How to market web hosting

[realflight]

Hello everyone,

I am setting up a web hosting business and looking for customers.

However, I haven't had much experience with online marketing (apart from trying SEO, in vain, and getting frustrated), and I don't know how I will get customers. I know there are some free techniques, and I will try those, but I don't know whether people will want to purchase my hosting because it's not terribly unique.

The other problem is just getting a few people to sign up to begin with -- how can I make sure people will want to buy my hosting from the moment it goes live?

Thanks for your time

[robertsavva]

Try running some add in online business magazines. The sort that different professional get delivered to their email boxes. It shouldn't cost too much and you can find them with a Google search.

[sarahfriedlander]

First, congratulations on starting up an online web hosting business! Web hosting businesses are a dime a dozen so in order to capture your first few customers instead of relying on online marketing I would try a more face-to-face approach. If I were you I would rely more on advertising and marketing to local small businesses. Many local businesses like to support one another and would be happy to be one of the first few people to sign up.

Would you be able to post some signs at local coffee shops (like Starbucks) or even distribute flyers at some small businesses in your area?

[realflight]

Thanks very much for your replies.

I will probably focus on local business, to add the friendly touch, but I probably won't do this by flyers as I have not had much success with these in the past in my area.

I have always held the view that PPC is more targeted and cost-manageable than advertising in a magazine, do you think this is the case? What about other online marketing methods?

Thanks!

[jdquey]

As sarahfriedlander said, congratulations, and embrace yourself! You will definitely need to figure out some way in which you are going to stand out from everyone else. Realize, though, the answering with "Quality and Service" is not going to suffice as no one can see your quality or service until you actually do it and since everyone else says that.

As far as PPC is concerned, I suggest for you to break down the numbers of how much your service costs you in total, and how much money you plan on making per customer - i.e. let's say it costs you $50 per customer, you charge $10/month, and you plan on your average customer being with you for 3 years (which you need to determine by finding out the industry norms by googling around), then each customer is worth $360 in revenue with a profit of $310.

Then you got to determine your click-through ratio. If you spend $10 for each click, 1/5 click to page 2, and 1/6 of those to buy your service, it costs you $50 to get someone to click on the ad and go to page 2 and $300 to buy your service. In the long-haul, you'll profit $10. Now the question becomes, can you stream the process so that you improve your click-through ratios or will increasing your customer base potentially decrease your costs?

That's just a start for you to consider regarding online advertising .

[realflight]

Many thanks for your help.

You will definitely need to figure out some way in which you are going to stand out from everyone else. Realize, though, the answering with "Quality and Service" is not going to suffice as no one can see your quality or service until you actually do it and since everyone else says that.

I am in the process of building the site now, and I am finding it quite difficult to find a niche/differentiate myself from everyone else! I am using reseller hosting (to begin with, at least), and, other than amazing service, I am finding it really difficult to find something to do fundamentally differently in web hosting. If I can't do that, then I would like to target a niche. Any ideas?

[RealCamz]

Be cheaper than everyone else. Really, that's the only way. It's okay if you offer them a discount in the first year, because you can make that revenue up in further years. People don't like moving websites. So once they are with you... they are with you for a long time.

[michaeljibrael]

As a consumer of hosting services, my major concern is the stability and reliability of the provider. I don't want ANY downtime , no crashes, automatic backups, and I want to make sure the business is around in the next 5 years.
I know it is a tall list, but you would need to decide which type of consumer you are looking for
- Are you looking for a consumer who needs add-on services (like web dev, IT , email, etc...)
- A consumer who needs a basic host
- A consumer with a special need (different Class C IP addresses)
etc...

[ZenReputation]

start with PPC n offers for free hosting for short time