data is kept encrypted. Thus your browsing information is kept protected from hackers. You won’t need to worry about as no one can track your internet and data activities. After all, VPN gives you a temporary IP address from your chosen VPN server and hides your original IP address. Therefore, you can transact sensitive information and other essential schedules for your business without worrying about hackers.

If you’re into any online business that requires the transmission of sensitive information or money, you must invest in good VPN software. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is one of the tools for startups to grow their business successfully. After all, until you have a safe network, you can’t create successful SEO Strategies.

5. Safe file sharing

An SEO expert has to share files with their clients and co-workers many times a day. As a result, it is crucial to look for a safe way to share important data.

Nowadays, there are plenty of ways to share files online. However, not all are safe. Most SEO experts feel paranoid when they share an important file that they can’t afford to get into the wrong hands.

Fortunately, a virtual private network can help you stay relaxed while you can share your files safely with a VPN connection. VPNs are commonly used for folder and file sharing. It helps you access files and folders stored on a network computer securely, regardless of where that computer is physically located.

Final thoughts

Considering everything together, we can say a virtual private network is an ideal way to mask your internet protocol address, so all your SEO activities are almost untraceable. It establishes a secure and encrypted connection to offer great privacy. Unlike most web proxies and hide IP software, VPN helps you access both websites and web applications in complete anonymity. If you’re also planning to set up a VPN, it is advisable to choose the one that is renowned and reputable. After all, not all VPN providers are equal when it comes to performance and security.

Roman Daneghyan is the Chief Marketing Officer at Renderforest. He can be found on Twitter @roman_daneghyan.

The post VPN and SEO: Why professionals should care appeared first on Search Engine Watch.



from Search Engine Watch https://ift.tt/2umvwBC

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five great tools to improve PPC ads

Every digital marketer wants to reach the top position on the search engine results. However, if you’ve recently launched a new website or your niche is saturated, starting with paid search ads sounds like a good idea. Strategically created PPC campaigns can drive leads, sales or sign-ups to your websites. You know what? In fact, businesses earn an  average of $8 for every dollar  they spend on Google Ads. Optimizing PPC campaigns is not easy, but it’s very powerful if you do it properly. Just like SEO, it is essential to conduct extensive keyword research, optimize ad copy, and design high-converting landing pages. Fortunately, there are a lot of effective PPC tools that will help you analyze your competitors’ PPC strategies, figure out tricks in their campaigns, and improve your PPC campaigns. If you are ready to take an evolutionary leap in your PPC advertising, take a look at my list of five amazing tools to save you time, give you crucial insights, and raise money fo...

Creating SEO-friendly how-to content

People are constantly craving useful information. Once you show them that you have a lot more to share through something like “how-to” content pages, you will be rewarded by sharing it with others and establish your company’s credibility. Creating SEO-friendly how-to content is a good way to catch your audience’s attention, fuel SEO, foster deeper levels of engagement, and take on the  customer journey  from brand awareness to sales. To understand how important how-to content is to your overall content creation game, let’s take a look at some interesting stats: According to  Think With Google , “how-to” videos get the most attention of any content type on YouTube, even more than video games and music clips. Google has reported that “how-to” searches have increased  by more than 140%  over the last 13 years.  The graphs from  LawRank   reveal more and more how-to searches on Google and YouTube. So, how-to blog posts and articles become some...

Faceted navigation in ecommerce: How it helps customers and SEO

The ecommerce market is highly competitive, with thousands of small players striving to keep up with the giants like Amazon and eBay. Still, for both leaders and followers, the web store UX stays the factor that defines who wins customers’ hearts (and purses) and who is to leave the stage. UX stays a top priority in ecommerce as the majority of shoppers prefer convenience to a nifty look. According to Shopify, 80 percent of users admit that a poor search experience can make them leave a web store. So, a thought-out catalog navigation system is one of the crucial factors of a web store’s success. Why faceted navigation? Faceted search is probably the most convenient search system to date. It relies on sets of terms structured by relation (aka facets). Users mix and match options (price, color, fabric, brand, and more) to progressively narrow down the search results list until they get a short selection of relevant picks.  Apart from being convenient, the faceted search system...