With more than 1.8 billion websites globally, web hosting is an important service for most businesses looking to power their websites and create an online presence for their customers. Web developers, web designers, businesses, firms and individuals see the potential to earn extra income as a reseller of web hosting services.
Is it profitable and how do you start and make extra income?
The secret to getting started or earning enough income from web hosting is researching how the industry works and finding web hosting clients. But most of all, your hard work and motivation are required.
This article will give you everything you need to know about earning income from your web hosting business and how and what you need to get started.
Is Web Hosting Business Profitable?
Yes.
Quite frankly, a web hosting business is easy to set up for a reseller because they do not have to worry about server management or the cost of setting it up. It is also a great source of additional income for individuals like web developers and web designers looking to upsell their services for more money. But as easy as it might sound, you need to put in a lot of hard work to smartly identify strategies that will allow you to usurp the huge competition in the web hosting industry. Part of the strategies you need to know include the following:
- Choosing a reliable web hosting provider will guarantee the quality of your web hosting business.
- Knowing how to find clients will grow your web hosting business income.
- Choosing a good plan can help you get enough resources to distribute among your clients.
- Setting up a user-friendly business website will convince your prospects to buy your service
- Providing valuable content via your blog or social media channels will improve the traffic to your website.
Once you incorporate all of these into your business plan, you can set yourself up for success and start earning. Please note that the more customers you can convince to buy your rebranded web hosting services, the higher your income will be. Choosing a reliable hosting provider is crucial for a reseller business as it directly impacts your service quality and customer satisfaction. For top recommendations, explore our curated list of the best reseller hosting choices.
Top Reseller Hosting Provider Picks
| Provider | User Rating | Best For | Expert & User Reviews | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.8 | Performance | Verpex Hosting Review | Visit Verpex Hosting |
 | 5.0 | WordPress | ChemiCloud Review | Visit ChemiCloud |
 | 5.0 | Linux | HostArmada Review | Visit HostArmada |
Reseller Hosting Business vs Traditional Hosting Business – Which One To Choose?
While a reseller hosting business is great for individuals looking to earn additional income, a traditional hosting business is for companies that have the budget and can handle the complexities of the hosting business on a full-time basis.
When starting a web hosting business, one essential factor is figuring out which route you want to take. Do you want to start your hosting business the traditional way or sign up for a reseller program? While both are similar in services rendered, their differences lie in the setting up process, and one depends on the other to survive. Let’s examine what both businesses mean and which one to choose.
A traditional hosting business, on the other hand, can be termed as those companies that have invested in servers strategically distributed in different locations to offer storage spaces needed to host websites or run web applications. They are required to configure the server, maintain it and provide technical support to their customers.
Setting up a traditional hosting business requires a lot of money since you will need to pay the cost of owning a server, hiring staff, maintaining the servers and other technical hosting environment tasks.
A reseller hosting business is booming due to the increasing demand for web hosting services. As a result, starting a web hosting business as a reseller only requires you to purchase web hosting services from the parent host and then resell these services at marked-up prices to your clients.
With a reseller plan, you do not need to worry about all requirements of a traditional hosting business to start earning:
- Just figure out the niche you want to focus on
- Build a website
- Choose a reseller plan from a reliable hosting provider
- Upsell plans to your clients at a rate higher than you purchase them
Web Hosting Business Income – How Much Can You Make?
There is no limit to how much you can earn as it depends on the effort you put into finding clients, choosing the hosting provider you can rely on, and the type of plan. As a result, as the number of customers you serve increases, your income will also skyrocket. Another factor that determines how much you can make is the marked-up prices of your hosting plans. But how do you convince them to buy from you?
Convincing your clients to buy requires setting up a user-friendly website, providing quality service, offering 24/7 customer support and making sure your clients get enough resources to run their websites. One secret nobody will tell you is that your prices can be higher than your competitors, but clients prefer to pay more for quality service and excellent customer support. So, avoid being swayed whenever your competitor offers a price lower than yours. The quality is not in the price you charge but in the service rendered.
How much money you can make depends on if you have a good business plan, understand how web hosting works and your effort and dedication.
- Let’s say, for example, that you bought a turbo scale reseller plan on A2Hosting for $52.99/month that allows you to host unlimited websites.
- And you will charge each client $15 for your standard web hosting package.
- Imagine you can rake in more than 40 customers from your area to buy your service; you can have a potential revenue of $600/month.
- You can invest some of these profits to grow your business through advertising, hiring staff to handle customer support and more.
As a web hosting business owner, you can sensibly scale your business to make more money. Although you have rented a server space that you rely on, you can decide what a fair price is since you have control over your profit margins.
Read more about Verpex Hosting
Cost of Starting a Web Hosting Business
The cost of starting a web hosting business depends on several factors, such as the hosting provider, the plan you choose, the type of website you want to build and many more.
- For as low as $17.95/month, you can easily start your reseller hosting business with the scale1 plan on Scalahosting.
- With just $1.80 for the first month, you can also get started on Verpex
- HostArmada’s basic plan also starts at $19.09/month.
To set up your business website, you need to purchase a domain name that could cost between $4.99 to $50/year, depending on the uniqueness of the TLD, the length and overall potential. After that, you need to set up your email address, design and build your website, and add and manage your website content, including creating your hosting packages before publishing.
In summary, you might need to pay for the following:
- Reseller hosting plan – $17.95 – $59.99/month
- Domain name: $4.99 to $50/year
- Premium theme: $50 on average.
- SEO cost: $100 – 500/month
- Marketing ads: $5 per day
- Referral program: $5 per referral
Conclusion
The most important thing you need to know to earn more income from your web hosting business is that you will get whatever you put in. The right strategy, business plan, dedication, hard work, and marketing knowledge will determine how much profit you make.
Regardless of the reseller hosting provider you choose, make sure their service is something you can rely on and should offer scalable plans to grow your business.
The increase in the demand for web hosting services has made the web hosting business highly profitable. That being said, the reseller hosting business is becoming more attractive to individuals and is now easier due to the low cost of getting started.
Next Steps: What now?
