Resellers have become extremely important to online business. With the growth of the freelance web design industry, the reseller industry grew along with them. Web designers are always looking for the best dedicated servers for web hosting to be able to offer to their clients, and resellers can generate a solid income from reselling hosting space.
Someone who can offer high-quality web hosting to businesses is an essential part of the business ecosystem. If you’re looking to start a reseller business to provide web hosting to your clients, you want to make sure you’re working with the best. Forbes Advisor has rounded up the best web hosting resellers and compared them so you can hit the ground running.
Top 9 Best Hosting Resellers of 2023
- DreamHost: Best for Environmental Sustainability
- HostGator: Best for Scalability
- A2 Hosting: Best for Performance
- HostWinds: Best for Customer Support
- KnownHost: Best for Managed Services
- AccuWeb: Best for Global Reach
- LiquidWeb: Best for Enterprise Solutions
- GreenGeeks: Best for Eco-Friendly Initiatives
- GoDaddy: Best for Marketing Tools
What Is Reseller Hosting?
A reseller buys domains from a web hosting service and sells them to other businesses and people who need to have websites. You provide the websites to people who need them at a price that you determine. You can build a business as a freelancer or use reselling as an agency providing web design services.
Why Should You Resell Hosting?
If you’re in the business of web development or design, think about this: your clients are already looking to you as the expert for building their online presence. So, why not make their lives easier by also handling their hosting needs? By offering hosting as part of your services, you give clients a one-stop solution, making it simpler for them to manage their digital footprint. Plus, they’re more likely to stick with you for the long haul because you’re handling more aspects of their online world.
Now let’s talk about your business. Adding hosting to your service list isn’t just good for your clients; it’s a smart financial move for you. It’s essentially a recurring revenue model that can help you weather market ups and downs. The icing on the cake? Starting a hosting reselling business doesn’t break the bank. Most of the technical heavy lifting is managed by the hosting provider, so you can get started with a modest investment.
Clients often shy away from dealing with hosting because they’re not tech experts. They’re afraid they’ll choose the wrong hosting plan, leading to website performance issues or even downtime. By taking care of hosting for them, you’re lifting that burden and ensuring their website runs smoothly.
And let’s not forget ongoing maintenance and support, which is something clients almost always require. By controlling the hosting environment, you can easily perform updates and handle any hiccups, strengthening your role as an indispensable asset in your clients’ business operations.
How To Resell Web Hosting Services
Reseller hosting enables you to sell web hosting plans to others and make a profit. Essentially reseller hosting plans and programs enable you to start your own web hosting business by selling other hosting companies’ web hosting plans. It is particularly common amongst web design agencies who offer fully managed website services to clients who pay them one fixed monthly rate.
1. Choose a Reseller Hosting Service
The cornerstone of your web hosting reselling venture will be your choice of hosting service. Opt for a hosting provider that grants you the flexibility to set your own pricing model, as this is where your profit will be generated. Investigate the scope of hosting plans they offer: do they include popular CMS hosting options such as WordPress? Pay close attention to their technical infrastructure as well. Look for data centers that use renewable energy or implement advanced security measures; these features can become selling points for your clientele.
2. Define Your Service Offering
After you’ve secured your hosting partner, your next step is to outline what you’re going to offer your clients. Consider combining hosting with other value-added services such as website maintenance, SEO and email hosting. Tailoring bundles for specific sectors, such as e-commerce or personal blogs, can also give you an edge.
3. Promote Your Service
Marketing is the engine that will drive your reseller hosting business forward. Employ digital marketing techniques such as pay-per-click advertising, social media promotion and email newsletters to reach your target audience. Create informative content that addresses common questions or challenges your potential customers might have. A well-executed content marketing strategy can establish you as a reliable authority in the field.
4. Support Your Clients
Your interaction with clients doesn’t stop after they make a purchase. Offering excellent customer service is a surefire way to secure repeat business and receive positive testimonials. Having a dedicated support channel, whether it’s via email, chat or a toll-free number, will give your clients peace of mind. Leverage any white-label support services offered by your hosting provider to maintain consistency and quality in your customer interactions.
How Much Does Reseller Hosting Cost?
Reseller hosting is available from many of the leading web hosting providers, such as HostGator, A2 Hosting and Hostwinds. Each web host offers a slightly different structure for reseller hosting pricing and plans, though most are on a monthly subscription basis where the reseller buys a plan that comes with a set amount of storage and bandwidth for a fixed monthly rate.
For example, HostGator offers reseller plans starting at $19.95 per month for 60 GB of storage and 600 GB of bandwidth for unlimited sites. HostGator resellers can then sell web hosting packages to their own customers at a price they choose to set. For example, a reseller has 10 clients and charges $10 per month each. The reseller will earn $100 per month with a profit of about
