Why shared hosting remains popular among niche creative industries – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Niche creatives are a unique component of the labor force. Examples of professionals working in niche fields are city-based designers, designers specializing in services that cater to local businesses, and professionals who target conscious consumers.

A city-based designer captures the essence of a specific city in business and speaks to individuals who embody that area. Demand for design services for local businesses in a particular area is increasing. In fact, a survey by Kinesis revealed that 75% of people find a website’s credibility to be based on its design. Designers can also help local businesses with SEO and Google business profiles, both of which are heavily impacted by location.

The conscious consumer niche has the potential to go mainstream. As of 2024, consumers will spend around 10% more on average for sustainably sourced or produced goods, and 85% report first-hand experiences of climate change’s disruptive effects in their daily lives. Eco-friendly, vegan, and cruelty-free products are in high demand. Companies are taking notice, with some providing a plastic-free alternative to food storage.

Niche businesses are budget-conscious because they cater to a limited market, especially when they’re just starting out. As the most affordable type, shared hosting remains a popular choice. A report by Global Industry Analysts reveals that web hosting is generally a hot commodity, with the hosting market expected to reach $252.4 billion worldwide by 2030. Modern web hosts have implemented better security features and servers, more intuitive control panels, and a higher volume of resources overall.

Shared plans are affordable and accessible

It’s inexpensive to host websites on a shared server, as hundreds of websites can live on a single one. Some offers include a free domain name, making them perfect for anyone who wants to start a small business. Most plans have tools to help people who’ve never owned a website before get started. Some plans feature one-click WordPress installation, which simplifies the process of setting up your first website a great deal. As of 2024, 43% of all websites use WordPress, equivalent to 475 million websites worldwide. WordPress has a 63% CMS market share. There are integrations with platforms like Squarespace or Joomla, providing creatives with specialized tools to showcase their work.

You will need advanced technical knowledge to manage a dedicated hosting server, while most shared packages come with cPanel or custom control panels that make it easy to adjust some server settings. Shared plans also support common multimedia formats like JPEG and PNG, which are essential for portfolios and galleries.

Niche professionals often require basic server resources

Creative professionals such as independent artists or boutique designers often cater to small, targeted audiences, requiring only basic server resources. Shared plans are typically powerful enough to host simple portfolio websites, blogs, or small e-commerce sites, which are common in these industries.

Upgrades to higher-tier plans are easy

Shared plans are an entry-level solution, and most providers recognize that fact, offering easy upgrades to higher-tier plans like VPS or cloud hosting as traffic and resource needs increase.

Shared plans often include scalable options like additional storage, email accounts, and domain hosting.

The host takes care of the technical aspects

Hosting providers take care of server maintenance, security updates, and backups, allowing creatives to focus on their craft rather than IT management. Many shared services offer round-the-clock customer support, which is crucial for small businesses without dedicated IT staff.

They cater to local creatives

The hosting providers often cater to local creatives by including features such as regional domains and language options. For niche industries that operate regionally, shared plans are sufficient for handling localized traffic.