A bit about hosting users and their needs
Listening to a course of lectures on creating startups brought into my young mind the idea of the need to create a model of a “minimally viable product” and test it on potential customers. But the truth is, many representatives of the pocket hosting niche (a couple of servers, a team of 1-2 people) create sets of products for some personal reasons and do not really know what consumers need. I decided to conduct a survey among my active users, and I want to share some of the results. For scientific rigor, I will make a reservation that these results are sufficiently representative only for a common understanding of the interests of end users and in part only confirm certain truths. But in any case, repetition is the mother of learning. I will also try to minimize the imposition of my conclusions, giving readers the opportunity to do it themselves.
Among other things, I was interested in age group and gender of clients. The range of human life was divided into groups in accordance with the estimated economic and social activity. The survey showed that almost 60% of users belong to the group from 21 to 30 years. In the zero approximation, the distribution curve can be characterized as a Gaussian with a maximum in the range of 21-30 and a far-stretched right wing (one person even chose the option> 55 years). All those who took part in the survey are male. Of course, this does not mean that women do not use hosting at all, but still there are significantly more men (at least in my resource).
It has long been known that it is better to buy hosting from hosters, register domains with registrars (implied specialization, not ICANN accreditation). It was interesting to check how many people follow this recommendation. According to the data received, half of the users use one company to register domains, another - to order hosting. Another third is prone to smudge and domains, and hosting for several different companies. And only about 15% of surveyed users trust all of any one company.
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The questionnaire consisted of two large blocks, in one of which I found out how users evaluate the current work of the service, in the other what they would like to improve. About 2/3 of users rated the tariffs for domain registration as “excellent”. At the same time, 80% indicated a desire to get more favorable tariffs. However, the desire to get more and pay less is typical for almost all of us. I am glad that some people are still willing to pay for quality and do not hope to use super-reliable service, and that they also pay extra for it.
Some of the questions concerned interest in various types of hosting services. 2/3 of the respondents showed interest in the possibility of choice. This refers to the choice of packages based on different panels and in different locations. Also, more than half showed the need for mail hosting and more than 2/3 - FTP hosting services. But people do not really want to buy reseller hosting packages, it’s easier for them to simply attract customers. Less than 1/3 of respondents indicated the need for reseller packages, while more than half became interested in the affiliate program.
About 2/3 of the respondents were interested in the extended support service. This concept implied the possibility of asking for technical support “to see why the script might not work” for an additional fee, correct DNS records and other tasks related to the lack of user skills, and not a technical problem on the provider side.
I did not even touch upon the subject of backup as a matter of course. Of the other wishes, the opportunity to call in support was mentioned. Although calling users I immediately ask you to put your problem on an e-mail, the opportunity to call, apparently, gives them some special pleasure or feeling of confidence.
I would be grateful for any additions about the behavioral features of users and constructive criticism. Hope was useful.
General social information
Among other things, I was interested in age group and gender of clients. The range of human life was divided into groups in accordance with the estimated economic and social activity. The survey showed that almost 60% of users belong to the group from 21 to 30 years. In the zero approximation, the distribution curve can be characterized as a Gaussian with a maximum in the range of 21-30 and a far-stretched right wing (one person even chose the option> 55 years). All those who took part in the survey are male. Of course, this does not mean that women do not use hosting at all, but still there are significantly more men (at least in my resource).
Eggs in different baskets
It has long been known that it is better to buy hosting from hosters, register domains with registrars (implied specialization, not ICANN accreditation). It was interesting to check how many people follow this recommendation. According to the data received, half of the users use one company to register domains, another - to order hosting. Another third is prone to smudge and domains, and hosting for several different companies. And only about 15% of surveyed users trust all of any one company.
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There is no limit to greed
The questionnaire consisted of two large blocks, in one of which I found out how users evaluate the current work of the service, in the other what they would like to improve. About 2/3 of users rated the tariffs for domain registration as “excellent”. At the same time, 80% indicated a desire to get more favorable tariffs. However, the desire to get more and pay less is typical for almost all of us. I am glad that some people are still willing to pay for quality and do not hope to use super-reliable service, and that they also pay extra for it.
Choice
Some of the questions concerned interest in various types of hosting services. 2/3 of the respondents showed interest in the possibility of choice. This refers to the choice of packages based on different panels and in different locations. Also, more than half showed the need for mail hosting and more than 2/3 - FTP hosting services. But people do not really want to buy reseller hosting packages, it’s easier for them to simply attract customers. Less than 1/3 of respondents indicated the need for reseller packages, while more than half became interested in the affiliate program.
Easier to pay than to understand
About 2/3 of the respondents were interested in the extended support service. This concept implied the possibility of asking for technical support “to see why the script might not work” for an additional fee, correct DNS records and other tasks related to the lack of user skills, and not a technical problem on the provider side.
And at the end
I did not even touch upon the subject of backup as a matter of course. Of the other wishes, the opportunity to call in support was mentioned. Although calling users I immediately ask you to put your problem on an e-mail, the opportunity to call, apparently, gives them some special pleasure or feeling of confidence.
I would be grateful for any additions about the behavioral features of users and constructive criticism. Hope was useful.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/163355/
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