Seeing as there are more than 1 billion websites online right now, being visited by 40 per cent of the world’s population, it is clear that plenty of commercial opportunities exist on the Internet. One of which is reseller hosting, a business model that continues to gain traction and popularity among several enterprises.

But what is reseller hosting and who could benefit from it? Why should you consider this venture and what features do reseller servers need to have? The answer to all of these questions can be found below.

What is reseller hosting?

Reseller hosting is the practice of buying server resources from a web hosting company and then selling them off as your own for a profit.

In most instances, a reseller is already a client of the hosting provider but will have substantial storage and bandwidth allotted to them. This allows the reseller to divide up their resources into smaller segments and make money out of any surplus.

But even if this is the case, the host will always be the actual vendor, not the reseller.

Who could benefit and why?

Resellers have been known to include digital marketing agencies, IT consultancies, software application providers, and freelance web developers, as they already have a direct connection with the product.

Benefits you can expect to enjoy include:

• More business - If you are able to provide web hosting to your customers, you could attract more business due to the one-stop-shop nature of your offering. Customers are more likely to choose your comprehensive, tailor-made solution over a mishmash of different vendors.

• An additional revenue stream - By adding reseller hosting to your complement of web-related products or services, you will receive another steady revenue stream on a monthly or annual basis. Reseller hosting tends to be a high margin service with high retention rates.

• Greater control and management - With control over your customers’ storage space and bandwidth, you can easily scale their requirements during busy and quiet periods. You can also build a strong relationship with your own host’s customer service and technical support teams for better management too.

What features should your reseller servers have?

To offer your customers a fast, reliable, and flexible solution, the following features are somewhat essential:

• Security - The latest security measures such as SSL certificates and two-factor authentication will protect the sensitive and confidential information of both you and your customers.

• Scalability - Your reseller provider should enable you to scale up or scale down the requirements of your own customers automatically and on demand.

• Uptime - Look for self-healing hardware and servers that can guarantee at least 99 per cent uptime to ensure customers never suffer from prolonged periods of downtime, which could tarnish your own reputation.

What traits should your reseller host have?

To make a success of reseller hosting, look for a provider that offers:

• Discounted services

• Premium support

• Sales and marketing tools

• On-the-go flexibility

So, if your core business is related to web design and development or wider IT services, don’t let the opportunity of reselling pass you by.

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Tags : technology