Best of the ISP-Lists

Webhosting Without Microsoft

Members of the ISP-Webhosting list share insights on how to sell webhosting products without offering service-heavy Microsoft products like FrontPage extensions and active server pages.

[October 19, 2001]

On the ISP-Webhosting list in October, NS queried,

"We're a dialup ISP with a small webhosting base. Dialup is becoming unprofitable for us, and we're looking for a new direction for the company. I have no desire to get into the $8.95 to $19.95 range of webhosting products, unless I can get a lot of customers that don't demand FrontPage extensions, ASP, and other Microsoft product hosting. What kind of market is there for a host that won't offer these products, and what kind of market is there for more mid-priced hosting services?"

A number of respondents suggested there shouldn't be any problem with avoiding Microsoft products:

[MW offered] "I've been hosting very nicely without using Microsoft products; you will be in good company."

[EG agreed] "A lot of customers don't care what platform they are hosted on, as long as they can be hosted."

MR recommended taking another look at FrontPage extensions:

"We do FrontPage extensions, and we've had zero trouble with them. We will not do IIS or any Microsoft product, but I don't understand the concern about FrontPage extensions. There are about a zillion more Web designers out there that use FrontPage as opposed to 'real' HTML."

Others noted that there is money to be made in mid-priced hosting:

[EG observed] "There's market potential, but it's slimmer. People want cheap, but they also want support: it's a hard balance. You have to be prepared to spend a lot of time doing service: be very clear about what type of support you provide. The hosting industry is getting harder: more people want in, and are offering cheap hosting. It's just like dialup. Most people aren't willing to pay $50 to $200 for a simple site. There's a lot of competition. Look at your market closely. How many players are in your local market? How big is your customer base? How would you market yourself against the current players in the market?"

[MR advised] "Look again at the losses you are experiencing with dialup. Maybe it's your market, your offerings, or your competition? We're not a massive player, but we are making money every day. We do hosting, dialup, network services, and Web design. We are a bit diversified, but we've got a solid team with experience in some fairly diverse areas."

[MW agreed] "I'm not rolling in money, but there is a market out there for this range of hosting. The little guys have come and gone, but my larger customers are still with me. I have had slow but steady growth, and all the large clients I started out with are still with me."

—End