There are many ways to market a web hosting company and many articles have touched on them. There are web hosting directories, banner ads on webmaster sits, search engine placements, ppc advertising, etc. These are all effective methods if used and managed properly.

But these are mostly forms that market on the internet to webmasters, programmers, graphic designers, and small hosting companies. Traditionally the online webmaster was the target audience. They were the ones who built websites and the ones non technical people looked to. But today with the evolution of web hosting and website builder tools as well as the continued education of the common person, the average web hosting customer is no longer your online webmaster. It can be any father with baby photos, a neighborhood association, a church, an artist, etc. We looked at the signups from a popular web hosting company over the last month and that is exactly what we found. The number of signups from people in the industry was less then 20%.

Increasingly the average person has 2 things. First, is digital content. People have photos, letters, videos, blogs, etc. Secondly, they have enough internet savy to research hosting companies and their plans. It has become a way of life in America. It is not just for web hosting but everything. When I want to buy a car I research the models and dealers online and make my choices. Same for real estate; likewise with vacations. I research products before I buy them online. Everything from cameras to coats.

Historically, customers, also, did not change hosting companies often. Most people were not comfortable moving their website and risking the loss of uptime and data. Unless a host was really bad you stayed with them and rode out the bad times.

Today it is different. People are educated and comfortable with their websites and there are plenty of services and web hosts who will move them for you without downtime. Now, people feel free to move from host to host when they can get a better plan. Unlike the cell phone business web hosts have never required yearly commitments.

If the average person, with or without a website, is the target audience then the marketing methods can be greatly expanded from just targeting online webmasters. Even online this opens up a lot of possibilities. Advertising on community websites, artist websites, and photography websites can yield a lot of prospective customers.