Philippines: Shared Hosting Tips

Filip from Site.pro had a conversation with Jose Emmanuel Disini, Dot.ph CEO, discussing Shared Hosting tips in Philippines. Dot.ph runs the registry for the Philippines. They sell direct, web services, certificates, email, G Suite, bandwidth and many other products.

Philippines and Local Registry

Internet Penetration

Philippines has about a hundred million people. Internet penetration is quite slow and very low. Despite the large number of mobile phone users, penetration is probably only around 30%. In addition, the bandwidth is also very limited and slow.

Language and Website Usage

When people write to support, ussually they write in both, English and Filipino languages. In addition, the local population mostly speaks the mother tongue, but if they write to support they are more likely to use English.

Talking about runing the website, it is enough to run it in English, because everyone understands.It is interesting to emphasise that websites in the local language are more for news and gossip, not for government.

Payment Gateways

There are very few payment gateways and the most common is PayPal, which connects to most banks. There are a few smaller wallets such as GCash, in addition the use of bitcoin is minimal. Dragonpay is used by some merchants who prefer it over credit cards.

Cash is not popular because it is dangerous to carry around too much cash. People usually use credit cards to pay for hosting services. Dragonpay is one option, but it is quite cumbersome because it involves several steps: you need to go to the website, then to the bank, then to the Dragonpay website and finally to the Dot.ph website.

Customer Support

There is hotline in working hours which sends the alerts and Dot.ph addresses emergencies within 72 hours. When people write to support, they often write in English, although they speak in the local language.

Quality vs Price

Everyone wants to get quality service at the best price. Dot.ph's niche is high quality services, but some competitors offer lower prices with worse service. The market is still growing and should continue to grow for at least the next 10 years because of the low Internet penetration rate.

Website Builders

Dot.ph offers website building services, but we also do it for the client. Our website builder is cost-effective and fast, hosted in the Philippines. Most websites are hosted outside the country, mainly in the US, because it's cheaper. Local hosting is expensive due to high labor and power costs. Telcos offer hosting but at very high prices.

Technology

Many people do not have notebooks at all, they have only phones which is their only one Internet connection. As for personal computers, they may use computers at work but often don't own personal computers.

Hosting Pricing

Entry-level hosting is around $12 to $15 per month. Some competitors offer hosting for as low as $2 or $3. Services in the Philippines generally more expensive than average. Power and rents are higher compared to other regions. That's why many people prefer to host outside the country, despite the local demand.

Marketing Ideas That Work

Once Dot.ph created bold and attention-grabbing advertisements to get people to buy a page Romanian at $35 compared to $8 for a regular pages. Dot.ph emphasised the importance of getting the exact domain name you want, rather than settling for a less ideal one. These ads were designed to be interesting and sometimes controversial to effectively communicate our message.

Conclusion

The Philippine market offers both challenges and opportunities for internet and hosting services. Dot.ph company offers diverse web services tailored to the Philippine market, prioritising quality and reliability. Despite higher costs and slow Internet penetration, they provide competitive pricing and efficient support, ensuring customer satisfaction in a market.