Adding Extra Value - In the wake of rapidly changing customer expectations, Hostway leads the way in delivering value-added services to the SME hosting market.

The Web hosting industry has reached a crossroads in its short history.

In recent years, customer service offerings in the hosting industry have focused on technical support issues and helping customers get their Web sites up and running smoothly. The rising quality of service combined with the continued development of technology has made building and hosting a Web site a painless process for even the most inexperienced of webmasters.

As a result, expectations on the customer side are rapidly changing. According to Hostway Vice-President of Marketing, John Lee, hosting customers—particularly those in the small and medium-sized (SME) market - are no longer satisfied with just a basic hosting platform and the standard services that go with it. Now more than ever, customers are increasingly looking for a return on their investment (ROI). "People are expecting traffic to their Web site…to generate more interest in their business," says Lee. Quite simply, hosting customers expect a lot more from their Web presence and they are looking to their hosting service to provide it.

The changing landscape of the SME hosting sector has forced companies to look for new and innovative ways to meet the higher expectations of today’s hosting customer. Award-winning provider Hostway believes part of the solution lies in delivering "extra value" in its customer service offerings through what are known as value-added services.

What Hostway has done is augment its already strong customer service offerings by bringing value-added services into the customer service equation. Value-added services are simply services offered by a hosting provider that add some intrinsic value to a customer’s Web hosting package. They are distinct from the basic support services that hosting companies provide in that they are designed to help customers derive additional value and benefit from their Web presence.

An example of a value-added service would be the Web site marketing resources Hostway provides to its customers. This service comes in the form of online user guides that educate customers about how to market their sites and drive traffic. As Lee observes quite accurately, most small businesses still lack the knowledge to effectively utilize their online presence. "What customers are really unfamiliar with is how to effectively use Web sites, how to drive more business." Providing resources on topics such as search engine submission, marketing strategies and traffic analysis tools is a service that delivers extra value to hosting customers and bolsters return on a customer’s hosting investment. The services have been well received by customers.

According to Lee, the marketing help guides are the fastest growing segment of Hostway’s value-added service offerings.

The whole idea behind the notion of value-added services is to bridge the gap that Lee believes exists between what customers are expecting and what companies are providing right now. Lee believes that the whole idea behind Web hosting is changing. Customer expectations have begun to evolve as they no longer "think separately about Web hosting," but conceptualize hosting as part of a larger solution. As Lee explains, "Web hosting plus all these value-added services is really truly what they (customers) are thinking about."

In the coming years, the ability to meet growing expectations through the delivery of value-added services will define the hosting marketplace. Hostway has taken the early lead and it is up to the rest of the industry to catch up.

The European Front

Continued success has allowed Hostway to consolidate its presence on the European continent. "We are very serious about global expansion," says Lee.

Earlier this year, Hostway completed the acquisition of leading UK hosting provider, IARNA. The transition has been smooth. "We’ve established a pretty solid base there, and are continuing to see growth in the UK," says Lee. The rest of the European market looms on the horizon. Though unwilling to divulge all the details, Lee confirms that Hostway "will be expanding into other European markets this year." Likely candidates are France and Germany, where the hosting market continues to grow at a steady pace.

Stay tuned.

This article can be found at: www.tophosts.com/articles/?300068.html.