If you’re looking for a way to make some extra money, or if you want to start your own web hosting business, reseller hosting programs may be the perfect option for you.
Reseller hosting programs are a type of hosting where you, as the reseller, purchase a reseller hosting package from a web hosts and then sell that package to your customers.
This can be a great way for new businesses to get into the web hosting industry, or for existing businesses to expand their offerings.
Drawing from my extensive experience with different hosting providers, I will outline the concept of reseller hosting, delve into its inner workings, and provide you with the essential information required to embark on this venture in this blog post.
Table Of Contents
- Quick Summary
- How Does Reseller Hosting Work?
- What Are The Benefits Of Reseller Hosting?
- What Are The Disadvantages Of Reseller Hosting?
- How To Become A Hosting Reseller?
- What Is Included In A Reseller Package?
- How To Choose The Best Reseller Web Hosting Company?
- Types of Reseller Hosting
- FAQs
- Is Reseller Hosting a Good Move for You?
Quick Summary
Reseller hosting lets you buy a hosting package from a provider and resell it to your customers, creating your own hosting plans.- Benefits include low startup costs, no maintenance hassle, brand creation, control over customer accounts, customizable packages, and low risk.
- To succeed, research the market, find a reliable hosting provider, invest in marketing, and choose the right reseller package and hosting company.
Reseller hosting lets you buy a hosting package from a provider and resell it to your customers, creating your own hosting plans.How Does Reseller Hosting Work?
Reseller Hosting works by allowing you to purchase web hosting services from a larger provider, and then resell them to your own customers. This way, you can become your hosting provider and create your own hosting service plans and hosting packages to suit your customers’ needs.
At a very basic level, to start your own web company you need:
- A data center with racks of servers and equipment to store and serve all of your client websites and applications
- A team of network engineers and system administrators to manage the servers and keep them running smoothly
- A sales and technical support team to help market your company and sell your services
While starting a web hosting service business can be very lucrative, it’s not cheap. Yet still, you can become the best reseller hosting provider around.
So, how would a web designer or a small business owner like you start a web hosting industry without spending millions of dollars?
By becoming a reseller and using the best hosting plans you can find.
Reseller hosting is a form of web hosting market in which you, as the reseller, rent space on a web server and then sell that space to your customers with your own branding.
It’s the same concept as buying wholesale.
You buy a product in bulk at a discounted price, and then you sell it to your customers with a markup.
This way, your reseller company can make profit without having you spending a lot of money on overhead costs.
What Are The Benefits Of Reseller Hosting?
Low Cost
Established reseller hosting companies have huge data centers with millions of servers.
Having this amount of servers greatly reduces the overhead costs (maintenance, operating, cooling, etc) which the reseller hosting providers then pass on to their resellers in the form of discounts.
And the more you buy, the greater the discount!
This means that you can get started with reseller hosting for a very low cost, especially when compared to building and operating your own data center.
No Maintenance Hassle
Another great benefit of reseller web hosting is that you don’t have to worry about any of the maintenance or the operating of the server hardware.
You don’t have to worry about hiring a technician to perform anti-virus scans or anything like that for your reseller hosting company.
Things like keeping the servers up and running, applying security patches, and ensuring that the network is running smoothly, are all taken care of by the company.
So you don’t have to worry about setting up physical hardware or performing maintenance.
Create Your Own Brand
Reseller hosting providers are known by their brands. When you become a reseller, you can create your own brand and build your business around it.
Your customers will see your brand and not the brand of the web hosting service provider.
This can be a great way to build loyalty and create a lasting relationship with your customers.
Complete Control Over Your Customers’ Accounts
With reseller hosting plans, you get an administrative control panel from your provider that allows you to create and delete customers’ different accounts, determine how much disk space and server resources each customer can use, and much more.
On top of that, you have the ability to assign each customer their own cPanel to manage their account.
From these control panels, they can create email accounts, install WordPress, and do anything else that they need to do to run their website without having to contact you.
Customize Your Packages
Hosting packages matter as they influence your potential to gain clients.
As a reseller, you have the ability to customize your hosting packages to fit the needs of your customers.
For example, you may have customers who only need small hosting packages to serve their websites and others who need large hosting packages. You can offer different hosting plans to meet your customers’ needs.
You can set your own prices, create different package levels, and add or remove features as you see fit.
This flexibility allows you to create the perfect hosting solution for your customers, and it also allows you to stay competitive in the marketplace.
Low Risk
Starting your own reseller hosting business is a very low-risk investment.
Since you’re not buying the servers or the infrastructure, you don’t have to worry about a lot of the expenses that come with running hosting companies.
And if things don’t work out, you can simply cancel your reseller hosting account and walk away.
It’s that easy.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Reseller Hosting?
Limited Control
Even though you have complete control over your customers’ accounts, you are still limited by the terms of your agreement with the reseller provider.
For example, you may not be able to make changes to the details of the server configuration or add new features without their approval.
This can be frustrating if you’re trying to offer a unique web hosting services to your customers or want to be able to customize the service to better meet their needs.
You Rely On The Hosting Provider
Since you’re not in control of the servers, you are completely reliant on the hosting services.
If they have a problem with their equipment, your business will be affected.
In other words, you are at the mercy of the provider, and this can be a big disadvantage, so choose your web hosting service provider carefully.
Require Technical Knowledge
Even though you don’t have to worry about the day-to-day tasks of running a hosting company, you will still need to have some technical knowledge to be a successful reseller.
For example, you may need to troubleshoot customer problems, and you may need to provide some level of server management or offer technical support to your customer.
If you have limited technical skills, you will either need to learn these skills or hire someone who can do it for you.
How To Become A Hosting Reseller?
Research The Market
Before you invest any money or time in starting a reseller business, you need to make sure there is a market for your services.
- Who will you be selling to?
- What are their needs and wants?
- How much are they willing to pay?
- What are your competitors offering, and how can you beat them?
These are all important questions that you need to answer before you move on to the next step.
Find A Reseller Web Hosting Provider
Once you’ve done your web hosting market research and you’re ready to become a reseller, the next step is to find a provider.
As we mentioned earlier, not all web hosting providers are created equal, so you need to do your homework and find a reputable one that offers the features and technical support you need (more on that later.)
Marketing, Marketing, And Marketing
You need to let people know that you exist and that you are selling the services they need.
The best way to do this is to create a website and use search engine optimization to find customers that are searching for what you offer. You can also use social media and pay-per-click advertising as well.
You can even contact potential customers directly and offer them a free trial or a discount.
The important thing is to get the word out there and start generating sales.
What Is Included In A Reseller Package?
The features and services included in a reseller package can vary depending on the hosting provider you choose.
However, there are a few main features that come with most reseller hosting packages:
- A control panel, such as cPanel or Plesk, which is used to manage your customers’ hosting accounts
- A billing system, such as WHMCS, which is used to automate the billing and provisioning process
- A white-labeled control panel, which allows you to brand the control panel with your logo and company name
How To Choose The Best Reseller Web Hosting Company?
To choose the best reseller hosting company there are a few things you need to consider such as:
- High Uptime Rates
- Good Customer Support
- Generous Storage and Bandwidth
- A Variety of Features and Services
- The Ability to Brand Your Business
- Scalable Hosting Packages
- Good Reputation
Types of Reseller Hosting
You can either resell services for which you have paid in advance, or you can resell services provided by the hosting business that you have not paid for. You earn a commission by selling these items.
If you already have a website to sell from, then you can utilize the company’s remote reseller facilities, if they are available. If not, it is quite easy to create a new web store using the pre-made templates that certain hosting firms provide. As stated previously, the confidentiality of your brand is protected.
FAQs
Will My Clients Know It’s Me?
Yes, they will know it is you. Basically, you can operate your own hosting company under your own flag and brand without your clients knowing who your actual upstream hosting provider is. This allows you complete control over the promotion of your business with your name on it.
Do I Need to Be a Hosting Expert to Succeed at Reseller Hosting?
No, you don’t need to be a hosting expert to succeed at reseller hosting. Your reseller hosting supplier will do all the “dirty” labor in the background, allowing you to focus on growing your business. Server hardware, connection, network infrastructure, hardware installation and maintenance, server security, and server upgrades are all handled by your web hosts.
As you learn more, it’s a good idea to investigate these factors to guarantee that you’ll obtain the greatest technical help if certain problems arise…and they likely will.
If My Business Grows, Can I Upgrade at Any Time?
Yes, you can upgrade your reseller hosting account at any time to accommodate your business’s growth. In fact, several hosting providers provide contracts with a 30-day Money-Back Promise!
What Is cPanel Reseller Hosting?
cPanel reseller hosting is a type of hosting where the reseller rent server space from a hosting service provider at a discount and then sell it to their customers at a higher price.
The reseller web hosts manager has complete control over their customers’ accounts and can set their own prices, features, and services.
The reseller host is also able to provide cPanel control panel services to their customers.
The difference between shared and reseller hosting is that with shared hosting, the customer shares the server space with other customers, while with reseller hosting, the customer has their own reseller host server space that they can use to host their own customers’ websites.
Is Reseller Hosting Profitable?
Reseller hosting can be very profitable if done right.
The key is to find a hosting company that offers you a discount on their services, so you can sell it at a higher price and make a profit.
You can also add value to your reseller host services by offering additional features and services that your customers will be willing to pay for.
However, marketing your reseller hosting service to the right audience requires the right tools, dedication, and enthusiasm.
What Is An Example Of A Reseller?
An example of a reseller is a web design company that sells hosting services to its customers.
The web design company would rent server space from a hosting provider, then help their customers set up their websites, email accounts, etc.
The web design company would then charge their customers a monthly fee for these services.
Is Reseller Hosting a Good Move for You?
If you’re looking for a way to get into the hosting business, reseller hosting is a great option.
Just make sure you do your research and find a hosting provider that offers you a discount on their services.
From our experience, Siteground is a great option for reseller hosting accounts, as they offer a variety of features and services, as well as a very low price.
We hope this guide has helped explain what reseller hosting and how a reseller host works.
