Webhosting

In the first case the customer is really looking for a large shared hosting plan that allows multiple domains. More frequently in the industry you see the term “Multi-Domain account” to refer to these plans. These customers can be webmasters with a network of websites, web designers, or a company that wants separate websites for their different brands. Most people doing business on the internet have more then 1 website. Hosting companies have recently taken notice to this and started offering “multiple domain” accounts. Before customers were left with the choice of a full blown Reseller plan, dedicated server, or multiple hosting accounts.

These accounts can also be less inexpensive then traditional Reseller plans because they do not need to offer all of the services such as Private label branding. They are essentially shared hosting accounts that allow for several domains.

The second customer is really looking for a turnkey business, a franchise of the parent hosting company if you will. These customers are hosting companies who do not want to carry the overhead of a datacenter or series of managed servers. Using a Reseller Hosting plan allows a hosting company to have a complete professional hosting company without all of the traditional startup costs. Like anything, there are trade-offs versus a dedicated server, but for a small hosting company or startup it is an ideal solution. It allows them to focus on growing a customer base and not infrastructure issues.

These hosting plans are more expensive then shared and multi-domain hosting plans but offer extra services. They usually come with private label branding, private nameservers, marketing discounts, and forum boards with other resellers of the company. As you can see from this discussion the hosting industry has many customers with different needs. The Reseller and Shared hosting markets are converging the meet the demands of the customer with multiple websites.

About the Author: Rodney Ringler is President of Advantage1 Web Services, Inc., which owns a network of Web Hosting Informational Websites including HostChart.com, ResellerConnection.com, FoundHost.com, ResellerForums.com, and HostingKnowledge.net. Rodney has over 15 years industry experience from programming to internet marketing.

You’ve decided to get a reseller web hosting account to resell web space. What now? Here’s a step-by-step guide.

1. Choose the platform you want to use.

More open source software programs are available for Linux than for Windows, which makes Linux less expensive. While most programs (Perl, PHP, Flash, etc.) run on both platforms, a few run on only Windows or Linux. A site that requires ASP or MS Access, for example, requires a Windows platform.

2. Choose the control panel you want to use.

Control panels for websites range from very basic to loaded with features. As a reseller, you’ll also have a control panel for you to set up and control hosting accounts.

In Choosing Your Hosting Automation Software, we compare several control panels, all of which offer good features for web host resellers.

3. Choose your web host.

The web host company that you choose for your reseller account is a key decision – your business success depends on the quality of your host. Factors to consider when choosing a web host for a reseller account:

• The platform and control panel
• Account features
• The company’s reputation – search for online reviews by clients
• The record of server uptime
• The level of support – how fast does tech support respond to support requests, especially time-sensitive ones?
• Flexibility – does the web host have packages that allow you to upgrade when your needs increase? Will they customize plans if necessary?
• How long the web host has been in business – while a new web host may be very good, many web hosting businesses fail within the first year
• Price – consider what is included in the price
• Get Started with reseller hosting.

4. Set up your hosting plans and prices

Divide your bandwidth by your disk space to find out the ratio of bandwidth to disk space that you can offer. Take into account any ratios that differ if you upgrade to a larger package, and then base your packages on that ratio.

For pricing, consider what competitors charge, but also factor in any additional services you’ll be offering.

5. Develop a business website

You have three main choices for website development:

• Create a website using an existing website template http://www.websitesource.com/clientarea/reseller_website_templates.shtml
• Hire a designer or a design company to design your site for you http://design.websitesource.com/design/elements_custom-work.php
• If you have web design skills, design your site yourself

Include all the information that clients will want to know about your services and company.

6. Make your site e-commerce ready

To be able to accept payments for hosting accounts, you’ll to set up:

• An SSL certificate
• A merchant account
• A payment gateway

7. Set up a helpdesk

A helpdesk allows clients to contact you with support requests and you to track and respond to those requests.

8. Set up billing

With an automated billing system, clients are billed and payments are registered with little effort on your part. Most billing software licenses are priced per month or per year, with some billing software companies offering prices for lifetime licenses.

Some popular billing and payment processing systems:

• Modernbill http://www.modernbill.com/
• ClientExec http://www.clientexec.com/
• WHM.Autopilot http://www.whmautopilot.com/
• Whois.Cart http://www.whoiscart.net/

When you choose a billing software program, check if it’s compatible with your server platform and if support is included.

9. Create a welcome email

After you set up hosting accounts for your clients, you’ll need to send them a welcome email. Include in this email:

• A confirmation of the plan details
• The nameserver names
• A username and temporary password
• A link to the control panel
• Links to your knowledge base / FAQ and to your helpdesk

10. Market your website

Submit your site to search engines. Tell your family, friends, and business acquaintances about your website. Include a link to it in your signature line in outgoing emails. But don’t stop there – market your website http://www.marketingcontrolpanel.com via incoming links, advertising, newsletters, and special offers.

About the author: Technical Executive Writer for Website Source, Inc. http://www.websitesource.com whose established writing skills coupled with experience in the website hosting industry have provided internet professionals with marketing, product and service ideas for many years.

There comes a time when the internet bug hits us all and we tend to acquire a wealth of domain names and web sites to feed our frenzy.

We start out with the best intentions, set up a personal home page with a few details about ourselves, then create more for our family, then our business and before we know it we have several domain names and web sites spread across several web hosting companies.

A more convenient approach would be to set yourself up with a reseller account with one hosting company.

Most people assume that to have a reseller account, you need to be in the business of selling hosting. This is not true. Anyone can set up a reseller account and enjoy the benefits of saving money and also having the convenience of only dealing with one company for all your hosting needs.

I’ll take my hosting reseller http://www.HostingRevolution.com as an example. They provide a very competitive reseller account priced at $35. Their Reseller’s Package allows you to host 100 Domains. You are allowed to give every Domain you host up to 20GB’s of monthly transfer and up to 2.5GB of storage.

Previously I had over ten domain names and associated web sites that were costing me around $5 – $10 a month to host. The average months hosting costs were around $50 – $60. Therefore, by setting up a reseller account and transferring my domains and web sites over to my reseller account I made an instant saving of $15 a month.

Now, another extension of this would be to start selling hosting to your friends, after all, you have a reseller account. So if you have ten friends, ask them if they would like web hosting on your server, maybe offer it free to them and ask them to recommend your services to their friends, these can then become “paying” customers. Now YOU can get people to pay for hosting and make back the monthly reseller fee. Just sell ten accounts for $3 a month and you have instant income of $30 to offset the $35 reseller fee you are paying. So you get hosting for $5 a month for as many domains and sites as you like.

So, with the reseller account you have helped yourself, helped your friends, and possibly started making money as well.

Jeff Usher is not a guru or an internet genius. He’s just an ordinary guy trying to make his way in the world. Visit his web hosting information site here: http://more-web-hosting.info if you need more resources and information relating to this article.