The domain name or network address of the remote server RankGear connects to when it publishes to or reads from a configured destination.
| Term | Host |
|---|---|
| Category | APIs, Reliability and Publishing |
| Also known as | Server Host |
| Where it appears | Domain tables |
What it means in RankGear
Host is the address half of a publishing connection: the machine RankGear actually reaches out to, expressed as a hostname such as sftp.example.com or a raw IP address. You set it in the Domain tables alongside the connection’s credentials, port and target path. Everything RankGear pushes or pulls over that connection is routed to the value in this field, so it defines where a request goes before any authentication or file transfer takes place.
How to interpret it
Read Host together with the connection’s live status, its diagnostics output and its credential test, because those signals separate a wrong address from a wrong login. A host that will not resolve or refuses the connection points at the address itself — a typo, a stale server name, or the wrong port. A host that resolves and connects but then fails on sign-in points instead at credentials or permissions. Making that distinction first tells you whether to fix the address or the account, and keeps a single transient blip from being mistaken for a broken configuration.
Example
You configure a publishing connection with the host sftp.clientsite.com. On the first run RankGear reaches the server, the address is confirmed reachable, but the transfer stops on an authorization error — the host is right, the password is not. After you correct the credential the same host connects cleanly and the publish completes, with no repeated paid or authenticated calls fired against the server in the meantime.
Important considerations
- Host is infrastructure configuration, not a scored SEO metric; it describes a connection target and has no bearing on how a page ranks.
- Where possible, connection tests against a host should be read-only so a diagnostic check never alters or overwrites live content.
- Treat the host and its paired credentials as sensitive: secrets stay redacted in the interface, workbook and any saved report, and are never exposed alongside the address.
- A single failure against a reachable host is often transient — use the status and diagnostics to decide on a bounded retry rather than repeatedly hammering the server.
Related terms
Part of the RankGear glossary · how RankGear measures · the 870 factors.