Best Web Hosting Reseller Program

Factors to Consider

Given the number of different hosting companies that have reseller programs, choosing the right one is a matter of weighing variables and services offered in terms of the cost and value-added. These are some of the factors to consider:

The Customer's Always Needy

The clients for resellers are as varied as the internet itself. Knowing what your customers (or the customers you'd like to have) will be likely to need will help you select both the proper reselling type as well as the software to run on it.

There are three basic kinds of reselling products:

• Dedicated servers – A dedicated server is an actual, physical machine housed on the site of the hosting company, directly connected to the internet via one (or more) tier one connections to the internet. Small and mid-sized businesses often use this kind of hosting with resellers under long term contracts. The server is completely maintained and configured to the particular business – they can customize the operating system, e-commerce needs, whatever is needed.
• Shared hosting – For businesses that do not want to invest in an entire server, but still need a robust connection to the internet and a professionally managed machine to host their sit on, shared hosting is the way to go. This is also known as "virtual hosting" and the other difference from "dedicated" servers is that more than one site will be hosted on the machine, as well as sharing the connection to the internet.
• Virtual private hosting – This method gives resellers the dedicated server for them to divide up between their clients. Using automated hosting platforms, the reseller can allocate resources, programs, and other services to their clients as needed. While it provided complete control, it also requires more knowledge to manage all of these sites and their various needs such as mail and ftp services. One advantage of this is that each customer is given the illusion of having a dedicated server – but for this same reason, it is important to make sure they are clients who have relatively minor needs for bandwidth, etc.

So What Makes the Best Web Hosting Reseller Program?

Regardless of which version of reselling you choose (most service providers offer one or more versions of all three) there are some unifying characteristics to look for in any internet service provider claiming to offer the best web hosting reseller program:

• Multiple pipes – It is important that the provider have a central location – that is, the place where the servers are physically kept – that has multiple tier-1 connections to the internet. That way, when something goes down, your clients sites are still up and going strong on the other connections.
• 24/7 support – Unless you are a reseller who can afford to hire professional engineers, making sure the hosting company has easily accessible support staff is essential. Especially as the client base grows, more and more complications are going to be added to your main server, and having someone available to call helps make every customer feel like they are number one in your book.
• Reliability – Just as the software you run on the server needs to be reliable, so does the company. There may be very cheap deals available from companies you've never heard of, but for the most part it is not worth the risk. Pick a company that runs solid software, such as Linux, and that has a reputation for reliability and good support.

Where to Find Hosting Resellers

The Whir is one place to begin searching for web hosting reselling programs. It has a comprehensive list of providers, along with some of the incentives and services they offer, which may include things like:

• Free domain names
• Free transfer of sites from another server
• Discounts on related products or bulk orders

It is a very competitive business, and this makes it to your advantage to evaluate the range of providers and services before deciding which will be the best web hosting reseller program for you.