The coronavirus outbreak has crippled the world around us, as we know it. It is no longer the incessant humming of large crowds, or liberal tapping of a thousand and million feet, or streets and markets abuzz with the suffusion of multitudes of voices, or the perpetual purring of car engines and roars of bikes, or screeching of tyres, or busyness of an office environment.
Instead, it is a deafening silence that rings through large swaths of the globe that have suddenly come to a standstill. Nationwide lockdown is the norm of the hour, and numerous countries have implemented it to contain the Covid-19 contagion.
- Rise in Internet Usage
At a time when scores of individuals are cooped up in their homes and brick, and mortar businesses are inoperative, the internet has become the new god. Although, it would be unfair to state that previously internet did not have a significant impact over society, but in the current pandemic context, it has gained a newfound veneration.
Therefore, this would be the ideal time for web hosts to leverage this situation into their favour. Data usage has spiked phenomenally since several nations went under lockdown. People are spending more time on the internet than ever.
Sections of society that previously did not rely on the internet for carrying out their daily lives are also now engaging in the same. For instance, children are now spending more time on internet devices like mobile phones, tablets, or PCs to stream online classes or watch something or the other in their spare times.
Similarly, individuals who are employed in sectors or businesses that do not require internet services, such as manufacturing factories or clerical-intensive government jobs, are also now confined to their homes with plenty of time to spare to browse the internet.
Rajan Mathews, the Director-General of Cellular Operators Association of India, recently stated that private telecom operators had noted a 30% spike in network traffic since the Indian government announced the 21-day lockdown.
In Europe, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, Vodafone reported a 50% surge in internet usage since Covid-19 cases started explosively rising in countries like Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
In the USA, thus far the worst-affected country by the novel coronavirus disease, in-home data usage in March 2020 has grown by 18% compared to March 2019, according to Comscore.
Source: Comscore
Comscore expects this rising trend in internet consumption to continue as the country continues to battle with Covid-19 in the coming weeks or even months.
2. How does this Benefit the Web Hosting Industry?
As brick and mortar businesses remain, shut entrepreneurs and businesspersons are seeking new ways to connect to their client base. For instance, the fitness industry was one of the first industries to shut down in India alongside schools and malls.
Overnight, scores of gym trainers and fitness instructors went out of work. However, they were quick to adapt to this situation by opening up their dedicated websites or using social media to stream online workout sessions and fitness programmes.
This phenomenon immediately saw a rise in domain purchases. Along the same lines, numerous individuals like bloggers and web creators are amping up their game and trying to attract flocks of internet users to their websites during this pandemic in an attempt to generate traffic abound and in turn earn from advertisements.
Ipso facto, as demand for web content rises amid this pandemic situation, it is only natural that more and more web creators and industries will put increased emphasis on either making their existing websites more active or creating new platforms in order to adapt to these changing global scenario.
Therefore, web hosting companies like GoDaddy.com and Bluehost are likely to witness an upsurge in demand for newer domains during this global pandemic situation. They also play a crucial role in keeping businesses afloat.
Hence, while the world remains shut behind closed doors, spending countless hours over the internet, new doors are opened for businesses to take their business online with aid from web hosting companies.
