From which source the hosting customers mostly coming from?

Thank you for your votes and opinions, please note if you have a more strong competitor above these options...

As a primarily shared hosting provider, I can't imaging advertising on a webhosting oriented forum or a search engine, becuase, quite plainly, I can't compete in space, price or support of one of the huge companies (1&1, godaddy ect) so I've to find my niche market.

Mostly by local links and advertising.

Thanks

100% of my clients have come from communities that existing clients have setup, so in that case: 'other' or word of mouth. Local companies have an easier chance at getting local clients though if they do it well, for the obvious reasons (most clients prefer supporting local stuff 'just 'cuz').

Everyone obviously has different places they target/market though, so this poll won't be all that informative. :p

I got 40 clients within the first 45 days of my business launch and they all came from search engines, webmaster communities and frm local classifieds.

Why nobody gave a vote to webhosting directories?

Ive always worked local more than anything else. There is something about dealing one on one that the more important customers like.

Why nobody gave a vote to webhosting directories?
Nobody is looking at directories when searching for a hosting provider. 99% of these directories were created only for the search engines, not the real users.

Nobody is looking at directories when searching for a hosting provider. 99% of these directories were created only for the search engines, not the real users.

What do you mean by "only for search engines"?

100% word of mouth. We do no advertising of any kind, it's all from our users and their own recommendations. That works out best for us because we don't have to fight to prove our worth to people. It also serves as a nice barometer on how well we're servicing our customers. If we're not doing a good job, we're not bringing in new people.

Nobody is looking at directories when searching for a hosting provider. 99% of these directories were created only for the search engines, not the real users.

That's incorrect.
Hundreds do -- the problem are the directories and or 'top lists' that sort based on affiliate payout as they're simply pathetic scams.

Word of mouth!

What do you mean by "only for search engines"?
For outbound links there to be indexed by the search engines.

Ours is 99% referral & word-of-mouth. A slower method but very effective in gaining long-term, low maintenance customers, since they know what to expect.

Directories are useless most of the time since most customers figure out many of them are paid for (top listings are bought) and our experience with the host quote type features is that most people ask for the world for $2 a month.

We have done some PPC (and still do, experimenting with different terms & listings sometimes) but so far, no matter what, the return on investment just isn't there. For the few customers you gain you spend way more than they will produce.

I am asking the guys who says "word of mouth (WOM)":

How can WOM works if there is not enough customers or maybe if you are a starter?

I am asking the guys who says "word of mouth (WOM)":

How can WOM works if there is not enough customers or maybe if you are a starter?

All I can say to that is that you need to get out more. You'll have a hard time selling locally if you sit at your desk all day.

Much of ours comes from search engines. Mostly GOOGLE.

Are you guys talking about buyers or just visitors? Please describe...

Referrals. Like DDT says, it's slower but better. You get an immediate trust level that you don't get from people who pick you off a list.

I'm a little psycho when it comes to customer service and I like to know who my customers are, so I can give them personalized service. And they like me for it.

We've mostly relied on word of mouth up to this point. Now we are starting to do some advertising campaigns and PPC stuff, but it hasn't netted anything. As I'm more into the customer service and backend aspects of it, I have no idea what the average turnaround time on an advertising campaign is. I'm assuming around 1-3 months or so.