Best Resellers Hosting Services of 2018

Web hosting is more important than ever now. From big organizations to small start-ups, industry influencers to a budding professional- to be taken seriously, having a top-notch website is integral. And that is what is powering reseller hosting in 2018.

In case you don’t know what that is, keep on reading.

What is Reseller Hosting?

Here’s an idea- instead of buying web hosting plans from a wholesaler or an exclusive web hosting provider, why not just buy a bundle of web services, such as systems integrations, website development and web hosting too? This simple idea is what is propelling reseller hosting into a huge success.

The reseller host buys a hosting plan from a hosting provider and then rents out their hard disk space and bandwidth to others. Think of the relationship as between wholesaler, retailer and customer- except that the retailer is also consuming the service and renting out a certain portion to you.

Although it sounds simple, it has important implications. For starters, it adds an easy revenue stream for a business with relatively little start-up cost. It could also be the stepping stone for budding entrepreneurs in the web hosting industry. For the end customers who are purchasing reseller hosting, they are cutting down costs significantly by buying bundled packages.

The retailer of the hosting service, or as we call it, the reseller can rent out a dedicated server entirely or may offer shared hosting services. That depends on the resell hosting plan they are buying from the primary seller of hosting services. Besides, the resellers are free to fix their own pricing structure, tailor their plans and decide which services they will be offering.  

Shared Hosting vs. Reseller Hosting

Shared hosting and reseller hosting are very commonly mixed up. After all, they are both low cost options and reseller hosting is largely based on sharing server space, a model identical to shared hosting services themselves. But they are indeed very different kinds of hosting. Here are the major points of differences between them.

• Shared hosting and reseller hosting have surprisingly very different target customers.

For instance, shared hosting is the personification of managed hosting itself. Not only are you sharing server space and resources, but with shared hosting, you are letting the hosting provider to be completely in control of applications, software, updates, security, backups and of course, the physical maintenance of the server itself. As a client of shared hosting, your work is primarily on the front end as you manage email setup, domain management, website design etc.

Reseller hosting is geared towards technical IT professionals- those who are setting up their own web hosting venture, serial entrepreneurs who are always capitalizing on new opportunities and freelance web developers who want to expand their service offerings to their customers. Purchasing a reseller hosting plan is not just a server which you are free to share with others; depending on the plan, you can get additional control over the server and resources, so you can decide the level of control you yourself want to exercise with your client websites.

• The most glaring difference between shared hosting and reseller hosting is the control panel that they use. Shared hosting plans often provide popular control panel tools such as cPanel, Plesk, Webmin and ISPmanager. These allow clients to manage their domains, emails and setup using a simple interface.

Reseller hosting plans don’t just have a control panel; their control panel comes along with a WHM or Web Host Manager. WHM is basically the management portal for your new hosting business, giving you backend access to cPanel or whichever control panel is part of the package. With WHM, you can create new cPanel accounts for your own clients or delete them, manage and monitor their websites effectively, check domains’ DNS zones and change them or change the domain names, fix bandwidth usage etc.

• With shared hosting plans, you can’t usually host more than one website. Some hosting providers may allow you to host an unlimited number of websites but that’s a premium service that you will dole out a premium fee for.

On the other hand, purchasing a reseller hosting plan means you are free to host as many client websites you want. With your WHM and cPanel, you can add and delete accounts as you see fit. Resellers are also given the benefit of personal nameservers with which they can come up with as many domain names as they like, convert them into IP addresses and generally manage these domains. However, instead of just adding new client websites to their host server, resellers should also ensure that they are not causing bottlenecks in the processing capabilities of the server.

• Shared hosting, when compared to almost any other kind of hosting, is the most vulnerable to performance issues. You will be sharing space with other websites whose requirements could end up cannibalizing yours. Besides, if even one of the websites fall prey to malware, your website stands the same risks. To make things murkier, shared hosting websites are often on the blacklisted as spam; your too could end up in that list just because of a few bad apples in the basket.

Reseller hosting plans are somewhat a more secure choice. After all, you are getting a server to yourself and you decide how you allocate resources such as bandwidth and storage. This also adds to your responsibility to keep client websites running as smoothly as possible without any bottlenecks.

• Shared hosting is the most affordable of all web hosting plans. While reseller hosting plans are a bit pricier because of the added functionality and features, it also opens up the opportunity for you to make profits as an internet entrepreneur.

Advantages of Reseller Hosting

So now you have a general idea of reseller hosting. But in case you are not yet ready to jump into your very own money-making venture with a reseller hosting plan, we bet knowing the full length of their advantages will do the trick.

• Revenue Stream

As you get hold of resources for yourself, you can allocate them as you like and make money off it too! For graphic designers, website developers, programmers and internet consultants, having the option to offer hosting plans to their customers takes their service to a whole new level. Not only does it add to their revenue stream, these professionals, with reseller hosting, can become a one-stop-destination for customers and a force to be reckoned with in the industry.

• Support tools

As anybody who has dabbled in web hosting will tell you, having access to resources isn’t enough. Having the appropriate software and tools to manage these resources is the key. With a reseller hosting plan, you aren’t just given access to a complete server with disk space, bandwidth and CPU processing power, you are also given essential tools to navigate them such as WHM, domain reseller accounts, clients area, SSL reseller account, SSL for hosting domain, end user support etc. You can even change the themes and user interface of the control panel for the usability of your clients!

Basically, you have all you need to tend to the needs of your clients and emerge as a brand in hosting yourself.

• Easier brand building with little technical know-how

Wouldn’t it be great to make a name for yourself in the industry of your choice? Truth be told, it is easier than done, especially when you have very little technical know-how. But it’s not so if you are in the business of web hosting.

If you buy a reseller hosting plan, the primary hosting provider is still in charge of the backend work. This includes hardware, network infrastructure, setup, maintenance, updates and even the physical housing of the web server. So, even if you aren’t well-versed in these technical details, you can still provide hosting services and earn a healthy profit. While your host is taking care of the server behind the scenes, you can just focus on intense advertisement and rise to the top.

Of course, you will need to make sure that the host that you are getting your reseller hosting plan from is not just a reputable name in the industry but is ready to provide you with all the technical support you need.

• Fewer liabilities

Now it is not uncommon for servers to crash without a peep. Slowdowns, lag time, glitches are also some common problems for people. You should also be prepared for such scenarios arising with your clients.

But with reseller hosting, your hosting provider is accountable for any damages to the services to your clients.

Disadvantages of Reseller Hosting

No web hosting plan in the world is completely perfect and the same goes for reseller hosting plans. Here’s what to watch out for.

• Reputation Hits

We did say that your hosting provider will be held accountable for damages due to server crashes, poor maintenance etc. But your clients will know your company as the face. After all, your business will be under your banner and not your hosting provider’s. So, poor service on part of your host could have serious repercussions on how your brand is perceiving in the market.  

• Limited services

The kind of services that you provide to your clients is directly correlated to what your hosting provider will allow for you. For instance, if your upstream host is not offering you 24/7 technical assistance, you won’t be able to cater to your clients’ needs either.

There is also the issue of your business growing which will mean your storage and bandwidth needs will grow too. Unless your host lets you upgrade to a bigger plan, you might hit a dead-end.

• Pricing

This should not be a surprise to anyone but reseller hosting plans are generally quite expensive. But they are, however, an investment for your own hosting gig.

Some of the inferior hosting providers also sneak in hidden costs for technical support; when looking for reseller hosting plans, take a good look at their pricing structure and avoid any such hidden costs.

What to Look for in your Reseller Hosting Plan

Before choosing the perfect reseller hosting plan, try to keep these things in mind.

• 24/7 customer and technical support from your host is a must. Without it, there is very little service that you can actually provide to your clients.
• Look for hosts with a fantastic uptime score and accept nothing less than 99.99% uptime.
• Make sure that your hosting provider offers account upgrades to let you scale up for more storage, bandwidth and processing power.
• Different clients have different needs and as a hosting provider yourself, you have to recognize that. Check if your upstream hosting provider allows tailoring custom packages for clients which will not just address the varying bandwidth, storage and emailing needs of your clients but will also factor in your forecast of their growth potential.
• The best thing about the internet is that reviews always give away the truth. Check out as many reviews of reseller hosting providers as you can and try to go for the one with the highest ratings among customers.
• Compare plans. Almost all of the hosting companies offer reseller hosting plans. To make sure that you get the best bang for your buck, check out as many plans as you can and compare them with each other.

Final Words

Reseller hosting, with relatively little investment, lets you reap quick returns. You don’t even need any physical infrastructure to kick start your very own hosting business!  The associated risks are also near to zero. So, what’s stopping you from getting a reseller hosting plan?

Reseller hosting is surely making a lot of buzz but to get to the really good ones, you have to do your research. This here is a good place to start. With the top 10 reseller hosting service providers of 2018 and their customers in-house expert reviews, you have all you need to begin your hunt for the reseller hosting plan.