Becoming a Web Hosting Reseller: is it Right for You?

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Becoming a Web Hosting Reseller: is it Right for You?

Anyone who owns or handles multiple domain names should consider becoming a reseller of web hosting services. It also makes a good add-on service for certain businesses. Read on to find out whether becoming a reseller web host suits your needs.

You probably know someone who has gone through this scenario, or more than likely you have been there yourself. You discover the Internet, and learn how easy it is to set up a website. You set up a personal one for yourself, and then another one for your business, buying different domain names. Impressed, your family and friends ask you to help them set up their own websites, but they want you to handle the messy details (like arranging who will host the site). Before you know it, you have a whole collection of domain names spread across several web hosting companies, each of them charging a monthly fee. You would like to find a way to cut those expenses.

Or maybe you are a graphic designer, and you create websites for your clients. You even maintain some of them. But you want to offer your clients something that will set you apart from all the rest of the HTML jockeys out there. If it could be a service for which you can charge and add to your bottom line, so much the better.

Perhaps you own a business that, for whatever reason, needs more than one domain name. Or, instead of owning the business, you’re the webmaster of the company, and need to handle those domain names. Like the person who has discovered the Internet and found himself more involved with it than he might have originally intended, you would like to cut your expenses –- not to mention the hassle of dealing with more than one web hosting company.

Whether you are an owner of multiple domain names for business purposes, an Internet hobbyist whose domain name collection is now a little out of hand, or the owner of a business with a natural tie-in to the Internet, you might find that becoming a reseller of web hosting services solves many of your problems. You don’t need to be in the business of web hosting to be a web hosting reseller. Many web hosting companies offer reseller accounts for a price that suits the budget of a serious hobbyist, while providing professional service.

Why You Should Consider Becoming a Reseller:

There are a lot of reasons to consider becoming a reseller of web hosting services. First of all, if you have more than one website and the total disk space you need is 500 MB or more, many web hosting providers have reseller programs that will offer you a significant discount on that amount of space. Usually, grouping that much space together under one host will cost less than the combined price of keeping several accounts with different hosts, even if those other hosts seem less expensive for single accounts.

For example, Hosting Revolution offers a reseller account for $35. For that price, it offers up to 100 domain names, to each of which you can allocate up to 20 GB of monthly transfer and up to 2.5 GB of storage space. If you own 10 domain names, you may be paying $5 to $10 per name per month to your web host(s), which really adds up. Buy a reseller account, and you can save money. Better, you will have room to expand or even sell hosting space, thus turning a profit.

Because you have purchased so much space, you can be flexible with how you dole it out. You can allocate more space to websites that need it, and less to those that don’t. This can be particularly useful if you have a website that suddenly generates a lot of interest or gains a lot of content –- say, for example, on a seasonal basis.

If you offer Internet-related services, providing web hosting under your own company name can be a great and profitable add-on service. This move is a natural for website designers, but theirs is by no means the only kind of business that can benefit. If you program or sell software related to building websites, your customers are clearly interested in creating websites, which can imply an interest in purchasing web hosting services. You can probably think of many other kinds of businesses that could logically offer this service.

Finally, if you are currently hosting websites on your own equipment, becoming a reseller of web hosting services takes the problems associated with that out of the picture. You no longer need to worry about things like the cost of server maintenance. Likewise, technical support falls under the purview of your web hosting provider. Assuming you have chosen a reliable web hosting provider, this can save you a lot of money, time, and frustration, letting you focus on the parts of your business or hobby that you enjoy the most.

Choosing Your Web Host:
If you have decided that you want to become a web hosting reseller, your most important decision is which web hosting company will be your provider. Do not make this decision lightly, or based only on which company offers the most space for the least amount of money. Whether you are doing this as a business or a hobby, the owners of the websites under your care will be depending on you to keep them up and running –- and you, in turn, will be depending on the reliability of your web host. Every time a problem at the web host affects your clients’ sites, rest assured, you will hear about it –- usually from your clients, and in a raised voice.

Pick a web host with a reputation for reliability. There are many websites with forums that cater to the web hosting community. You can hunt down online reviews from past and current clients of web hosts you are thinking about doing business with fairly easily.

While reliability in terms of uptime is an important consideration, it isn’t the only one. Find out how quickly your chosen web host responds to support requests –- especially the kind of time-sensitive ones that make your clients yell. Also, find out how long the web host has been in business; remember that many new businesses fail within their first year, and businesses in the field of web hosting are no exception to this rule.

Consider your own future while shopping for a web host. Your needs as a reseller could easily change and grow in the future. Does the web host offer reseller plans that let you upgrade when your needs increase? Are they willing to customize their plans? How much do they charge for their plans, and what is included in the price?

One other thing worth considering: does the web host provide the option for private nameservers? Usually they do, for a small additional fee. Private nameservers are also called private label, personalized nameservers, or virtual nameservers. They help you brand your business, and simplify things for your clients. If your reseller account is with AlwaysUp Hosting and your company name is EverDependable Services, your clients will enter ns1.everdependable.com and ns2.everdependable.com for the nameservers for their domains.

Nuts and Bolts :
Your web host is just one of a number of decisions you will make as you begin to set yourself as a reseller of web hosting services. Most of the topics I will mention here come close to deserving their own articles. This being an introductory piece, I can’t go into great detail here.

You will need to choose the platform you want to use (Linux vs. Microsoft), which will determine what software you can run. You will also need to decide what control panel your clients will use for their websites. These range from pretty basic to full of features. Obviously, as a reseller you will also have a control panel of your own, to set up and control hosting accounts.

After you have chosen your web host, you need to set up your hosting plans and prices. Remember that both bandwidth and disk space are important factors. Divide your bandwidth by your disk space so that you know what ratio of bandwidth to disk space you can offer. Take into consideration what will happen to that ratio if and when you decide to upgrade. Base the packages you offer on the bandwidth/disk space ratio. As to pricing, consider your competitors, but also weigh in any special (additional) services you will provide.

If you’re going to do this seriously, you need to build a website for your reseller web hosting business. You can easily find books and articles devoted to this topic. Approach this with the eyes of a potential customer, and make sure you include everything that they would want to know about your company and its services. It may not need to be fancy, but it does need to be well organized and easily accessible, especially the important stuff (i.e. contact information, how to order, pricing packages, etc.).

You’re not done yet. If you’re going to accept online payments for hosting accounts, your site needs to be ready for it. That means you need to set up an SSL certificate, a merchant account, and a payment gateway. Otherwise, you will not be able to accept secure payments.

Likewise, you will probably want to set up an automated billing system. This will save you a ton of work. Billing and payment processing systems often charge a monthly or yearly fee for a license; a few offer prices for lifetime licenses. Make certain that it is compatible with server program, and find out whether support is included in the fee (and how much).

You will also want to set up a helpdesk. This lets clients communicate with you when they need support, and helps you to respond to those requests. As you have no doubt already figured out, being a reseller doesn’t take you off the hook for customer support – quite the opposite, in fact.

No, you’re still not done. When your clients register with you, they deserve an email that welcomes them to your business; it also helps to make sure they know what they’re getting, in writing. This email should include a confirmation of the package details; a username and temporary password; the nameserver names; a link to the control panel; and links to your FAQ and helpdesk.

Whew, that’s a lot, and we haven’t even talked about marketing your business yet! Still, even for someone doing it as just a hobby, becoming a reseller of web hosting services can be a big decision. I hope I’ve given you some idea of what is involved.

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