How can web hosting providers set themselves apart from their competition?

SenseiSteve

SenseiSteve

HD Moderator
Staff member
Certainly, nearly all web hosting providers offer some sort of support or pre-sales consultation. When someone recommends filling a niche, what are some examples of what those could be?
 
@bigredseo was recently helping me with a SEO related search. I think we both walked away surprised how active/popular the search term "minecraft server" has become.

I guess that's one niche you don't see often, even on this forum, but it clearly has a demand.
 
Yes, the numbers on Minecraft Server (and related phrases) were pretty staggering. I have no idea what it takes to set one up, but there is clearly heavy demand.

When I ran hosting, I nestled into a software called X-Cart - an e-commerce program. At the time, they had a couple of thousand users, and we quickly became a big fish in a small pond. We optimized servers specifically for that software and we were the main recommended host within a few months. Most of the staff had to learn aspects, and we provided insane levels of technical support for the software and PHP code. Rather than going to the software makers, people were coming to us, and we'd track down the answers via forums, tickets, or experience.

So targeting a specific group can pay dividends.

In the seo/web design end of things, we've become fairly well known in the House Cleaning sector. There is a group "Cleaning for a Reason" which has just over 150 members. These are companies that provide Free housecleaning services to Cancer Patients going through treatment. Yes, there's only 150+ businesses, but again, "big fish in a small pond." Multiply just a dozen users and you get the idea.

If you're a model railroad fan, get involved with a local group, host their sites, then work your way toward other groups that are similar etc.
 
bigredseo said:
When I ran hosting, I nestled into a software called X-Cart - an e-commerce program.
Click to expand...
wow, you're going back a few years now. ever since it was acquired by Seller Labs in 2019 it has been the main basis of the Amazon affiliate stores which accounts for most of its active users.
 
easyhostmedia said:
wow, you're going back a few years now. ever since it was acquired by Seller Labs in 2019 it has been the main basis of the Amazon affiliate stores which accounts for most of its active users.
Click to expand...
Yeah they've changed hands a couple years ago. I actually wrote some of the original English help/setup/guide manual for X-cart as the original was a very limited Russian document, and I needed it for staff answers and my own guidance on answering to users etc.

Powerful software that could do pretty much anything! Loved it!
 
bigredseo said:
Yeah they've changed hands a couple years ago. I actually wrote some of the original English help/setup/guide manual for X-cart as the original was a very limited Russian document, and I needed it for staff answers and my own guidance on answering to users etc.

Powerful software that could do pretty much anything! Loved it!
Click to expand...
Yes and as Seller Labs are basically in the pocket of Amazon they have never pushed this into the public domain and placed all efforts into making in more an amazon software system
 
I think there should be unique selling product and / or a service from the certain company.
In this case there is a chance to be apart from other companies.
 
Well, I think each provider and company decide what they would like to offer. There are not common rules for creating that I think.
 
I believe that since our goods are similar in the hosting industry, we should concentrate on promotional offers such as coupon codes or discounts, which would help us grow the number of customers.
 
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