What Is Reseller Hosting?
Let’s start by explaining what reseller hosting is and how it works. It’s actually a rather simple concept.
So, say you want to start a hosting business, or you’re a developer and want to include hosting for client websites. The traditional way would be to get your own in-house server and set up the hosting platform yourself.
Unless you’re starting out with a few hundred customers, this would be kind of expensive. Plus, it’s pretty much impossible to get the reliability a full-on data center operator has without a massive investment.
Launch Your Business Now with Quality Reseller Hosting
That’s why some bigger hosting companies offer reseller hosting plans. Instead of setting up an on-premises server, you can rebrand their own plans as your own.
This essentially lets you bulk-purchase hosting plans at wholesale prices. You can then resell these at a profit, hence the name.
The benefits are obvious. You get all the advantages of an established hosting service, professional support included, with a minimal initial investment.
Some providers even let you set up a domain reseller account. This lets you purchase domains at cut price and earn a few extra bucks there.
Of course, web reseller programs come with a few additional features that can help you run your business.
This usually includes client account management tools, so you can easily do basic tasks like help clients reset their passwords. You would also typically use systems for billing and CRM. Billing tools make it easier to send out invoices and automate the payment process. The CRM tools help you communicate with customers and provide support for your hosting service.
Finally, reseller hosting should include white-label capabilities. This just means you can put your branding on the control panel and set up your own nameserver. You want to promote your own brand, after all.
All in all, you can resell website hosting to easily make a profit. You can either use this to jumpstart your own hosting business or integrate it into an existing business model.
How To Look for a Hosting Provider
Here's what you have to check for before choosing your provider:
Reseller-Specific Essentials
I’ve talked plenty about the important features in the reviews.
The short of it is—remember to look for a comprehensive reseller control panel, billing and CRM software, and, of course, easy white labeling. These are the absolute essentials for any successful reseller.
Nice Features to Have
These features are not aimed particularly at resellers, but they make things easier. You should look for these whatever type of hosting you get, and the best reseller hosting plans include them for free.
For instance, any provider should be offering free SSL certificates. Otherwise, you have to pay extra to make them available to your clients.
Another thing is SSD instead of HDD hard drives. SSD is just way faster, and it helps once your client base grows more demanding.
You also want a high degree of redundancy. Think RAID 5, 6, or 10. If your primary storage fails, you don’t want the whole thing to go to nothing.
Furthermore, anything that adds an extra layer of security is a good thing. Look for any security features you can find.
You should also check if plans can be scaled up easily. There is a strong possibility your clients might outgrow your current package. Will you be able to scale up to a bigger plan? Or will you perhaps switch to VPS and build a proprietary system as a value-added reseller? It pays off to think in advance.
A CDN is also useful. Many providers team up with Cloudflare and offer CDN services to all clients for free. Keep your eyes open for it or anything else that improves website performance.
Speed, Support, and Uptime
You might’ve noticed these reviews had less talk of support and performance than usual. That’s because these are top reseller hosting providers, and they are top performers in those areas.
If you decide to investigate other hosting options, it might be a different story. Here’s what to look for.
As far as support goes, you want 24/7/365 support, no discussion. Preferably, there should be several channels to contact them.
After all, you’re running a business, and you need to be able to contact support as fast as possible in case something goes wrong. Otherwise, your clients will blame you.
Don’t be shy about calling their support center and checking out the support team. They offer 24/7 support? Great! Call them at midnight. Better yet, call them at 3am on a Saturday and see if they answer. If you’re paying for 24/7 support, you should be able to get it.
With speed, just look for the best possible results. Many hosts offer load speed below one second. There are plenty of fast providers to pick from.
Finally, you shouldn’t settle for anything below 99.9% uptime. You don’t want to explain to your clients why their website has been down for three hours.
Reputation over Price
Price is important, I know, but it’s not high on the list of priorities here. With reseller hosting, you can always make up for high costs by billing clients more.
That’s not to say you should sink all your money into hosting and then try to sell WordPress plans at $100/month.
The point is that price corresponds with features. The very best hosting services always cost more because extra functionality is worth the higher price.
More importantly, price corresponds with reputation. A quality host that has been around for years can afford to charge more for their services.
New hosting providers, on the other hand, often look to expand their client base. That’s why they offer ridiculously cheap plans. Ironically, the cheap plans usually turn out to not be worth the money.
Not that there’s anything wrong with new hosting companies. Some of them are great even. It’s just that a hosting provider who has maintained 99.99% uptime over the last three years is always more reliable than one who came into the business a few weeks ago.
Conclusion
That concludes the reviews of the best reseller hosting providers. There’s something for everyone in these reviews. If you want to become a reseller, checking them out is the place to start.
You also know what to look for if you research providers independently. It’s sometimes important to remember that all the big names in hosting once started as small hosting providers. There are many other companies out there, and one of them might be for you.
I’ve taught you what to look out for. The rest is up to you.