Do you need experience/education to start web hosting?
Experience is always a good thing. It would be valuable to know and have experience with the technical side of web hosting. It must also be remembered that web hosting is a business and this entails many things. You need to know, or at least be able to learn about, legal requirements, accounting requirements, not to mention customer service skills.
How do I set my hosting prices and plans?
Web hosting is a competitive business, and it’s likely to seem as if there’s always another provider out there that charges less for its services than you do. The challenge in setting prices, keeping competitive and staying in business isn’t necessarily to always be the cheapest host around, but to provide the best value to your chosen customer base.
Deciding what’s of value to your customers first requires, of course, knowing who your customers are, what they need most and how much they are willing to pay for those products and services. You should also make sure your prices are competitive enough to provide a reasonable return for your time and efforts, after your costs. It’s also a good idea to research the market and ask questions of other hosts and resellers to learn as much as possible about what does and doesn’t work.
Finally, keep in mind that good service – treating your customers well at all times – can often be one of the most valuable things your business can offer, and can help you stand out from a crowded field of competitors.
What features are most important to web hosting customers?
The best way to find out which features are most important to your customers is to ask them yourself. In fact, if you’re serious about effectively serving your accounts, it’s a good idea to regularly survey existing customers, as well as to ask a few questions of those who leave or never sign on with you at all.
For help with designing effective customer surveys and conducting market research, check out such resources as ChamberBiz’s Research Tools or the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Online Women’s Business Center Marketing Mall.
Of course, it’s also important to keep informed about what other hosts are offering their customers. You can stay on top of the market by regularly checking other web hosts’ websites and actively participating in the online hosting and reseller forums.
How do I know what to charge for hosting services?
You should consider many factors when setting your prices for hosting and other services. These include:
- What are similar hosting providers charging?
- What do you believe your time and efforts are worth?
- What are your customers willing to pay?
- How much do you need to charge to cover your costs and make your business reasonably profitable?
Finding the answers to these questions will require a fair amount of research on your part, so spend some time reviewing the sites of other web hosts, calculating your business costs and earning requirements, and – as always – asking questions of other hosts and resellers on hosting forums such as ResellerForums.com, WebHostingTalk, and the Web Host Directory Forums.
How do I handle support for my web hosting customers?
Depending on the type of reseller account you’ve established, you might be able to depend on your web hosting provider for certain levels of customer and technical support. Make sure you always ask your host about its reseller support services before getting started.
If your web host offers a control panel for resellers, you’ll probably be able to manage certain support tasks via a web-based interface. If your host uses any of the following systems, you can find further documentation online: Alabanza, cPanel/Web Host Manager, Ensim, Hostopia, InQuent, Intermedia.NET, Plesk, Positive Software, Sphera or SWsoft.
Other billing and/or support systems that can be used by hosting resellers include PHPmanager, PerlDesk, ModernBill, ezInvoice.com and InverseFlow. As always, before you choose a system, make sure to try any demos, ask plenty of questions and seek input from fellow resellers on the web hosting forums.
