Why BuckeyeHost?

With hundreds upon thousands of website hosting providers to choose from, you're probably asking yourself, "Why BuckeyeHost?" That's a perfectly reasonable question to ask! Choosing a web hosting provider is a critical decision for anyone looking to establish or maintain an online presence. Whether you’re a small business owner, a freelancer, a nonprofit, or an individual with a personal project, the right web host can make all the difference in your website’s performance, security, and scalability. But with so many options available, how do consumers decide which provider to trust? In order to answer the question about why someone might want to choose BuckeyeHost over other hosts, first let's take a look at the key factors that influence one's decision when choosing a webhost.

Major Factors

Reliability - A proven track record for reliable service.
Performance - Quality tech infrastructure.
Customer Support - Support that is accessible and/or knowledgeable.
Pricing - Competitive pricing OR a significant value-add.
Reviews - Does the company have a good reputation?

Other Factors

Features - Expansive product offerings, capabilities, and flexibility.
Values - The values of the company (ex: environmental commitments).
Community Investment - How much does this company value and invest in their customers, and their customers' communities?

Marketing

Ultimately, whether a customer is doing a lot of research on their own, or doesn't know where to begin, marketing does the rest. It's why we know the names of some of the top web hosts, such as GoDaddy or HostGator, but not others, like HostArmada or GreenGeeks. There are 330,000+ web hosting providers across the globe, and in article after article about recommendations, we tend to see the same handful of companies making all the lists. GoDaddy is the #1 in the business in terms of pure stats, hosting around 52 million websites (15.2% of all websites worldwide). In terms of shared hosting, GoDaddy makes up 75% of the market. To be sure, they have many happy customers - but the opposite is also true. The further you look in online forums (with real people sharing their experiences), the more distaste you'll see for many of these well-known companies. To put it simply, bigger companies have more money to advertise, and because of that, many consumers will gravitate towards the company they've heard of versus the one they've never heard about.

Local Focus vs. Global Focus

To be frank, there is no right or wrong when it comes to a local focus versus a global focus (or anything in-between). It's a matter of perspective. Every business owner, organization, influencer, etc. must decide: 1) who their audience is, and 2) their geographic scope. If you are starting a business in a particular industry, you're going to need to find out who your likely customers are. One of the first questions we are faced with when starting a website-related business is always: "What is your niche?" For BuckeyeHost, it is quite simply: Ohio.

We are not trying to appeal to people who are solely trying to find the cheapest price or the best service - we are shooting for something more than that. Of course, we want to provide our customers with competitive prices and quality service, but we also want to stand out in our local economy. One reason we started BuckeyeHost was because we saw an unaddressed need. There are so many businesses and organizations across the state of Ohio that do not have websites, and are missing out on tons of potential customers as a result. So, we decided to market ourselves to that audience. Furthermore, website hosting is a service that is always needed, whether it's by people with pre-existing websites who want to transfer, or folks looking to spin up new websites. There are always people in the market for this service.

Investing in OUR Communities

When it comes to choosing a web hosting provider, the options can feel overwhelming. After all, the market is flooded with choices. But for businesses, freelancers, nonprofits, and individuals that work in a specific service area, the decision often comes down to more than just price or features—it’s about finding a partner. We hope to be a bit more personal than the big companies, because our success is intrinsically linked to the success of Ohio’s businesses and residents. So why choose us? Maybe you place value on working with a local partner, and care about supporting other local businesses. Perhaps you want to sit down for an in-person consultation or you need someone with knowledge of the local market. There are other reasons we could list, but we hope the most enticing of them all is due to the brand we are trying to build.