You’re interested in learning how to start a reseller hosting business, which is why you’re reading this article.
Most people that are interested in learning how to start a reseller web hosting business is because they want the residual income that a reseller web hosting business allows you to make.
It is not only possible to make residual money with reseller hosting, there are a lot of people and companies making residual money through reseller hosting. You can too, and this guide will help you do that.
Just so that we’re on the same page, first I’ll go over what a website is, what web hosting is and then what reseller hosting is.
What Is A Website?
Websites are made up of files, including text files, images, audio files and more.
Websites can be simpe brochure type of websites to big complex websites such as Google, YouTube and Amazon.
What Is Web Hosting?
Websites have to be stored on one or more computers so that they can be accessed on the internet.
These computers are specialized and powerful and specifically designed to host websites. These computers are called “servers”.
Web hosting companies (also called web hosting providers) own and maintain these servers and either rent out these servers or rent space on them to owners of websites that want to have their websites hosted.
Every website that you have visited has been hosted on a server by a web hosting company, maybe even a reseller hosting company.
What Is Reseller Web Hosting?
Reseller web hosting is when an established web hosting company either rents out some of their servers or rents out space on some of their servers on a discount price and a wholesale basis to individuals or companies, that then turn around and offer web hosting as their own at a marked up price.
The web hosting companies that rent out these servers or space on their servers maintain and manage these servers.
Why Start A Reseller Hosting Business, And Not A Web Hosting Business?
Because starting and running a web hosting company is complicated and expensive, but starting a reseller web hosting business can help you get started hosting websites without having to set up the infrastructure that is necessary and all of the costs that come with starting a web hosting business.
Reseller web hosting is a business and does require work to start and run like any other business, but if done right, it can generate a steady source of recurring income.
Choose A Reseller Web Hosting Niche
It’s important to decide what niche you’re going to target. This will help you decide how you are going to try to get customers.
Most people that are interested in learning how to start a reseller hosting business fall into two groups of people.
One group of people usually want to add web hosting to their existing website design business, or other some related business or service that they offer. The second group of people want to start a stand alone web hosting business, and starting a reseller web hosting business allows them to do that without having to set up the infrastructure that is necessary.
Regardless of what group you fall into, how you start a reseller hosting business is the same or very similar, but how you go about getting customers will be very different.
What To Look For In A Reseller Web Host
The features and service that reseller hosts offer vary a lot. You will want to look for very specific features when deciding what reseller web host to go with.
Some features are more important than others, and this section will cover some of the more important features that you want your reseller web host to have.
Private Label Reseller Hosting vs White Label Reseller Hosting
One of the most important decisions that you will have to make is whether you will want to run your reseller hosting as a private label reseller host or as a white label reseller host.
Both business models allow you to make recurring income through reseller web hosting, but they are two completely different business models.
Private Label Reseller Hosting
Private label reseller web hosting is when all that you have to do is register customers. You will receive an agreed percentage each time that the customer pays their bill.
The customer that is registered will go through the web hosting company for everything, including making payments, managing their websites, any questions and help required, etc.
When you offer web hosting as a private label reseller web host, you do receive recurring income, but you don’t really run a web hosting company.
White Label Reseller Hosting
White label reseller hosting is when the reseller is branded as an independent company. Your customers do not need to know that you are a reseller hosting company and you essentially get to run your reseller hosting business as you like, although you still have to abide by the web hosting company’s terms of service.
White label reseller hosting is more expensive, but this is a better option if you want to have an actual business.
Billing Platform For Web Hosting Providers
As a reseller web hosting company, you are going to want to be able to charge and allow your customers as efficiently as possible, and there are a lot of billing platforms specifically designed for web hosting companies.
You will want a billing platform to allow you to automate customer invoices and payment collection, allocate taxes and more.
The most popular solution is Web Host Manager Complete Solution (WHMCS), but there are many to choose from.
Scalable Server Resources
You are going to want to easily scale your server resources to meet the needs of your current customers, and your growing customer base. To do this, your reseller hosting provider needs to offer scalable server resources.
Choosing the right reseller web host will keep you from having to switch to a new reseller web host. If you have to switch your reseller web host, that will cost you time and money, and possibly customers as well.
An Easy-To-Use Control Panel
You may want to consider choosing a reseller web host that offers a variety of control panel options. A control panel includes an easy to use intuitive interface which allows you to manage your reseller hosting packages.
A control panel will let you do things like manage your purchased domains, install and uninstall applications, create and manage your email accounts, upload website files, and more.
The most popular control panel is cPanel, followed by Plesk.
Automated Backups
You will want to go with a reseller hosting company that offers automated backups. This will ensure that you and your customers’ data is always backed up in case it needs to be restored for any reason.
This will save you and your customers a lot of time and hassle in the event that a website’s data is lost for any reason.
24/7 Support For You And Your Customers
It is very important that the reseller web hosting company that you choose offers 24/7 customer support. You need to able to contact them so that when you or your customers have problems.
Customer service is very important, and being able to handle your customers issues in a timely manner should be a top priority.
Create Hosting Packages
When you buy reseller web hosting package from a reseller web host, you can create a variety of web hosting packages to cater to your web hosting customers’ requirements, such as bandwidth, disk space, maximum number of email accounts and storage, number of websites hosted, number of FTP accounts and more.
It is standard practice for most web hosts have at least three web hosting packages.
Getting Customers For Your Web Hosting Business
You are going to want to think about how you are going to get customers. There are many ways to do this.
A lot of reseller web hosts offer web hosting as an additional service to their website design services. This practice is common among larger web design agencies. They sometimes package the web hosting service as a stand alone service, and sometimes as part of a package where the web design agency takes care of the maintenance of the website for their customers.
If you have an email list, you can also promote your web hosting service to your contact list.
You can also set up a website and brand it as though you are the web host, and not as a reseller web host.
Conclusion
Whether you intend on offering web hosting as an additional service or as a stand alone service, starting a reseller web hosting service can help you get a steady source of recurring income.