What Is Web Host Reselling and How to Become a Website Reseller?

It’s no secret that a successful business can’t exist without a powerful website representing it.

But have you ever stopped to consider who is responsible for ensuring that all those company websites stay up and running?

Welcome to the world of web hosting.

Perhaps you’re already in the website design and management business. You want to be able to offer web hosting in addition to your other services.

Maybe you want to start your own business, but don’t have the funds to start from scratch.

Either way, becoming a website reseller is your golden opportunity.

Read on to learn more about it.

What Is Website Hosting Reselling?

But before we speak about how to get started as a domain hosting reseller? Let’s make sure you have a clear grasp on what exactly web reselling is.

First, you have a website hosting provider.

This is a company that rents out storage and bandwidth to businesses that need to get their website online. They own the hard drives and cloud-based storage themselves.

Companies pay the hosting provider to help with site uptime, security, and other things relating to their own website.

For the purposes of this example, let’s call the hosting platform company “We Host Your Site.” The company that rents from them is called “Jacob’s Website Design.”

Jacob’s Website Design, however, isn’t renting from We Host Your Site in order to put their own website online.

Instead, Jacob’s Website Design acts as a reseller of We Host Your Site’s Services. So, Jacob’s Website Design provides third parties with the hosting platform and space that they need. .

This is usually small businesses and startups.

This way, in addition to website design services, Jacob’s Website Design can now offer web hosting options to their clients.

The companies that work with Jacob’s Website Design for web hosting either won’t know or won’t care that Jacob’s Website Design isn’t the “actual” web host. Instead, they just want to make sure they can get all of their website needs taken care of in one place.

It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Now, let’s take a look at the benefits of becoming a website reseller.

The Benefits of Website Hosting Reselling

So, why are so many people following Jacob’s Website Design’s lead and getting into web reselling?

First of all, it’s an affordable business to start.

This is because the “parent” hosting companies (We Host Your Site, in our example) want to incentivize people to resell their services.

To sweeten the pot, many parent companies will also give resellers the tools and advertising methods they need to get their business off the ground. This is much easier — and generates faster profits — than having to strike out completely on your own.

Plus, the parent company has just eliminated a competitor.

This is because instead of starting their own company, a reseller is promoting the products of the parent company.

Resellers will also have the opportunities to earn commissions from the parent company. This is in addition to the profits they make from their own clients. In a sense, a website reseller then has two streams of income from their business.

Additionally, resellers can create unique hosting plans that are a good fit for their business model and target market, while still using the parent company’s hosting services to make it happen.

It’s completely fine for resellers to market the parent company’s services under their own, unique brand name.

How to Start a Reseller Business: The Basics

So, you’re interested in getting into the reseller business. You understand how the process works, but you’re still not quite sure the best way to get started.

Let’s break down everything you need to know in order to get your reseller business off to a great start.

Find a Trusted Parent Hosting Company

The most important thing you’ll need to look for is a high-quality hosting company that you know offers reseller services.

So, what makes for a reputable hosting company?

First of all, understand how frequently they’ll back up your customers’ files, and whether those files will be stored: on a physical hard drive, in the cloud, or both.

Ask how they keep their servers secure, how they crawl customers’ sites for unusual activity, and how they’ll alert your customers of any suspicious activity. You also want to understand the minimum uptime they can guarantee your customers — don’t settle for anything less than 99%.

Make sure you’ll have complete access to the server and the client data so that you can also help fix any issues or answer any questions. Understand if you’ll be providing the help to your customers, or if the parent company has a 24/7 hotline or help system in place.

Also, ask about scalability options for both yourself and your clients. Can you buy more space from the parent hosting company if your reseller business takes off? What about if your clients realize that they too need more space?

Understand how they’ll respond to a data breach or a hack, as well. You need to know that you’re putting your customers in good hands.

Usually, companies will offer more than one specific reseller hosting package. Do your research, learn more about your options, and purchase the best one for your market and company.

What to Look for in a Reseller Package

What should you look for in a reseller package when you’re comparing different parent hosting companies?

Demand 24/7 support for yourself and your customers, and understand how much disc space and bandwidth they can offer.

You should also be able to offer your clients multiple domain hosting, and use a control panel provided by the parent company to more easily manage your clients.

A reseller package should also include the option to offer additional features to your high-profile clients.

Many companies will be able to offer you web analytics tools, email addresses, further site security features, and much more. This is a wonderful way to “upsell” to your clients in the future.

Define Your Price Point

Coming up with an ideal price point for your reseller hosting services is never simple, and there’s no “magic number” that works for everyone.

Instead, you need to focus on your market and the budgets they are the most likely to have when setting your own price range.

Don’t sell yourself short just because your company isn’t actually providing the hosting services for them. You’re still taking on lots of responsibility, and helping your clients to avoid having to find a host on their own.

Your best bet is to offer tiered pricing options to your clients according to different plans. That way, they won’t have to pay for services that they don’t really need. They can also see that there are other plans they can upgrade to in the future.

Create Your Reseller Marketing Strategy

Now, it’s time to create a website, blog content, and even social media profiles to advertise your web hosting services.

You should also consider reaching out to local businesses, and asking them what they feel they’re missing in their hosting platform.

Let your clients know that your hosting services can help their website to run quickly, stay online almost 100% of the time, and provide excellent protection against security threats.

Even if your clients or prospects already have another web host, make it a point to explain all the services you offer that your competitors don’t.

Remember that many clients may need more bandwidth than their current hosting provider is able to give them. They may want more information about who has logged into their website and when. Their main concern may be security, and knowing that you can identify threats as soon as possible helps them to sleep better at night.

Maybe they’re not exactly computer wizards, and like knowing that help is available 24/7 to talk them through things they don’t understand.

Your marketing strategy needs to make it clear how your hosting platform improves their website performance, helping them to make more sales in the process.

You’re Ready to Become a Successful Website Reseller

We hope that this post has helped you to better understand that not only is becoming a website reseller an excellent way to improve your current business, it’s also wonderful opportunity to strike out on your own.

Looking to learn more about web hosting? Want to get a feel for the kinds of tools and software your clients are looking for?

We’ve got you covered.

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