The Web Hosting Plan Guessing Game?

W

whwizard

New member
Greetings Everyone!

When I ran my web hosting company in 2007 I found that many of my clients had selected the wrong hosting plan for their web site needs... (wrong platform, disk space, ecommerce, etc...) that we later adjusted when they contacted us when trying to install a script or were going over the allocated resources....

I'm putting together a white paper and would greatly appreciate your professional and experienced input on this question. (web hosting company owners only please)

Below is a simple (1 question) - (yes/no) poll
http://www.micropoll.com/akira/mpview/670023-204206

Would be great if you can explain why selected your answer on this thread.

Thank you very much!
~Zizo~
 
It is true that most of the visitors are playing guessing game while choosing plan for them. They are totally unclear about their requirement.
 
I'd say that most users are not really sure of their requirements especially the ones who recently had their website constructed as they haven't had enough experience yet to properly analyze their requirements. Only the tech savvy webmasters are aware of their needs due to their experience. I imagine the most of the problems will arise when they select non-shared hosting though as choosing the right VPS/dedicated server is much harder than a shared plan.
 
I selected no and the reasonw hy is, most users fall into lowest plans by nature of the beast. This isn't just true with hosting. Back when I sold cell phones, most needed a minimal plan. The minimal plan for Verizon Wireless nation wide is approximately 60% of their sales. Average cell phone users use 300 minutes per month and average family plans use 600 minutes per month.

Web hosting is no different, most will never success witht heir website and do not need anything bigger. Now there are 40% of users who do need something more and I'd say half of them have a clue. There is always the few of the 40% who believe they can do with the cheapest thing possible.
 
I also voted NO. The majority of sites are of the shared variety, where the owners have minimal hosting experience.
 
Also voted NO.

Those that need SSL Certs and eCommerce sites pick those plans, and those that need just a static site start with the small plan and work their way up as needed.

By default, we review plans with the majority of our customers before they signup and we're usually convincing them to spend LESS money on what it is that they really need rather than wasting resources. Clients are more appreciative of us keeping THEIR interests in mind, and usually stay with us longer as a result.
 
That question is most definitely not directed at the consumer. The consumer can't answer a question about aggregate customers ("do you find...visitors"), and the question asks about a plural persons other than the reader ("them").
 
Its a tricky question. There are some people that come to the site looking for what they need but yet they don't know what they need, Its something you would really need to look into and try to find the solution real hard asking question.
 
I select no.The clients usually do enough research before choosing web hosting.They make a lof of effort to know their requiremnts.So when they order your web hosting they have had their plans.
 
You must have a completely different client base than I do.
90+ percent of the people who sign up with us have no clue what they need for hosting requirements.
All they know is that they want an online presence.

The vast majority of people do not know and do not care what the site resource requirements are. They want to have a site online at a good price and not have to worry about the site going offline.
 
Blue said:
You must have a completely different client base than I do.
90+ percent of the people who sign up with us have no clue what they need for hosting requirements.
All they know is that they want an online presence.

The vast majority of people do not know and do not care what the site resource requirements are. They want to have a site online at a good price and not have to worry about the site going offline.
Click to expand...

Not only with you. I assume all customers...
 
Most of the newbies in the hosting industry look for unlimited disk space and bandwidth as they think this is the best for them and they do not have to pay a very huge price for disk space or bandwidth as they will get unlimited disk space and bandwidth after they choose the plan.

After some time they realize that unlimited disk space and bandwidth was not right and hence they that the website is s scam.

Hence, I think they should be aware of the fact that unlimited disk space and bandwidth is only claimed to attract customers and it is not possible in the hosting industry.
 
Blue said:
You must have a completely different client base than I do.
90+ percent of the people who sign up with us have no clue what they need for hosting requirements.
All they know is that they want an online presence.

The vast majority of people do not know and do not care what the site resource requirements are. They want to have a site online at a good price and not have to worry about the site going offline.
Click to expand...

I can't agree with you more enough, 75-90% of our clients are the same... they just know they need "web hosting"...
 
Henry Leed said:
Most of the newbies in the hosting industry look for unlimited disk space and bandwidth as they think this is the best for them and they do not have to pay a very huge price for disk space or bandwidth as they will get unlimited disk space and bandwidth after they choose the plan.

After some time they realize that unlimited disk space and bandwidth was not right and hence they that the website is s scam.

Hence, I think they should be aware of the fact that unlimited disk space and bandwidth is only claimed to attract customers and it is not possible in the hosting industry.
Click to expand...

People who select "unlimited bandwidth/diskspace" are a VERY good indication that people do not know what they want and are just guessing.
 
whwizard said:
People who select "unlimited bandwidth/diskspace" are a VERY good indication that people do not know what they want and are just guessing.
Click to expand...

It is true to a great extend(not full) that people don't have a clear idea about web hosting. So they will go for unlimited/unmetered/free. It is the responsibility of the host to make the customer clear about their requirements and suggest the suitable plan for their requirements. Hosts can use this as a tool for sales promotion by offering high plans than they require, but it will affect negatively in the long run.
 
It's simple. I rather say no because if you are a newbie and have no knowledge about web hosting, Google is your friend to search about what web hosting is all about. Do not jump one step ahead without learning the basics first.

Start from the bottom before thinking to skip one level.
 
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