A Beginners Guide to Setting Up a Reseller Web Hosting Business

Posted on Nov 12 2014 - 6:43am by Editor

Whether you’re a web developer looking to increase your revenues whilst at the same time providing greater value for money to you clients, or an entrepreneur hoping to expand your portfolio and take advantage of the growing online economy, selling web hosting as a reseller can prove to be a profitable business venture.

Getting started requires neither a huge outward investment nor a degree in business management.If you know a thing or two about web hosting and have as little as just $15 to spend each month, you could set up your own web hosting company in no time.

web hosting business

 

Ready to get started? Here’s a few things to consider.

What is reseller hosting?

To put it in it’s most basic terms, reseller hosting is exactly what it sounds like:

You buy a hosting server – or at the very least – a sizable amount of space on a server owned by one of the big hosting companies, and then repackage that space to sell your own cheap web hosting plans to your customers.

Reseller hosting is often used by designers or developers to provide quality hosting to their clients. Since you’re in charge of the hosting you sell, you can be certain that the service you’re providing is well managed and provides everything your customers need to keep their websites online right around the clock.

What will I need to start my own hosting company?

First things first, having a good working knowledge of web hosting, or at least having somebody on board who does, will prove essential to the success of your new venture.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that you can make it without this, but you’ll have a much greater chance of selling your hosting plans if you know what you’re talking about.

A little initial investment is also a must in the early going. You’ll use this to pay for your reseller account and any advertising you choose to carry out.

Once that’s in place, you should be well prepared to take those first steps to hosting success.

How do I choose the right reseller account?

Naturally, cost is going to be a factor here. The majority of the top web hosting companies currently offer affordable reseller plans, though before you jump in, it pays to look around and compare plans. We suggest you use a comparison site such as bestwebhostingnow.co.uk and compare the hosting plans on offer in order to get the very best deals.

Look at the individual features across different provider’s plans and how closely they match the kind of service you’re looking to offer to your customers.

Cost isn’t everything however, and when you’re staking your reputation on a parent hosting company, it makes sense that you’ll want the backing of a company which boasts a solid reputation of its own.

After all, if you throw in your lot with a less than reliable firm, you can be less than sure of the kind of hosting you’re offering to your customers, and if something goes wrong, it’s your name (or rather, your business’ name) that takes the hit.

How do I come up with plans my customers will want?

If you already have existing customers, start by asking them what they really want from a hosting solution. Follow this by looking at what the top hosting providers currently offer, and develop packages that set you apart from the crowd whilst at the same time getting to the heart of what your clients need.

This could include offering additional services like web design, online marketing or SEO, dedicated support, or the kind of free features that your competitors charge for.

Once you’ve got hosting plans for sale that you’re sure will be a winner, it’s time to head to market, using your skills, knowledge and some serious marketing activity to sell them.

As time goes on, you’ll get to know more about the needs of your customers, and can offer new plans accordingly to ensure that your reseller web hosting business is an enduring success.