I am going to lay a clear path for you on how to get started with a web hosting business. I really wished I read something like this many years ago when we started Pnrhost, One of the  best Website Hosting Companies In Zimbabwe. This will save you time and a lot of money.

Why Start a Website Hosting Business?

There is a number of reasons why one would need to start a web hosting business. It could be:::

• Just to earn a few extra bucks while you go about your main job
• To create a fully-fledged hosting and domain registration company – Check out my blog post on How to start a Domain registration business?
• To upsell to your clients. Here are a few examples:::
  • You own a company registry business and when your client registers a company you offer them web hosting for their company website. Smart move right? After all whose company doesn’t need a website in this digital era. More on this here in this blog post: Who doesn’t need a website — Only stone age businesses!!!
  • You own a website development agency and you would like to offer website hosting for the website you developed rather than handing over the website to someone else. Hence you will be providing all solutions in-house for your clients.

Who is this Blog Post for?

This post is for you if want to start a web hosting business. No prior knowledge or experience is required, Only your ability to read and willingness to apply what you learned in this blog.

Ways to Get Started

One Cpanel account with hosting for multiple domains (Add-ons)

This is the easiest and cheapest way to get started. You just buy hosting for your main domain and you can add your clients’ domains as add-ons. The main issue however comes when your clients need access to upload their website via Cpanel. For this, you will need the ways outlined below.

To get started with this kind of hosting grab your multi-domains package.

Reseller Package

In this way, you will need some technical skills to be able to create packages, and link them up in your billing system ( If you want to automate the hosting ordering process and the invoicing – trust me you need this!). You can always hire someone to do this for you for a small fee.

You will have to buy reseller hosting from a hosting provider, then create your packages and you are good to go. This is a great way if you want to white-label your services. White-labeling is important if you don’t want your customer to know that you are actually reselling from someone else.

Most hosting companies will offer free WHMCS – A premium billing software on most of their hosting packages. Pnrhost will also offer you a free Resellme Domain Registration Program, free the Resellme WHMCS plugin, and free Paynow and DPO integration ( Best Payments Processors in Zimbabwe).

The Resellme Way

Pnrhost launched a Platform called Resellme to provide an affordable way to start a hosting business without the need to buy the reseller hosting package. The platform prides itself in helping customers start hosting businesses at a $0 cost and within 5 minutes!

With this approach to don’t have to pay anything from your own pockets, and you only pay when you get clients. This means you can start making a profit as soon as you get your first client. As your number begins to grow you can always grab a reseller hosting package. To learn more about this model, you can check out the Resellme Website.

Cloud Hosting

All of the above methods mean your hosting provider will set up the hosting infrastructure for you. Set the servers, the primary hosting software like Cpanel, Antivirus, etc. This is a good thing, however, if you wish to have more control and have the skills and resources to do so, you may wish to consider cloud hosting.

Required Software

• Control Panel – Most clients prefer Cpanel. There are a lot cheaper alternatives like Plesk, Direct Admin, etc, and some free ones too! If you got this far, needing a cloud hosting service for your business – you should really try Cpanel. With Cpanel Only, you will be ready to start a business. You may need additional software to stay feature competitive with other providers.

This option may seem more affordable than the dedicated server option but it’s a bit limited on performance and resources. So next I will share information on how to get started with a dedicated server.

Dedicated Server

This option, as with the cloud hosting option will need you to have some technical skills in server management and financial resources.

Required Software

• Control Panel – Cpanel or any other will do, refer to cloud hosting above.

Steps to Get Started

Buy the Hosting

Buy your hosting based on the ways to get started explained above.

Create Your website

You will need a website if you are to have clients buy hosting online. It’s also good to have one as it shows a good image for your business.

Link up a Billing System

For hosting orders automation, client billing, invoicing, reminders, etc, you may need to invest in a billing system like WHMCS. Pnrhost will offer you this for free as long as you have a reseller package with them.

Some Digital Marketing

After your hosting business is set up, it will be time to explore digital marketing and acquire some clients. You can consider PPC, Content marketing, Email marketing, and Social Media Marketing.

Conclusion

I hope you gained a lot from the blog post. Kindly share and comment. If you would like to receive notices and updates on new content and offer don’t forget to subscribe.