The Merging Worlds of Web Hosting & Site Building

What should consumers look for in a website builder and hosting combo?

These days, shoppers can get a website builder along with a Web hosting plan – all in one neat package.

TopHosts asked a couple of insiders why the world of website building and Web hosting are coming together, and what consumers should look out for when considering such a combo.

Sean McCoy, Chief Marketing Officer for AIT, a leading hosting provider for 10 years, says his company has been offering their Web Management Tool (WMT) along with their hosting products for about a year now. He thinks the Web hosting and site-building industries are growing closer.

“Many companies are in a unique position right now… and left with a decision: whether to get into site building or hosting or continue to be a utility provider,” McCoy said. “From there it’s a hop skip and a jump for companies to offer the best of both… I think that’s a reality right now.”

AIT’s customer base – made up of mainly hosting resellers – began demanding more out of their services a while back McCoy said, which sparked a change in the way AIT offered plans. In response, AIT took their own Content Management System (CMS) – originally intended for their own website maintenance – and combined it with their Template Store. The result was an all-inclusive, versatile WMT, perfect for resellers, who use it as a management tool for customers’ websites, and suitable for end-users who use it according to the access levels granted to them by the resellers.

“The freelancing crowd was always hitting up our resellers’ customers, saying they could build websites for $200 or for free. So there was an outcry among our resellers because they didn’t know how to compete with that,” McCoy said. “Our builder helped them (resellers)… and gave the cookie-cutter template-based websites by all the mom-and-pops access to our WMT as well.”

GoDaddy.com, one of the world’s largest domain name registrars and premier hosting providers, offers their ad-supported site builder, WebSite Tonight, to every customer that renews or purchases a domain name. Barb Rechterman, Executive Vice President for GoDaddy, says the company’s very first product was a website builder, and that it all grew from there. Offering it along with Web hosting gives customers another way of obtaining a strong presence online, on their terms and on their budget, Rechterman said.

“We knew Webmasters can charge exorbitant fees for the work they do and sometimes this is out of reach for small businesses and families. We saw a need and solved it,” Rechterman said. “We also knew it (WebSite Tonight) had to be easy enough for anyone to use, to quickly and affordably establish an online presence.”

A good site builder, according to Rechterman, should always address the needs of both the novice and the expert. WebSite Tonight appeals to anyone because it’s comprehensive enough for beginners and can meet the demands of tech savvy experts.

Shoppers considering a website builder with their hosting should first look deeply into the features it offers. Make sure it provides an adequate variety of templates suitable for your site and that it’s flexible, giving you the right degree of customization ability, Rechterman explained.

Support is also a critical factor she says. Just because your Web host offers a site builder doesn’t mean they can adequately answer your technical questions, any time. “There’s nothing worse than having a technical question in the middle of the night, only to find that tech support is closed!” Look for around-the-clock support, like GoDaddy’s 24/7/365 support, and make sure your Web host knows the site builder you’re using.