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.

Your expert opinions welcome!

Offer it on your existing site, and add a news article explaining how you are "expanding your business". And yes, you should charge slightly more per month due to the cc processing fees each month instead of once per year, etc.

Also, if domains are that popular from you, why not offer people the chance to buy a hosting package at a discounted rate if they purchase a domain from you - like webfusion does?

Regards
Matt

That's a great idea.

Perhaps when they order a domain name, we can include the facility to add on monthly web hosting. Hmmm, that's a lot of asp coding (what am I talking myself into here?)...

I was thinking £17.50 per month + VAT does that sound reasonable? We don't limit webspace and we offer ASP hosting, SSL, unlimited email accounts, and guaranteed 99.2% availability.

Any thoughts?

Also marketing this on the site, shall I just add a new section under the hosting area of our site?

99.2? :)

That's right?!

We'd love to offer 100% but our backbone line provider only guarantees a certain percentage so we can't go beyond it.

For all us Yanks, £17.50 + VAT is a little over $25.00 plus tax. I don't know the market over there, but it's a little high for U.S. providers.

Why don't you limit web space? I might be missing something, but that seems to invite abuse. And, as with transfer, there really is no such thing as unlimited space... right?

Also, you might consider offering quarterly packages as well. Less hassle and fees for you, and a bit more of a commitment from them without scaring them off.

well its $25 plus Tax which is 17% (or something like that)

I dont think that is too much. but the VAT is what makes it a little too high.

But being VAT registered, we are obliged to charge it by law. It's not a choice unfortunately.

What else can I offer to add value?

Is it worth mentioning our webmail facility?

Well... if I look at it from a clients point of view, I have done a little research and I know at 123reg.co.uk I can get a domain name for under £10, which has a pretty nice control panel, so I would be doubtful about paying an extra £7.50+, therefore your best bet would probably be to create a good domain name + web hosting package as a deal, which would intice customers... but steer clear of unlimited webspace offerings...

Regards
Matt

I agree....stay away from offering unlimited bandwidth or space. It will just get you in trouble.

Jim

I'm a little hazy about VAT rules, but as far as I know anyone who orders outwith the UK can reclaim the VAT. I'm not sure if that's limited to people within the European Union (Union my ass) but it's worth looking into.

(Just to add... I may not be correct about this, I can double check if you wish).

Originally posted by WaldoUK
I'm a little hazy about VAT rules, but as far as I know anyone who orders outwith the UK can reclaim the VAT. I'm not sure if that's limited to people within the European Union (Union my ass) but it's worth looking into.

(Just to add... I may not be correct about this, I can double check if you wish).

Only people within the UK have to pay VAT, anyone in the EU / rest of the world can reclaim VAT.