For this exploration of the Web Hosting wonderland, I’ll be looking at 3 hosting companies: GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Bluehost. And I’ll be writing this breakdown from the perspective of how they communicate their offerings & USP, their website, their content marketing strategy, and any other marketing strategy they have.
Why Web Hosting? Well, because I’m fascinated by virtual real estate and the companies who provide us with cloud hectares to build upon. Alright, let’s go on this ride.
To the Batmobile!
Beginning with a brief description of the brands from their About Us gives us a picture of how they are positioning themselves:
GoDaddy describes itself as
“the world’s largest services platform for entrepreneurs around the globe. We’re on a mission to empower our worldwide community of 20+ million customers — and entrepreneurs everywhere — by giving them all the help and tools they need to grow online.”
Namecheap storifies it’s About Us by describing their journey from inception to now
“began in 2000 with a mission to deliver the best domains at the best prices with the best service. Since then we’ve added hosting, security, managed WordPress, and a whole range of innovations to our platform. The online plans, ideas, and ambitions of people just like you have grown too.”
Bluehost, on the other hand, takes the position of empowering people to harness the web
“provide comprehensive tools to millions of users throughout the world so anyone, novice or pro, can get on the web and thrive with our web hosting packages.”
On communicating their offerings
GoDaddy’s language is heavy on building trust between itself and its audience. The first thing you see when you land on the website after the initial domain search bar (which is a norm for web hosting platforms) are the testimonials from customers.
Offerings are communicated by describing what you stand to gain by using their services. From colours to copywriting, everything is geared towards trusting the platform.
One major feature in their communication is the consistency in entrepreneurial speak, they are very focused on reaching and helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
So, they communicate a B2B “you can trust us with your business, business ideas” and “we are the platform for your business’ lift-off” stance.
Namecheap gives a mix of personal and business – with a focus on the personal, individual user, most likely going for a lifestyle brand mode. The language is that of an all-you-can-eat buffet “we are here for everyone and every scenario”, staying true to their “everything you need to make more online, for less” mantra.
Bluehost speaks the language of a builder. They leverage the lingo of construction, design, and assemblage to express the concept of growing your business or idea online – think layering, brick on brick – they provide the tools you need for your business and idea stack.
The only issue is that this language does not seem consistent across channels and marketing touch points.
On Content Marketing Strategies
Using the teardown template I found on StoryChief, which I absolutely love, breaks down content marketing by formats, categories, navigation, and community.
Content Formats
GoDaddy: HowTos, Case Studies, Inspiring Stories, Tutorials, User-generated content i.e GoDaddy products from the perspective of a User.
Namecheap: Trends, News, How-to articles, and Guides.
Bluehost: HowTos, News, Customer Spotlights, Guides, and Strategies.
Content Categories
GoDaddy categorises its content by product: Domain Names, Websites, Security, Email, Hosting & Servers, etc and by Articles, which consists of content to help you grow whether as a business or a developer.
Namecheap categorises by a combination of both, in a way that depicts ‘lifestyle brand’. Their content mixologist seems to make sure to portray that lifestyle part, which I like.
Bluehost categorises by Website, Business, and Marketing – pretty straightforward, great for navigation, and simple.
Community
GoDaddy seems to have a large and thriving community, with community chapters spread across different parts of the world (although, I suspect Covid 19 has changed that a tad). These communities are grouped according to GoDaddy products, so their community strategy seems to be focused on going in-depth on their products.
I couldn’t seem to find a community for Namecheap, so I’m quite stuck in that area.
Bluehost runs its community through various programs + other adjacent groups of users who have their own Bluehost community.
What other areas and strategies have you seen in play with Web Hosting companies you love?
