Before the automobile, striking oil was an inconvenience. Farmers didn’t know what to do with it. Only when the internal combustion engine was invented did oil become the world’s most valuable resource. That’s where the hosting industry is with domain data.

Every domain you host is a live, evolving signal. It tells you whether a customer is growing, stagnating, about to churn, or ready to buy more. But most providers keep that data untapped, unrefined, and misunderstood, hence missing a competitive advantage. 

Blind Spots in Plain Sight

In the past year I’ve analyzed hundreds of thousands of domains through my work with Domain Intelligence, and have seen the same pattern:

  • A customer’s site evolves from a basic landing page to a live ecommerce store, but no one steps in to address security risks or offer scalable hosting.
  • A fresh WordPress install sits idle for months, waiting for a welcome email, an onboarding nudge, or any signal of support that never comes – until churn inevitably happens!
  • High-traffic sites run on legacy CMS versions, unaware that hassle-free Managed WordPress plans even exist.
  • A customer site running outdated tech or missing SEO basics, and has low traffic and rarely updates their site. These are signals that would justify offering managed services or support, but they go unnoticed.
  • Domain customers host their site elsewhere, even though many would have gladly migrated to their domain Registrar in order to consolidate (if only someone had asked!).
  • Businesses that pay for premium email like Google or Outlook, but no one helps them set up SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, leaving their deliverability and trust exposed.
  • Active e-commerce stores that rely on free SSL certificates, never offered the trust boost of a premium upgrade.

This data is all there. But it’s not being used to serve customers better since so many providers still rely on broad segmentation to power generic offers. 

But a shift is already underway.

Recently, GoDaddy’s Adam Warner described how AI is “enhancing the website creator’s ability to create better insights.” It’s a theme echoed by other industry players, who see how AI is making hosting services smarter, more efficient, and more responsive to customer needs.

This reflects a growing awareness that the future of hosting is about intelligent, proactive engagement. That evolution demands more data and better ways of understanding and acting on it, which can drive better engagement, higher retention, and new revenue.

So why aren’t more providers using the data they already have to serve customers better?

Well, it’s not for lack of effort. From what I’ve seen: 

  • It’s messy
  • It’s fragmented
  • It’s not always clear what to look for, or what to do with what you find

And because many actually have tried. They’ve shown me how they tried to build in-house insight dashboards, even BI tools, only to end up with an expensive tangle of siloed insights, a Frankenstein setup so that their tools can “talk” to each other, and campaigns that somehow still rely on guesswork.

frustrated woman looking at laptop

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

The Story Could Look Different

But I’ve also seen the opposite! What it looks like when data is successfully used to hyper-target customers:

  • A global provider wanted to boost uptake of an SEO add-on without burdening their internal teams. By using domain data to detect when a customer’s site transitioned from parked to live with content, they timed a personalized offer just as the user became ready to benefit. The result? Over 4,500 upsells and €0.87 in additional revenue per domain. All driven by a single, well-timed nudge.
  • A regional Registry wanted to understand real-world adoption of their TLD, not just registrations. By analyzing 250,000+ local businesses and their websites, they quantified actual penetration across sectors and regions. This gave them a data-backed foundation for targeted outreach and long-term planning rooted in how the TLD was truly being used.
  • A Registrar and Web Host doubled their email open rate just by using website data points to personalize the subject line.  

None of these providers had armies of data scientists. They just decided to stop flying blind and start listening to what their domains were already telling them.

Hosts & Registrars who don’t hyper-target using customer data will keep leaving money on the table.

  • They’ll keep sending the same email to five totally different customer segments.
  • They’ll push TLD offers to users who don’t need them, and miss the ones who do.
  • They’ll continue offering upgraded WordPress plans to customers with no website.

In short, they’ll be missing the opportunity to become indispensable to their customers by showing they know them, and what they need. 

So, my point is that you probably need to rethink how you use the data you already have access to.

The oil is there. The engine exists.
Are you using it to power your customers’ growth?