Key Takeaways
- Hosted.com recently expanded its self-help and knowledge bases after seeing a clear shift in how their customers prefer to ask for support.
- Wayne Diamond, its CEO, said beginner-level support requests are already declining, suggesting hosting customers are becoming more technically literate.
- AI is helping, too. It's not teaching users everything, but it is getting them to the answer faster than they ever could on their own.
Web host and domain registrar Hosted.com just expanded its self-service resources after noticing a change in how its customers approach support.
The host, which describes itself as having a soft spot for startups and small businesses, says many customers now try to troubleshoot issues on their own rather than wait for step-by-step technical guidance.
So, are end users actually becoming more technically literate?
If they’re not fully there yet, they clearly want to be. Founder and CEO Wayne Diamond, said the decision followed a pattern the support team kept seeing.
“We noticed a pattern in support inquiries: They were mostly quick, easy fixes that could be resolved by understanding the cause and following a few steps,” Diamond said. “Clients are becoming more knowledgeable about what they are doing.”
Hosting Users Want Answers, Not Hand-Holding
Most customers don’t arrive at tech support completely empty-handed.
Diamond said customers are showing greater interest in what’s happening behind the scenes — things like how servers work, how different plans compare, and what actually affects their site performance, or even what TLDs are.
“We saw that people wanted to learn more about what’s going on behind the scenes,” he added. “We also saw growing demand for the latest news and more on what’s happening in the web hosting industry, including new tech like AI and the latest cybersecurity developments.”
By looking at the numbers, a bigger appetite for self-service emerges.
Research shows that 88% of consumers expect a brand or organization to have an online self-service portal. And many Gen Z — now among the fastest-growing groups on the web — are 38% likely to abandon an issue entirely if it can’t be resolved through self-service.
After Hosted.com expanded its self-help base, customers began spending more time engaging with on-site resources, including its knowledge base, tutorials, blogs, YouTube channel, and new Spotify podcast, instead of heading straight to support.
“Between the current resources and the chat system, they are spending more time on our website finding information they need than speaking directly to the support team,” Diamond said.
As a result? Well, Hosted.com has seen far fewer beginner-level support requests.
AI Is Helping Users Get to the Answer Faster
A big reason why hosting providers may be seeing more self-reliance is because support teams are seeing a different kind of “beginner” than they used to.
A beginner in 2010 often didn’t know what web hosting was at all. The 2026 version may already know they’re on WordPress, recognize when a plugin or caching issue is involved, and understand where the problem lies (even if they can’t pinpoint the exact cause).
The self-help sections are useful, but Hosted.com has started incorporating more AI-assisted tools into its support systems to help bridge that knowledge gap even more.
“We’ve already started incorporating more AI assistance into our systems to help clients troubleshoot and find what they’re looking for even faster,” Diamond said. He added the goal isn’t to turn customers into experts, but to be led to the answers even faster.
It’s a good point because while AI can explain concepts, translate errors, and help guide through fixes, that assistance alone doesn’t make users experts — but it does tear down a few walls. More than 90% of organizations say they’ve seen faster issue resolution thanks to AI-assisted support.
But when Hosted.com’s customers do chat with support, Diamond said those conversations tend to be more productive.
“They’re able to explain what’s happening more clearly and already understand where to go in their control panel or WordPress dashboard,” he said. “Not to mention, they tend to have a better grasp of the technical terms and the reasons behind what’s going on.”
Hosted.com plans to keep expanding its self-help content across text, audio, and video — because while support still matters, it just isn’t where most users want to start.
