As we are living in a digital world, all kinds of websites are booming and web hosting is certainly one of them. If you too are a web developer/designer/agency and looking for a new way to expand your services to your clients, then you are at the right place! In this article, we will talk about reseller hosting, a very convenient option for those thinking of starting their own little web hosting business.
What is Reseller Hosting?
Reseller hosting is simply a website business model in which a hosting provider lets their customers sell/rent their hosting services to third parties for profit. It is actually a way of providing your customers hosting services as if you are a hosting company. Reseller hosting can be quite convenient for certain types of websites, such as web agencies that wish to provide “All in 1” types of services for their clients that need a website.
How Does Reseller Hosting Work?
Reseller hosting is a type of web hosting where the owner of the account, the reseller, purchases hosting services from a larger hosting provider and then sells them to customers. The reseller acts as a middleman, creating and managing their own packages and prices for hosting services, while using the infrastructure and resources of the larger hosting provider. The reseller has the ability to manage their clients’ hosting accounts, and they may offer additional services such as website design and management. The larger hosting provider is responsible for maintaining the servers and network, while the reseller focuses on selling and managing the hosting services they provide.
Pros and Cons of Reseller Hosting
Here are the main pros and cons of reseller hosting plans:
Pros
😊 Easy to manage – Things such as server hardware, network infrastructure, connectivity, and server updates will be addressed by your main hosting provider, so it will all be easy enough for you to manage without having much technical information.
😊 Good way of making side income – Reseller hosting has low initial costs, and you will be making your own rebranding & pricing, which means if done right, it might be a good source of additional income for your website.
😊 You can provide full services to your customers – Imagine you are running a web agency, and your client wants to build a new website. Instead of telling them to find a hosting provider, you do the job yourself, so your client won’t have to deal with other providers, not to mention having the ability to provide all-in-one services is always good.
😊It is scalable – You can start small, and grow your hosting solutions as your business website grows, as reseller hosting options are easily upgradable.
Cons
☹ Very competitive – Reseller hosting is quite a competitive business, as entering it is relatively low cost and easy, and you will also be competing with a number of well-established hosting providers.
☹ Extra responsibility- Although technical details are mostly handled by your main provider, you are still the face of the operations for your own clients, and this takes a certain amount of knowledge about the hosting business, and a lot of extra responsibility.
☹ Being dependent on your main provider- Yes, you will be rebranding your hosting plans, but still, technically, you will be largely dependent on your hosting provider, and their efficiency will directly affect yours, meaning their competence will play a major role in your success, which is really a double-edged sword.
How to Choose the Best Reseller Hosting for Your Customers?
When it comes to web hosting, there is hardly a “best” option, as there are a lot of trustable providers out there with their own pros and cons, which means it all comes down to your priorities, expectations, and of course, budget for your website. But there are obviously a few things you can consider before deciding on a reseller hosting provider for your business.
Here are some of them…
- Features – Try to find an offering with the best features for your clients. This does not only require a good amount of research, but also a solid understanding of your clients’ needs.
- Customer Support – If anything goes wrong, you will be the one your clients will be calling, and if issues -and there will be issues!- are not resolved quickly, it will hurt your brand’s reputation. So, try to find a hosting provider with very good 24/7 live customer support.
- Ability to easily grow – Ideally, the hosting business will grow, and you will need to upgrade your reseller hosting packages. Check different providers and try to pick one that will suit your growing needs with its wide range of plans.
- Easy to use cPanel– cPanel is a kind of an industry standard, and having a reseller hosting plan that provides you with cPanel will make things a lot easier for you.
Reseller Hosting FAQ
If you have further questions on what reseller hosting is, check out the frequently asked questions below:
Q: How much technical knowledge do I need to be a successful reseller?
A: Not much! See, your main provider will be handling the backend operations mostly, so that you can focus on your business! But don’t forget that you will be the one answering your clients when something goes wrong, so you will need basic knowledge of the hosting business, and you should be ready for extra responsibility!
Q: Can I upgrade my reseller hosting package?
A: Of course! If your business grows – and we hope it will!- you can contact your provider for upgrading options, and they will take care of it for you!
Q: What type of hosting solution can I provide to my clients as a reseller?
A: It depends on what your customers need! You can offer shared, dedicated, VPS hosting, or cloud hosting solutions as a reseller.
Q: Will my clients know that I am not the main provider?
A: No! As we have mentioned at the beginning, you will be repackaging and rebranding the resources, and you can provide them to your customers without using your main provider’s name, this is perfectly all right!
Conclusion
In conclusion, reseller hosting is an easy and profitable solution for websites looking to provide hosting services to their clients. It is especially very convenient for website owners that are looking to add another source of income to their establishment by providing additional services to their clients. So, if you too are thinking about getting into the hosting business, check the countless plans out there and you will surely find the best solution for your budget & needs!