In this following interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Valentinas Cirba, the Brand Manager of
, a hosting company.Take a break and read this interview to learn more.
We did a little research upfront the interview, and we found out that Hostens is part of Interneto Vizija. Can you tell us a bit more about the history of Hostens, how it came to become part of Interneto Viizja?
Valentinas: You’re absolutely correct – Hostens is a part of Lithuania’s leading web hosting company named ‘Interneto Vizija’. Furthermore, at the end of last year, we joined the Scandinavian web hosting company ‘Miss Group’. Miss Group was founded in 2014 and in less than 2 years acquired over 70 000 accounts with employees working from 3 different continents. This has made the company one of the fastest-growing web hosting companies in the world.
So being a part of such a big company enables Hostens to offer the latest technology solutions, more server locations, one of the best prices in the market, and a complete services package to ‘build a home for your website’. On the other hand, as a separate branch, Hostens consists of a small, fun, creative, and talented team – this allows us to be more flexible and provide the friendliest customer support.
Talking about the very beginning, launching Hostens was a mature decision. For more than 15 years,
‘ parent company focused on growing only in the home market. Eventually, we decided to take advantage of our know-how and go one step further – to launch the global web hosting provider Hostens. Based on the numerous calculations and observations, we decided to enter the market with low prices for hosting and no hidden terms and conditions. This means that Hostens offers high-quality services at affordable prices and does not mislead its customers with offers made for marketing purposes only. We have noticed that so many providers disclose the final fees and manipulate them a little bit by using specific keywords such as ‘unmetered’, ‘unlimited’, ‘lifetime offer’, and so on. We, on the other hand, decided to be entirely transparent and straightforward and do our best to make our customers’ lives easier.What were the main challenges when Hostens was found?
Valentinas: Of course, before we took our business overseas, we did the homework: market research, competitors’ analysis, marketing strategy, and various other calculations. Moreover, we already had the fully functioning and properly working infrastructure – our TIER III data center, the experts and the know-how.
Nevertheless, the web hosting market is highly competitive. So the biggest challenge was to find our unique selling points to compete with the major players. I believe we have done that successfully, as today, together with Interneto Vizija, we serve more than 150.000 customers worldwide.
How Hostens developed over the years?
Valentinas: Hostens started with just one server location: Vilnius. Today we offer multiple server locations in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Also, we have introduced new services such as
, which is free of charge, VPN services, , and many more. Consequently, our most outstanding achievement is that today we can offer a complete set of services that are needed to launch a website: web hosting, website builder, domains as well as security certificates.We’ve put all these services in one package and now offer
, domain and website builder all in one for just $1.50 per month. Our biggest goal was to help small businesses and entrepreneurs have their websites easily, securely, at an affordable price and fast. I’m sure that we have achieved this goal already. On the other hand, I believe services will never be a finished product. We are constantly evolving, improving, and our best time is still ahead.What are the primary services and products that Hostens is offering today?
Valentinas: We offer a wide range of services:
, , , , , security audit, as well as secure VPN services. Nevertheless, our primary service is shared hosting.All our
plans offer perks, such as a 70% discount if you purchase web hosting for three years. This is why our customers can have a reliable web hosting for as little as $0.90 per month. By the way, the most important thing is that this price doesn’t increase later and doesn’t have any other hidden conditions. Moreover, a free domain and a website builder are included in the price. Imagine this: you can create our entire online shop, blog, or whatever you need by paying less than one dollar per month.This is what makes our web hosting packages popular and competitive within the market.
We have noticed that Hostens had been awarded several awards from our company and other websites for hosting news. Can you tell us a bit more about this success?
Valentinas: When it comes to Hostens’ strengths, there’s no single criterion. Our success depends on our customers as we always try to satisfy them.
From the technical point of view, we offer the same things that the big players do. I mean the latest HP ProLiant DL360 Gen10 servers, cPanel control panel, SLA 99.95%, the full set of payment methods including cryptocurrencies, Tier III data center, and many more. On the other hand, we’re very small compared with the industry’s giants, so Hostens’ team is always willing to take an extra step by doing their best. I believe one of our greatest strengths is our people working here at
.We have just finished the first quarter of 2021. How is Hostens doing business this year?
Valentinas: Actually, great. After incorporation to Miss Group, we are ready to step up and offer our customers more value and more professional services in our product line. So many surprises in the form of new services will soon reach our customers.
Are you expecting any significant changes in the hosting industry in the next 10 years?
Valentinas: Talking about the hosting industry’s future, I would say that simplicity is the key. Less technical knowledge of customers will be needed, the service will be faster, more automated and much easier to manage.
Many of the hosting companies are introducing Bitcoin as a payment method for hosting pages. What is your opinion about this way of payment? Does Bitcoin is here to stay?
Valentinas: We accept cryptocurrencies, and their popularity has risen during the past 5 years. We believe they will remain popular in the future.
However, cryptocurrencies and their popularity correlate with their exchange rate. In the past with the same amount you could buy a hosting package, today you can buy a car. So let’s wait and see what tomorrow will bring us.
What is the most significant characteristic that makes Hostens successful?
Valentinas: I think it’s the shockingly low cost of entry.
customers can choose from three separate web hosting packages and all of them have monthly or annual payment options. So if a customer picks a yearly plan, along with it she or he pays less than one dollar for a full package of the most needed services: , , and a .We mentioned 2021, but we have to say 2020 and the pandemic that we are still feeling. How did Hostens manage the business with the pandemic? What are your expectations on how the pandemic will affect the hosting industry in the following period?
Valentinas: Last year’s spring was successful for us. At first, we noticed a hype when many businesses moved online. Of course, I can see this trend continuing as many small companies quickly saw the value of e-commerce: they reached more customers and made their sales process easier thanks to digitalization. However, we don’t expect a leap of the same scope as last year.
Where do you see Hostens in the following five years?
Valentinas: I have already talked about how competitive this industry is, but I’d like to see
competing with top brands in the market. We are already doing that, but our goal is to reach out to and gain the confidence of more customers who need more flexible solutions, which the industry’s giants cannot offer.In the end, is there any message that you would like to convey to the hosting community?
Valentinas: Our catchphrase is ‘even your hamster can have a website now. This is to emphasize that hosting a website is no longer a difficult process for tech-savvy persons only. It can be quite an easy, entertaining, and affordable task.
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