(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider 1&1 Internet (www.1and1.com) announced on Wednesday that it has released the results of a new study which reveals that SMB owners are resorting to unnecessary spending because of confusion over the cost and effort involved in web hosting.
The results are taken from an online survey the company performed in December of 1,838 US small to midsize businesses which showed that 40 percent of SMBs do not yet have an online presence.
Of those businesses without a website, 53 percent said they had no idea what a website would cost each month. These small business owners need more information about the features and benefits of web hosting to “broaden their range of possibilities to profit from the Internet,” says 1&1.
“While many small companies today leverage the Web with increasing proficiency, too many businesses remain excluded from the online world,” says Oliver Mauss, CEO of 1&1 Internet. “Although an online presence becomes more and more important for the acquisition of new customers, small business owners are still unaware of the true cost of Web hosting. They overestimate the necessary business investments for being online and underestimate how simple and affordable it is to source a website.”
For those SMBs that are already online, 83 percent said that their website was an essential tool to their company’s success.
Those respondents that didn’t have an online presence seemed confused as to the price of hosting, guessing that a business website would cost $67 per month. Meanwhile, 91 percent of those same respondents thought it would cost more than $10 per month.
This is where 1&1 mentions that the average cost for a professional hosting package “from Web hosts like 1and1.com” are around $10 per month.
Cost was also found to be a major factor for SMBs that already had an existing online presence, with the average SMB saying that they spend $45 per month for hosting. Eighty-four percent said they spend over $10 per month.
Sixty-four percent agreed that an inexpensive monthly fee is important, which outranked service by 33 percent and quality and reliability by 25 percent.
1&1 points out that SMBs can significantly lower web hosting costs by creating and updating their own website through DIY website packages. Currently, 28 percent of respondents said they create their own website themselves and 37 percent hire a professional web designer from outside the company.
Other results showed that 44 percent of SMB owners cut costs by updating the site themselves, while only 22 percent still employ an external professional.
The company says that 15 percent of SMBs may have been paying for a service they could have easily done in-house, since a most professional hosting packages include templates and therefore do not require professional programming skills.
