Episode 523 WP Founders and Webhosting With Ahsan Parwez

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Show Summary

The provided text is an excerpt from The SDM Show, Episode 523, featuring host Rob Cairns interviewing Ahsan Parwez, co-founder of WP Founders. Their conversation begins with Ahsan’s journey into the WordPress ecosystem, starting with Joomla before transitioning and eventually becoming a WordPress community manager at Cloudways. The discussion then shifts to the origins and mission of WP Founders, a platform highlighting success stories of WordPress business owners to inspire new entrepreneurs. Finally, they explore WP Dots, the umbrella company encompassing ventures like website building, marketing advice, wpdiscounts.io, and their hosting company, hostwp.io, touching upon the challenges and nuances of the web hosting industry, security, and WordPress page builders.

Show Notes

Key takeaways:

• Ashan’s background: Ahsan started with WordPress in 2012 after using Joomla. He worked at Cloudways for 7+ years, leading their marketing efforts and witnessing significant company growth.
• WP Founders: Born out of a desire to attract new talent to WordPress, WP Founders focuses on sharing success stories of WordPress company owners through interviews and a unique newsletter.¹
• WP Dots: An umbrella company encompassing various WordPress-related services like website building, marketing advice, an affiliate marketing website (wpdiscounts.io), and a hosting company (hostwp.io).
• HostWP: Aimed at providing high-performance WordPress hosting using LiteSpeed servers, HostWP faces challenges in the crowded hosting market but leverages its team’s expertise and strong network to compete.²
• Marketing and Community: Ashan discusses the evolving landscape of marketing, emphasizing the importance of email marketing and the challenges of self-promotion in online communities.
• Support and Security: Ashan shares insights into the support side of running a hosting company, common customer queries, and the critical role of security measures like CP Guard, security plugins, and backups.

Important points:

• Website as a marketing tool: A website is just one piece of the marketing puzzle, and a comprehensive strategy is crucial for success.
• Email marketing: Email marketing remains a valuable tool, especially when used strategically and ethically.³
• Challenges for new hosting companies: Competition is fierce in the hosting space, and marketing efforts require creativity and persistence.
• The importance of security: Website owners must prioritize security by implementing hardening measures, using security plugins, and performing regular backups at both the host and site levels.⁴
• Hiring help: For serious businesses, especially e-commerce sites, professional website maintenance is essential to avoid costly downtime and data loss.

This interview provides valuable insights into the WordPress industry, the challenges and rewards of running a hosting company, and the importance of a proactive approach to website security and maintenance.