Interviewed on 10 Feb 09
Phillip Spencer, CEO
Aplus.net is among the Internet’s longest-running and best-known web hosting and online solutions providers, specializing in helping small businesses build an online customer base with a comprehensive range of services that include shared hosting, dedicated hosting, professional web design, online marketing, eCommerce, domain name registration, and more.
Aplus.net takes pride in offering businesses a complete range of online solutions. From basic personal and business plans to fully optimized dedicated server set-ups, Aplus.net offers an impressive array of technology, service, and top-notch, U.S.-based, 24/7 customer support.
Since its formation in 1992, Aplus.net has received multiple awards for excellence, including the prestigious CNET Editors' Choice Award, and has been featured in top U.S. business publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and PC Magazine.
What unique selling points do you offer?
As a company that’s been around for over 15 years, Aplus.net has a level of experience that most other hosting companies can’t come close to matching. We’re also just finishing up our efforts to consolidate all departments of our company under one roof here in the Kansas City metro area, which is in direct contrast with the outsourcing trend that’s so prevalent among other companies in the web hosting industry.
The main reason that we’re different, though, is because we take the time to communicate with small business owners and operators in a language they’re comfortable with. We don’t use hard-to-understand jargon; we don’t think our customers should have to have computer science degrees in order to manage their online businesses. This is exemplified with our “Ask Jeff” feature, which is a resource we offer customers who want help understanding some of the more difficult aspects of their hosting and eCommerce services.
Describe the services you offer?
Web hosting is the foundation of a larger online business presence. That’s why we offer such a wide variety of hosting options – eight different plans on the shared side and almost 20 dedicated plans – because, just as there are endless types of online businesses, so there are an endless variety of specific needs they each have.
Describe your target market?
Aplus.net has always catered to small- and medium-sized businesses. We understand that small business is the heart and soul of the economy, and we’re committed to providing small businesses with everything they need to grow and prosper online.
How is your company planning for the future?
In the years to come you’ll see Aplus.net taking on a greater role in consumer-oriented markets such as multimedia, social networking, and software-as-a-service. We’re innovating ideas to help benefit our customers on a greater scale than ever before, and so as the years pass, we’ll move from a mere hosting partner to full-fledged online business services partner to thousands and thousands more people.
What benefits can you offer your customers?
January 1, 2009 will see the latest in our roll-out of all-new dedicated server CPUs, something we do regularly. So, we always have the latest, best, and most highly optimized servers available for the market, and at great prices. Add to that our top-notch, completely U.S.-based dedicated support team – who are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – and it’s clear why Aplus.net is the preferred choice to many developers, webmasters, and other tech and online professionals.
How do you support your customers?
All our customer support is based right here in the U.S., and it’s available 24/7/365.. In addition, we offer an online database of customer information, the Aplus.net Knowledge Base, which has thousands of articles on how to manage your Aplus.net account (among other topics). Aplus.net takes customer support seriously.
