Web Hosting: David vs. Goliath

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iGolf

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Do you like the large-mega-hosting-companies (Godaddy, Host Gator, etc.) or do you look for quality companies that are smaller and not as well known?

Also, Do you think the large-mega-hosting-companies (Godaddy, Host Gator, etc.) bought their success? What makes them better than the smaller hosting companies?
 
Certainly, possessing vast financial resources helped HostGator and GoDaddy gain success, but it also states volumes to what great marketing strategies can offer. Some will say they like the personal attention a smaller host can offer, but that carries risks as well. I think most prospects search for price first, and the more business-oriented prospects look for a mix of great price and service.
 
I would not host with any of the big ones, would rather go with a smaller host that needs customer, reaches out to them to support them where ever they can.

I like to see hosts over support beyound just selling a package and dealing with the server.
 
You say "David vs. Goliath" but it's not as much of a competition as you think. I know for a fact that Blue Host and Host Monster both work together in that they help each other out, give a call about new software bugs, etc.
There's plenty of hosting customers to go around.. No need to run after them like your pedaling iron. :)
 
We actually work with a number of other hosting companies providing help when we can, and updating each other when we see hacking trends, potential software exploits and problem users to be on the watch out for. While we're all in "competition" with each other, we've often shared customers between each company.

HostGator spends hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising each year, and in excess of $30,000 per month just in Google Adwords alone. I would never make the statement that they "bought" their clients - they just did effective marketing and advertising, much like AT&T beats T-Mobile on many fronts, and Verizon beats Nextel on fronts. There's enough customers for everyone, it's just a matter of effective marketing and advertising.
 
True! There is definitely enough customers for everyone.

I don't actually think that GoDaddy, Host Gator, etc, buys their customers, just a conversation starter to examine the different business models of different Hosts.

And, just like there's enough customers for every host, there is enough hosts for certain customers to have their needs met. That's the beauty of the market.
 
In a way, the larger companies did buy their success to a certain extent, since they can afford massive advertising campaigns that the small startup companies cannot really match. So no, they didn't buy their customers, although the huge amounts of advertising certainly helps.
 
Advertising and business go hand-to-hand. The hard part for smaller web host is that they don't have the capital to invest in advertising compare to the bigger dogs. Godaddy/host gator had to start out somewhere(I.E a small web host) It probably comes down to investors and or money the owners have. It takes years to get that big.
 
In a way the answer might be yes-kind of...

I guess HostGator gets their share because of their size, cheap offers, etc.--they are very good at what they do (meaning getting customers-no comment on service-I have no experience there of course) and they have money to market however they want. I'm sure some people research just enough to know they are very big and they feel more comfortable because of that.

The registrars who until a few years ago just sold names, are very popular (especially GoDaddy with their Super Bowl advertising and low registration prices) however they just saw a huge opportunity and seized it.
Usually their clients are people who don't know anything about hosting. They decide to get a web site, go to one of these companies to register a name and then they are bombarded with hosting offers, site builders etc. in such a way they often have to "opt-out" or say not interested to get to a page where they can just buy a name. Since they don't know about hosting it seems like a good idea to them and so they go for it.

It would be interesting to know the statistics of how many of their hosing customers were buying their first domain name.
I bet there's not that many people in percentage who had a domain or hosting somewhere else and moved to them. I would bet it's a very tiny amount compared to "first-timers" who think it must be a good deal because they are a "name-brand" and they don't know how to just buy a name then find a host for what they need.
I know we get a lot of inquiries for people who originally "signed up" with them and then have been unhappy. The saddest cases are ones who bought a plan with a commitment and penalty for "opt-out' so they can't leave and keep their domain name until they finish their contract.
I don't recall which one but we had one inquiry from a customer who had 3 months to go on their "commitment" for less than $15 a month but to get control of their domain then the penalty would have been $150 (more than the cost of their entire commitment) so they just had to "wait it out" until they fulfilled their contract they had no idea they were getting "locked in" to because they were "first-timers" and didn't read the fine print on the "special" hosting with site builder package they ordered.

So in a way they get that % of the market but judging from the calls we get (and we are a niche" company without the big magazine ads of 1 & 1 or other "big" hosts so we would get a very small %) the "registrar-hosts" hosting/support or something must not be that satisfactory to a good % of the people once they get into it and find out their "plan" won't let them do something they want to do... but for some reason they are ready to leave.
 
It seems that a lot of people out there now are just looking for the cheapest server they can find, and don't necessairly look for the smallest or largest host they can find. Probably because of the economy, and there is a lot of competition out there as well, so we all have to battle it out to get the sale. Maybe i'm wrong but i've noticed it more and more over the last 6 months or so.
 
I wouldn't say that large hosting companies are actually not good a hosting,their large because the'v worked their backsides off,and that can only be a good think,ain't It?
 
It seems that a lot of people out there now are just looking for the cheapest server they can find
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That's always the case, and ever more so during times of economic trouble.

their large because the'v worked their backsides off,
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I'm sure that's usually the truth. There's been talk here about Hostgator and I know it for a fact that they stated really small. The owner grew the business by testing and finding advertising venues with positive ROI, and then pouring all the profits back into the company (improving services, hiring staff, advertising again). The start I'm sure, wasn't easy at all.
 
ldcdc said:
That's always the case, and ever more so during times of economic trouble.

I'm sure that's usually the truth. There's been talk here about Hostgator and I know it for a fact that they stated really small. The owner grew the business by testing and finding advertising venues with positive ROI, and then pouring all the profits back into the company (improving services, hiring staff, advertising again). The start I'm sure, wasn't easy at all.
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Indeed! HostGator started as a one-man show with just Brent Oxley managing and running the whole business from his college dorm room! That's not easy at all. ;)

It's very impressive, actually.
 
Every company has its share equal to its advertising power, small companies and big once has the same servers and the same software, the winner who market better. and who give a better service. I think big companies win in advertising and the small companies win for the better service.
 
vexxhost said:
Every company has its share equal to its advertising power, small companies and big once has the same servers and the same software, the winner who market better. and who give a better service. I think big companies win in advertising and the small companies win for the better service.
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That's an interesting way of looking at it. But, huge companies like HostGator, are only that big because they were once successful small hosts with great service AND great marketing skills also, which still continue to provide quality service to their clients.
 
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