How to start your own web hosting business

If you’re looking for a way to make money on the Internet, becoming a web host is a great option. But unless you want to set up your own domain registration process, get a super fast (and expensive) Internet connection and setup a warehouse full of high end computers, you’ll want to look into getting a reseller account from an established supplier. Many web hosting providers offer reseller hosting plans. These plans are offered to individuals who want to try to do just that, resell the company’s web hosting services.

One of the very first things you’ll want to do is to find a good reseller hosting company. Our recommendation for a great reseller host is VPSDepot.com. The next step is to find a unique domain that sets you apart from other similar services and also contains search engine friendly keywords. If you can’t find a good one that’s available you could look on eBay or on sites that sell expired domain names – it’s better to get one that’s already been established versus something that’s brand spanking new.

The next order of business is to find and set up a good web hosting reseller account. You will want someone that is profitable, with a good reputation built on many years of operation. Also take the time to read over the service level agreement (SLA) very closely so you’ll know exactly what to expect. Some other things to pay particular attention to is their guaranteed uptime and if customer support (for both you and the people you resell to) is included in their plans and is it 24/7? You’ll also want to take into account the price of their reseller plans and how profitable it will be for you as a reseller. It’s also very important to ensure that they have an easy to use control panel which allows you to manage several accounts from one central location.

Now that the basics are out of the way, you need to focus on setting up an attractive, well organized website in order to make your business look as professional as possible. Depending on your budget and artistic ability you can try and do this yourself, hire a professional web / graphic designer or buy a template design. If you can hire a professional go for it, but if not there’s plenty of good templates for under $100 that can give your site the same look and feel as a custom professional design. Remember to keep your web site professional-looking, but clean and simple, and don’t forget to optimize if for the search engines.

Once you have a reseller account set up, you’ll need a way to advertise it and sign people up. There are 3 options you have here, to advertise online, to advertise offline or both. To get the best results you’ll probably want to do both, but when you’re just starting out it’s best to keep advertising to online mediums, as it’s quicker and more importantly, cheaper. Some things you’ll want to do to promote your reseller site online might include:

– A targeted Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing PPC campaign.
– Sending out an online press release to announce your site to the masses.
– Writing articles about web hosting related topics and referencing your site in the signature or byline.
– Listing your search engine optimized site in the major search engines.
– Creating a targeted banner ad campaign.
– Listing your site in all the business / web hosting related web directories.
– Posting free classified ads advertising your service.
– Buying text ads or links on similar but non competing sites.
– And any other number of other things