Changing the way we do hosting

[tamba]

I now want to offer on our site monthly hosting (although it won't all be automated yet)

Currently customers buy hosting annually from us but through the web site people are not signing up because paying for a whole year without having talked to us is quite a commitment.

I want to offer month to month hosting to customers coming through the website without annoying my customers who are paying annually. I thought about making the monthly hosting a little more expensive to show the existing customers there's a benefit to paying annually.

What do you think the best way to go about this is? Should I use a different domain name to sell monthly hosting or run it through my site. What information should I give to users wanting monthly hosting? Do I provide enough info on my site?

If we sold as many hosting deals (monthly or annually) as I sold domains through our site, I'd be sitting here a multi-millionnaire! Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Thoughts welcome.

[Eladesor]

Yet again I'm a little confused :confused:

On the 22 Oct http://forums.webhostdir.com/showthread.php?threadid=1834 you advertised Uk Hosting £15.00 per month

Don't take this personally, but I presume you already do offer monthly hosting?


Do I provide enough info on my site?

When I followed the link to your site, I couldn't find any information, did I miss it?

I'd be happy to offer some help and suggestions to your original post - could you clarify?

Eladesor

[tamba]

No it's me. I'm being confusing.

On our website we only currently sell annual hosting and as posted in this forum, I want to sell monthly hosting and just wondered what I should be putting on the site accordingly.

Should I use the same form as I've currently got for annual hosting? Should I just put a checklist of facilities offered with the monthly hosting???

If you think you're confused right now, you should try being me! LOL

[Eladesor]

Sorry this is long winded ;)

Well I can?t give you definitive answer as to what?s right or wrong, as when reality strikes ? a lot of ?luck? needs to be thrown in the pot as well. If someone did know the correct formula, they?d make a lot of cash!
As I?m not sure if I have the formula ? or not, I can only share my own experiences?.

I originally set up EverythingButComputers.com from where all of the business aspects were sold in one big pot. Looking back, I think it was a mistake. Trying to be succinct and keep the readers attention is difficult when your selling x number of services, users become bored very easily, tend to ?drop off? the site. Remember the old saying? your competitor is just a click away?.

I didn?t realise it was a mistake, until it was decided to ?split? EverythingButComputers up into the varying parts that offer individual services. This wasn?t done as a marketing ploy, simple as a more manageable way of running the web site / business, by allowing the staff we had employed to focus on their services only.
The original site (EverythingButComputers) has still not been fully updated, as work has been concentrated on the ?new? ones. Once complete it (it?s virtually finished) it will be replaced with a portal. The idea being that all of our ?dial up? accounts land there when ?logging on?, our hosting customers end up there when ?logging off? and any new visitors can have a sweeping view of the ?Group? (following the re-org we became known as the EverythingButComputers ? Group). Plus anyone generally ?browsing? can get some information - not just about us, news, sports, link etc....

Anyway?. Having setup the new ?satellite? members of the Group, sales definitely increased. (Sorry about his MODS but it?s hard to answer without mentioning the business) WebToNow our hosting site has been the most successful. When it was part of the original set-up, our online sales ?trickled?, Now even though it?s only been online a matter of weeks, the number of sales has increased. We now receive more enquires, with the number of sign ups growing.
I can?t say for sure, but my personal belief is that this is due to two things, the main one being that the site focuses purely on hosting ? which is after all what the visitor wants, otherwise why visit? Secondly, I think the design has also been beneficial. Users don?t have to muddle around to much to find what they want (erm I hope that right ... let me know if you think otherwise).

With regard to monthly payments, this is I believe a must! A lot of customers don?t want to commit themselves long term for lots of reasons. Cost is the major factor, not everyone is able to pay for a year in advance, and others prefer to spread the cost out. With the rise (and fall) of so many hosting companies, potential customer are not stupid, they understand that by paying for a year up front their hard earned cash and hours of design work on a site might end up in the bin if a company goes out of business a couple of months down the road. Offering them monthly payments adds a sense of security.

To me, the benefit therefore is not, that by paying annually they will get a better deal, but by having the option to pay monthly their cash is safe.

Hope this helps.
Eladesor.

[Alex Singleton]

If the problem is that people won't sign up for a month because they don't know you from Adam, then you probably need to work on developing your brand, conveying to your site's visitors why you are a worthwhile host - what makes you better. How about offering them 30 days free, to try you out?

[Martie]

Old post from 2001! Closing.