Web Hosting in Zimbabwe- Are we ready?
A decade ago you would not even think about hosting your website in Zimbabwe because it would have been a suicidal thing to do- frequent power cuts, slow internet, ridiculously high prices and bad customer support. Now it's 2020, a fresh decade ahead- are local web hosting companies like Tremhost ready to compete on a global scale against the likes of GoDaddy?
Short answer: Maybe
Long answer:
Local web hosting companies have caught up with the rest of the world, well, some. Let's take a look at some comparisons and factors that can help us reach our conclusion.
Pricing. Everyone considers pricing before buying. it is only in the movies where this may be overlooked but realistically, even Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos does not just reach for the pockets and pay. There is alot of comparison going on before making a purchase. With most of the country now connected to an internet connection it is likely that potential buyers search around and compare local web hosting companies with international ones. Now how do local companies compare to international ones? It's just the same.
Speed. Slow websites are frustrating. If you have ever been in a traffic jam you probably know the frustration- that is how slow websites feel like. When a website takes more than 5 seconds to load then that is a huge huge huge problem because stats show that when a website does not load within 4 seconds, users are more likely to leave. How do Zimbabwean web hosting companies compare to international ones? Truth be told, there is no difference between popular web hosting companies in Zimbabwe and international ones because most use the same server farms from Amazon or Azure. I can not speak of web hosting companies wanna be, no, I mean hosting companies you already know..... yes like Tremhost.
Realiabiity. This one is a big issue in Zimbabwe. Thing is: some of these "web hosting" companies have shady control panels we do not even recognise. Not to mention that you will be offline alot of times. In general Zimbabwean web hosting companies may let you down at times but to make our comparison fair let us compare the best web hosting companies in Zimbabwe with the best in the world. With this comparison, we filter the shady web hosting companies in Zimbabwe and I have to say: the best web hosting companies in the world will beat local best companies- a little.
Customer Support. Tremhost had 24/7 customer support since 2016, let us skip this one. We have instant live chat support, GoDaddy doesnt, Ionos doesnt. We are beating the heck out of them!
Marketing. The only marketing that is effective in Zimbabwe in word of mouth. Our budgets as hosting companies in Zimbabwe have not yet reached a point where we can sponsor the PSL or something huge.
These are the factors. There you go. Yes, we have come a long way as web hosting in Zimbabwe. In my opinion, we can take on the international big names.
Chris
