Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

December 04, 2008

How to Become a Web Host

You probably ran across many different companies when looking for a place to host your website.  Looking at all the monthly fees, you begin to wonder if any of these web hosting companies are making money.  The answer is a definite yes.  In fact, web hosting is a multi-million dollar per year industry, employing thousands of people and essentially powering the internet.  The primary focus of these companies is to provide around-the-clock service to make sure the sites of corporations and personal users are accessible to the world.

If you're struggling with ideas of how to profit on the internet, getting into the web hosting business is a good place to start.  It's easier than you may think but there are some critical phases that must be completed in order to succeed.

Phase 1

Your first step is to find a provider that offers a reseller account.  With reselling, you purchase a hosting plan at anywhere from $25 to $100 per month which gets you a certain amount of features and server capacity.  After purchasing a plan, you have the power to divide up the provided space and sell hosting accounts to other businesses and personal users.  Most companies will set you up with a control panel that allows you to manage the accounts of your clients with ease.  Some will also refer a merchant account provider, enabling you to process online credit card payments from your clients.  A good company will set you up with all the tools need to run your business just like a traditional web hosting provider.

Phase 2

After signing up a few customers and establishing your business, it's time to step up into the big leagues.  This means you need to invest into a dedicated server.  This arena gives you far more flexibility as your business does not have to compete with other resellers on the provider's shared server.  When you reach this second phase, your best bet would be to install reseller control panel software such as Ensim or Plesk to effectively manage your clients and the server itself.  Although a reseller account on a dedicated server will be more expensive, several companies have dropped the price on these plans, some offering accounts for around $100 per month.

Phase 3

When profiting with your reseller account on a dedicated server, you just may be established enough to become a certified web hosting provider.  This reward often comes with a huge investment of capital.  You have the option of renting out a data center to store your servers and network equipment or building a facility of your own.  Of course this requires a lot of dedication, but if you've made it this far, you already know the reward is well worth it.

As of 2006 there was reported to be well over 8,000 web hosting companies through out the globe.  Do you have that competitive edge?  If so, a reseller account just could be your ticket to success.

Tags: web hosting business,  web host,  reselling,  reseller account,  reseller,  merchant account,  dedicated server,  control panel