If you remember, I mentioned a friend of mine starting a web hosting business earlier, I’m just gonna talk about his experience here a little bit, all in all this guy spent nearly a cool grand on the whole project without expenses for the server, the money spent was on advertising and marketting mostly, he did spent all of his time on that web hosting site hiring support, better content, service..etc and was approached by more then a 100 people wanting web hosting but they always opted not to buy the webhosting no matter how many discounts he made, he even started this first month free scheme, which was unsuccessful as well, when he told me everything that was happening it got me thinking, is webhosting still a profitable business or what?
Lately even I don’t get that many web host owners approaching me for advertising on this blog, it’s kinda odd, maybe the business is way too saturated, maybe there are just too many web hosts out there that people would rather be web hosts than buy from other hosts..
There are 185 million search results for the term web hosting , which is now concerning me alot, this niche is getting way too saturated and the economy on an all time low isn’t really the best time to start business where all you sell is oppurtunities for people to invest and show case their business or skills.
Since his investment kinda went sour here, I thought why not give the whole web hosting niche a little make over, make it a little more…interactive rather then just a buy sell service, dont you think?
Here’s what I have planned so far for his project, it’s a good oppurtunity for me to try out some improved skills of mine!
- Make a community around the business.
- Free services upfront and options to upgrade.
- Cheap but unique packages for web hosting, something different.
- The whole entreprenuer’s/webmaster’s community look on it.
- More then just a webhost, a community or maybe even a platform for webmasters.
I plan to do all that with the free tools available online and maybe a vb license.
I’m still looking for more input on this project that I took on, if you guys have any info that could help me out here just leave your opinions here!
February 17th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Tons of useful info here – will grab your feed!
February 17th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Those who have successful website are going to run it no matter what, so I guess webhosts don´t have to worry about that.However, people who are starting their first sites may consider free webhosting that is paid for with ads.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
One thing is for sure. There are just too many web hosting services chasing dwindling market. When one has settled with a host, it is difficult to change too. Your ideas seem workable and I wish you all the best.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
In order to make it big in the web hosting business now, you have to offer something that none of the other services offer. You need something that will make you stand out. There are definitely too many webhosts out there now, and with the economy as it is now, many people who want to try the online business don't want to spend much money on webhosting unless they know they'll make money.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Great stuff.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
interesting site it really learns me a lot.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
i like to read and explore this kind of site.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
thanks for the information i will apply that.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
great post i really like that.
February 21st, 2009 at 6:29 am
I believe webhosting has suffered a lot due to high saturation of the market due to reseller accounts being available everywhere. I also believe the economic downturn has had a big effect on a lot of online businesses and this is just another of them seeing a drop in revenue.
March 1st, 2009 at 8:21 am
Never thought about this. At least not in the economy around me!
March 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Im pretty new at this game started in the crash of october, I am using three web host now they each have there benifits but the best one that has a reseller whm where you can have many domains on the same account. where currently I have two proxy accounts set up one host several accounts, You can become your own host server and have serval clients or domains on one account. easy set up and site builders for setups are an essential for those who are getting started, competion for web host gives us more opportunities and better perks.
March 8th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I agree with you that the web hosting industry is getting saturated. I don't see many web hosts offering good plans to promote customers' website for free. Maybe you can come out with a plan to provide free promotion service.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
the global recession has affected many business may it be positive or negative. nonetheless, we should make something out of it so that we could have the advantage.
March 11th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
yes you are right.i have always wanted to host my sites in the best hosting places like hostgator.I wonder how so many people still go for such businesses.
March 14th, 2009 at 7:44 am
I just wanted to leave a quick comment to thank you for your post! I really like your blog site!!! Would you mind terribly if I put up a backlink from my site to your site? Keep up the great work!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Maybe your friend should try targeting his hosting by demographic and go after a small part of a huge pond.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
thinks about good strategy to survive and pass from crisis situation
March 29th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
yes it is profitable business however change in the Marketing and advertisement strategy
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I have no idea how webhosting companies can do it. it just seem like a lot of hard work for small profits.
April 5th, 2009 at 1:51 am
i never thought that webhosting companies would be affected by the current economy considering that so many of them are cheap and affordable and that many people would take advantage of their offers so this a first for me
April 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am
It's the 'something different' that will be the tricky one. As with all businesses trying to offer something unique is the key
April 12th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
The world as we know it is constantly changing, new economic factors are affecting the way we do business, the price of energy is creating second thoughts in the minds of a lot of people, demand on an individual's time combined with many other factors are shaping the way we look at our lives and our business.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
One of the earlier comments referred to, too many hosting services in a dwindling market.
I wouldn't call the internet a dwindling market. Surely it's still expanding exponentially.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Web hosting is a saturated market. Just goes to some webmaster forum and you will see tons of selling thread there. Anyways, if you can find some webhosting niche market, which to fulfill some very specific market, then you might able to gain some profit from it.
April 24th, 2009 at 3:20 am
well in order to find a great web hosting service its not really a dead market like you make it seem you just have to choose a company thats right for your pocket as well as their service if whether or not their reliable and you can forget about all the other companies because the ones succeeding are the ones that last whether its a terrible economy or a prospering one
May 26th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Business is constant battle to stay ahead. Web hosting is a highly competitive market. If you want to stay in business, you'll need to keep ahead of the game.