What You Need to Start a Web Hosting Business

When starting a web hosting business, you will find that there are many different resources that you will require in order to be able to run the business day by day - the kinds of resources that you need will depend on how big you wish to grow your business. As a web hosting provider it is important for you to understand the importance of customer service to your customers and because of this you should ensure that you have the necessary features and resources in place in order to allow you to offer a high level of customer service to your web hosting customers. Starting a web hosting business is not an overnight thing as many people tend to think it is; a majority of users tend to think that all you need to do is purchase a reseller hosting account and go from there, but in reality there are many hurdles that you need to get over if you wish to run an honest and professional web hosting company. As well as third party software that you will need in order to keep the web-based side of your business organized, you will also find that you may have to invest money into professional telephone systems and support systems so that you are able to offer your customers the level of service that they deserve.

Reseller Accounts or Server

The first major decision that you will probably come to make when starting a web hosting business is whether you want to use a reseller web hosting account or whether you are going to purchase a VPS server or dedicated server. You will require either of these when it comes to starting a web hosting business since you have to be able to provide web hosting accounts to your customers, and this is the main reason that you can easily justify the high cost of either. As a beginner you may find it more beneficial to start off with a reseller account, and when starting a new business it is also a good idea to stick with reseller hosting to help lower you start-up costs. Although there is a price gap between the cost of a standard reseller hosting account and a standard VPS hosting server, the gap itself is small in most cases meaning that if you are able to stretch your budget, you may be able to get a little more for your money. The main advantages that you will get from reseller hosting accounts could include:

• Low running costs - when you purchase a reseller hosting account you will notice that what you are paying for your web hosting account is a lot less than what you may have to pay for a VPS server - since most third party applications are included as standard with reseller hosting accounts, including control panels, you only have to pay a monthly fee for the account whereas with VPS hosting you will have to pay for extras such as control panels and advanced customer service which may require a support agent to login to your server
• Server management - since reseller hosting accounts are normally hosted on shared web hosting servers, you will find that the management of the server that you are hosted on will be taken care of by your web hosting provider’s system administrators - this means that when starting a web hosting business, you needn’t necessarily have a high level of technical knowledge nor any server management skills since reseller web hosting will ensure that the more technical side of things are taken of by your web hosting provider so that you don’t have to worry
• Support - most reseller hosting accounts come with full support as standard so that you can always contact your web hosting provider’s support team if you have any issues or enquiries that you wish to discuss with them - this means that if there are any problems with your account when you are more likely to be able to get them sorted with the help of the support team - although you can purchase managed VPS hosting services, many VPS hosting services are sold unmanaged meaning that if there any problems with your VPS then you will have to solve them yourself, you are still expected to have a certain amount of technical knowledge even if you purchase a managed VPS server.

As a new startup business you will find that it is incredibly important to keep your initial expenses low; because of this, you may find that reseller hosting is the way forward for you to begin with. However, if you wish to offer your customers more diversity and need root access to the servers that you are using then you will want to be considering either VPS hosting or dedicated server hosting. The main advantages that you will get from VPS hosting will include:

• root/administrator access - you should be able to get root/administrator access to any VPS server that you purchase which will allow you to manage the server yourself but most importantly will allow you to install any applications that you to on your VPS - root/administrator access to your VPS is important if you are running a business since there may be server issues or things that customers need doing to their accoutns which can only be done using root/administrator access - it should be noted that root access is provided via SSH with Linux VPS servers and that administrator access is provided via Remote Desktop with Windows VPS
• flexiblity - VPS hosting is able to provide you with the flexibility that you need in order to be able to run a good and reputable web hosting business - VPS servers come with their own guaranteed amounts of RAM, disk space and bandwidth as well as a share of the hosting node’s CPU which means that you can easily budget for how many websites you think that you are going to be able to host on your server, this kind of flexibility isn’t possible on reseller web hosting since in most cases you don’t know what kind of hardware resources the hosting node has nor do you know how many websites it is hosting.

Either form of web hosting is recommended for starting a web hosting business with. Standard shared hosting accounts aren’t suitable for running a web hosting business on since they don’t allow you to create additional client accounts. If you are a website designer looking to offer web hosting to your clients then you can also consider either form of web hosting as a way of going around this, although for a small business you may find reseller web hosting more beneficial.

Support and Communication

In order to start or run any web hosting business you need to be able to communicate with your customers effectively so that they can contact you if they are having any problems with their web hosting package, and so that you can contact them if you are facing server problems. There are many different ways in which you and your customers can communicate with each other, both web based and more practically so that there is a solution that will fit everyones needs. It is up to you to which methods of communication you wish to use, but as a start-up web hosting business you may find that you don’t need to offer 24×7 support or even phone support as your customers may not necessarily need to contact you this way. The main communication methods used by many existing web hosting providers include:

• Web based support desk - many web hosting providers use software such as Kayako SupportSuite or the support system that is built into the WHMCS billing sysetm to allow customers to communicate with them if they are facing any problems with their web hosting package or just have a general query - support tickets can also be submitted from prospective customers who may have a question about a web hosting package which they wish to have answered before they go and purchase the web hosting plan concerned
• Phone support - although it may not be offered by newly founded web hosting companies, phone support is offered by many existing companies and prospective customers see this as a sign of a well established business - in order to offer phone support you will need to have a new line connected, or nowadays you can make use VoIP services such as Skype and SipGate that will allow you to offer telephone support to your clients over the internet, but the thing is the person at the other end of the line won’t even know that you’re using VoIP
• Forums - once you have grown your web hosting business to an extent, you can add a community forum to your website that will allow your staff and customers to communicate with each other in a new way - although forums can be used for the dicussion of specific topics, you can also use a forum as a public support base since you can allow your customers to open new topics on any issues that they may be facing with the web hosting service that they have purchase from you - however, you should moderate your forum to ensure that no spam posts end up in the public domain.

You will find that communication is a very important factor when running a web hosting business. You will want to be in contact with your customers as and when needed, and they will want to have the ability to contact you if needed. Although you may not need to offer phone support to begin with, it is a good idea to add it as you grow your business since it will give your customers more confidence in your business.

In conclusion, the two main things that you need to start any web hosting business is some form of hosting that will allow you to create your own client accounts but also two methods of communication so that you and your customers can contact one another as necessary. It is important to know that you need to plan out your business thoroughly and treat like a business; in this day and age many people are seeing setting up a web hosting business as a good way of getting quick cash, but in reality you need to treat it like a business and put your all into it so that you can create a successful web hosting company. There are also the standard things that you will need to start a web hosting business such as money, but if you are really motivated to run it like a proper business then you should be able to ensure that you have enough funds available to help you grow the business to a certain extent. The main things to remember is that web hosting is a competetive market and that you should get your initial advertising right.