Taylor Hawes of HostGator spoke to the WHIR about the company's partnership with Google
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — It is no secret that the small and medium-sized business sector is an opportunity for web hosting providers, but many hosts may not know where to focus their outreach in order to get a significant number of small businesses online. Web hosting provider HostGator and its partner Google have identified that opportunity in India. HostGator and Google launched a program in November to get Indian SMEs online by offering a free year of hosting, along with a free domain name and website maintenance.
Though there are more than 10 million small businesses in India, only about half a million have a well-maintained website. Through this program, Google aims to double the amount of small businesses online in India over the next three years. While web hosting is certainly a start, as more Indian businesses come online, there will be an opportunity for security firms, domain registrars and e-commerce providers to find their niche in the market as well.
In an email Q&A with the WHIR, HostGator chief marketing officer Taylor Hawes talks about free hosting as an offering, as well as its relationship with Google.
WHIR: First, can you provide a bit of context on the web hosting market in India? I know that there are many businesses without websites. Where do you see opportunities for hosting providers to penetrate this market?
Taylor Hawes: The web hosting industry in India is still in its infancy. Estimates show there are more than 10 million small businesses in India, with only 400,000 of those small businesses having a website. And just as important, of those 400,000, estimates also show only 100,000 of them are being actively maintained. Studies are also showing that the growth rate of internet presence and the number of users online within India over the next five years is supposed to be one of the largest in the world.
Hosting companies need to provide simple, affordable, all-in-one solutions to these businesses to get them online and allow them to maximize the returns of their web presence.
They also need to help educate small business owners across India on the benefits of having a website. They should bring more focus to the advantages and impact of having a website, i.e. expanding their client base geographically (whether within India or across the world) and increasing revenues instead of focusing on bandwidth, space and more technical features that many business owners may not understand.
WHIR: Free hosting is something that few web hosts offer. Do you see it being a viable model for other, possibly smaller web hosts to use as a promotional tool?
TH: Offering free services will be much harder for a small hosting provider compared to a larger web host. The larger host has the advantage of being able to cover any costs associated with maintaining and supporting the free hosting clients thanks to their larger paying client base.
In my opinion, there is such an open, large market opportunity within India that smaller hosting companies shouldn’t need to put their focus into free offerings. They can instead put their focus into their local markets, educating business owners and providing quality, personalized services.
WHIR: Obviously Google is a household name and HostGator is a huge web hosting provider. Can you provide a bit of background on the partnership? Had you worked with Google before?
TH: We have a long history of providing stellar service to millions of website owners and small businesses. Coupled with Google’s brand recognition and amazing reputation this partnership was a great fit for bringing hundreds of thousands of businesses in India online.
We have worked with Google for a number of years now helping our clients and business owners grow their businesses online.
WHIR: How do you hope that this offering with Google will help Indian businesses in the long run?
TH: We believe that this will allow hundreds of thousands of small businesses in India to discover the advantages of an online presence. We hope that these businesses will take advantage of this offer to expand their client base, increase revenue and provide better service to their clients. We feel that this program will provide a spark to small businesses across India.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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