TL; DR: We’re not strangers to Hostpoint here at HostingAdvice. This Swiss-based web hosting and domain service provider operates from the heart of Europe, offering services in one of the most secure and ethically-minded locations for data privacy and security. Mauro Landolt, Head of Communications at Hostpoint, told us about some of Hostpoint’s newer features and how it aims to remain Switzerland’s most trusted provider.
Switzerland may be neutral, but its internet infrastructure isn’t. While it isn’t part of the European Union (EU) and its stringent privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the country maintains advanced broadband infrastructure and robust data protection laws of its own, including the New Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP), which aligns with its counterpart’s standards.
That explains why so many businesses opt for hosting providers in Europe. Among one of the region’s best and most trusted hosts is Hostpoint, headquartered in the picturesque town of Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland.
But don’t let the idea of a small city fool you: Hostpoint is the largest web hosting provider in Switzerland. It manages more than 1 million domain names and maintains a state-of-the-art, stable infrastructure in the heart of Europe.
“We’re very much focused on serving the market here in Switzerland; it’s a relatively small country, but it’s very economically situated, and the market is absolutely big enough for us,” said Mauro Landolt, Head of Communications at Hostpoint.
Regardless of your location, whether in the US or elsewhere outside of Europe, you can certainly reap the benefits of Swiss hosting services. Keep in mind Switzerland has stringent data protection regulations, top-notch internet and broadband infrastructure, and adherence to rigorous industry standards.
What’s New with Hostpoint
If you’ve been around for a while, you may remember we talked with Hostpoint a few years ago. Since then, there have been numerous improvements.
“Since we last spoke, we’ve grown steadily, both in terms of revenue and employees. We just reached 100 people this year, which we think is quite the milestone,” said Mauro.
Over the past couple of years, Hostpoint has become the first hosting provider in Switzerland to offer seven-day support.
“We’ve always emphasized our focus on customer care support; it’s a fundamental cornerstone of our success in our company’s DNA,” said Mauro. “For example, picture a Sunday afternoon, and suddenly, your emails aren’t working. Try to get in touch with anybody on a Sunday afternoon. Well, with us, you can.”
This is no understatement: More than half of Hostpoint’s employees are in the customer care department, and its daily hours are from 8 AM to 6 PM.
Hostpoint also added a new product and some cloud advances, including E-mail & Cloud Office.
“What we did then is we didn’t just launch email as itself; we also included certain cloud services. So when you use your email address, you get all these typical services that you would also get from Google or Microsoft,” Mauro explained.
Before, email addresses were only available if you hosted with Hostpoint. Now it’s a separate service detached from the hosting products — so if you need email hosting but not web hosting or a domain name, Hostpoint can still deliver the right solution.
New Swiss TLDs are Emerging
Mauro says the most common TLDs (top-level domains) he sees in Switzerland — aside from the typical .com, and .ch, Switzerland’s country code TLD (ccTLD) — is a growing popularity with .swiss.
And the .swiss TLD story is an interesting and long-awaited one.
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) embraced the Swiss German motto “Ist Schweiz drin, gehört .swiss dran,” which loosely translates to “If it’s a Swiss site, .swiss is right,” during its awareness campaign in 2015 when ICANN introduced .swiss as a TLD. Registration of .swiss domains commenced in 2015 by OFCOM, and it became available for registration by other legal entities in 2016. .swiss will be available for individual use starting April 2024.
“.swiss is a bit more exclusive than other ccTLDs, so we’re trying to promote to people if they have a name taken with .ch; now is your chance to get one with .swiss,” Mauro said. “This is a very current topic, and we’ve started accepting inquiries for the domain extension in January.”
Mauro says Hostpoint has noticed this trend picking up momentum lately, with the recent adoption of .zuerich.
This regional TLD was introduced in 2022, making it the first regional TLD in Switzerland to be introduced to Zürich.
Fortifying Hostpoint’s Digital Fortress
Hostpoint continuously updates its systems and invests in infrastructure to mitigate cyber threats. It maintains a secure data center and has an abuse team to handle hacking attempts and phishing cases.
“People in Switzerland are very much aware where their data is stored, and they want it to stay local here in the country,” Mauro said. “That is our niche, and I think it has been a success.”
That being said, Mauro emphasizes that cybersecurity remains a top priority for Hostpoint. Customers demand nothing less, and Hostpoint is fully aware of their expectations.
“I don’t have to tell you this, but it’s always the job of constant improvement, so we’re always on the edge and looking for what threats can pop up,” Mauro said. “We’re continuously updating our security systems and are always looking for what can be improved, asking where we have to invest in our infrastructure systems.”
While not operated in-house, Mauro assures Hostpoint’s data center is exceptionally secure — it’s state of the art and holds accreditation from the Swiss Banking Commission.
From a growth perspective, Hostpoint recently surpassed a huge milestone in 2023, achieving more than 32 million Swiss francs in sales and further establishing themselves as Switzerland’s largest web hosting provider. In the last 2 years, Hostpoint has grown its workforce by 30%, and is on track to expand even further into the market in 2024.
“There’s also something in the pipeline for this year as well, but we’ll have to wait and see,” Mauro hinted.
Until then, check out Hostpoint. Try its web hosting for free, or get the next big TLD before anybody else does.
