Category: Reseller Hosting

Shared and Reseller web hosting have many similarities, many web hosts offer both shared and reseller hosting. The main difference between the two are…

• Shared Web Hosting: You are sharing resources on a server and there are other shared web site hosting clients on the same server.
• Reseller Hosting: Similar to shared web hosting in the sense that you are also sharing server resources with other clients. However, you can create your own web hosting accounts and manage them.

The upstream reseller hosting provider still remains in control of their server and are responsible for updating the server software and maintaining the server. The upstream reseller hosting provider will usually also provide support to the reseller, so if there are any issues or faults the reseller will be able to contact the host.

Do I need a Reseller Hosting account?
Most personal and small business users will have no use for a reseller account, a reseller account is useful to those users who have a number of web sites and want to save money, as a reseller account can be cheaper than purchasing multiple shared hosting accounts. Even though, depending on your web hosting provider, you may also be able to host multiple domains under a shared hosting solution and so making a reseller hosting account only worth it if you weigh up the space or bandwidth versus cost for both types of accounts as well how much of those resources you require for your accounts.

With a reseller account you can also sell hosting, so this can be a relatively cheap step into the web hosting business. You have the flexibility of controlling your own clients, creating, suspending and terminating accounts. You also have the knowledge that the server is being maintained for you, so you only have to worry about your clients and web site.

The Benefits
If you own a number of web sites, using a reseller account can save you money, and you can create accounts when you need them and share the resources between your web sites easily. You can find reseller hosting accounts with plenty of bandwidth and disk space from around R350 a month, which can be a big saving if you have a number of web sites needing hosting.

You also don’t have to worry about the maintenance of the server, since the reseller hosting provider should have this covered. You should also receive technical support included with your account.

If you have plans to start to own web hosting business, a reseller account can be an easy first step in the hosting industry. It is a relatively low cost solution, meaning you can concentrate primarily on building your business slowly and generate a steady monthly income. One of the biggest mistakes new hosts make is try to accomplish too much in a short period of time.

The disadvantages
Potential clients may not be totally confident purchasing a hosting account from a reseller, because you in affect are the middle man. If a problem arises with the server or a customers account, they need to contact you and if you are unable to deal with the problem yourself, you would in turn have to contact your upstream reseller hosting provider. This can be a long process from initially receiving the first support request to getting the problem resolved. However if you have proper customer support in place this shouldn’t be a major problem.

As mentioned previously, as a reseller you have certain access to administrative functions and if you have experience with the control panel and server software you may find managing your clients and their accounts easier than doing certain tasks manually.

Final thoughts
Reseller hosting is worth the money but only if you require the resources its offering. It is a good step in selling web hosting and if done properly enables a small business to generate a profit from reselling shared hosting accounts.

If you have high bandwidth or disk space requirements reseller hosting may not be the best solution and you may possibly require a dedicated server. This however does require you to have the technical knowledge otherwise you may just have to get a high resource reseller hosting account or multiple reseller hosting accounts.

Reseller hosting is an easy way to make money from the web industry. Though some might think there are technicalities involved, most hosting firms that offer reseller hosting can either directly or indirectly offer the support to the reseller hosting clients. All that reseller hosting entails is the division of a server’s resources, both disk space and traffic (or otherwise referred to as bandwidth). From this allocated disk space and traffic, Reseller’s make their hosting packages from their reseller control panel and can create a new client through this control panel and assign the relevant hosting package to the client.

Your reseller hosting provider should also be able to give you tutorials and any help you may need with using the reseller control panel. Actual server maintenance and software updates are handled by your reseller hosting provider and they manage the dedicated hosting server so you don’t have to. Not only does this give you more time to do more important tasks, but it saves you on requiring the technical knowledge of running a dedicated server. As a part of a marketing plan, you can offer similar packages that other hosting companies are offering at lower rates due to your lower costs. You can also use some reseller hosting programs and GUI control panels that will enable your clients to manage their web resources which will take some work load of you.

Once you have your reseller hosting solution and have created your shared hosting packages that you will offer to your clients, you are ready to start.

Dealing in reseller web site hosting you might have offer more space and bandwidth than a regular shared web hosting plan. Web hosting is very cut-throat trade that your triumph depends on the performance of your dedicated server. Cheaper reseller hosting to win the price war may sometimes be dangerous in case of long time downtime. That is not to say that every reseller hosting provider that is affordable has low downtime, but you should do research into all your narrowed down list of hosting provider choices to avoid a provider that has a lot of downtime.

Offering multiple or even unlimited domain names, parked or add-on, on a shared hosting account can be one of the value added features of your shared hosting packages from your reseller hosting package. Other selling points of your service can be flexible packages in terms of space, bandwidth, other features and price. Giving your clients the option to upgrade space or bandwidth over time, whether at an additional upgrade cost or for free, can also be beneficial to you. A successful client will generally need more of both these resources over time.

Before you dive into a reseller hosting plan, make sure to:

• Choose a dependable reseller hosting service provider that has a good record and has been running for some time.
• Choose a trustworthy reseller hosting service provider that offers flexible reseller web hosting packages in terms of price, space and bandwidth / traffic.
• Choose a reseller service provider that offers a powerful and user-friendly reseller hosting control panel to you as well as a user-friendly control panel to your clients.
• Choose a reseller hosting provider that can handle your queries and perhaps those of your clients fast and efficiently