There was a time when web hosting was simply a place to store files and run a server. The functionality is still the same, but there is some unique offering provided by many web hosting service providers these days.
Starting a new web hosting business in 2019 is very tough. As you would be competing with top brands like GoDaddy and Rackspace. These companies have a strong technical team and deep pockets to invest in newer technologies. With online business flourishing at a faster pace, the customer expectations related to web hosting services have also increased.
Depending on your budget, you can either start a small web hosting business or make it big. If you are low in budget, then reseller hosting is also the best option for you. And if you have a good budget, then you can set up your own dedicated or VPS server. But, with dedicated and VPS server, it takes time to recover the invested amount.
The dedicated and VPS hosting gives you more advantage [ Do-Follow ] over reseller hosting as you receive complete control over the server, more resources and functionality. With dedicated and VPS hosting, you need to be technically sound to manage and control the server operations.
If You Want To Start A Lasting Web Hosting Business, Then You Should Follow These 5 Simple Steps:
Find Your Niche:
Competition being high, at the initial stage of your business, you cannot get hold of big businesses, but you can target a specific niche group. Here, you need to present yourself well by offering some unique functionality that makes you stand out from other companies. You can offer additional services like free web design to attract the audience, or you can provide a revolutionary pricing plan. Before getting into the business, you should check out for the niche options that would work best for you.
Choose Your Server Types:
You should have a range of hosting options that you can offer your customer. Companies have different requirement depending on what they are selling, their business requirements, and the price factor. Let’s have a look at different web hosting options you can offer your clients:
- Dedicated Server:Dedicated to a single client, you can offer this type of server to clients who don’t have budget issues and have higher traffic to their website. The server comes with a range of benefits like flexibility, unique IP address, enhanced performance, security, and many more.
- Cloud Server: These types of servers are great as you won’t have to worry about infrastructure or scaling even if the customer experiences an unexpected spike in traffic. You can offer consistent performance to your customer during lower to heavier traffic. Cloud hosting pricing is a bit reasonable.
- VPS:The virtual private server is a partitioned virtual server that is created in a physical server machine. Depending on the cores of a physical server, you can provide virtual private servers to your clients. This is the cheapest option you can offer to your customers. It is ideal for small businesses and start-ups.
Know What Your Competitors Offer:
If you want to offer some unique services to your clients, then you should know what your competitors are offering. There would be a rare case that you are offering a very different thing. There is huge competition in the market, and everyone is providing some or the other functionality to attract businesses. Research your competitor’s business model, analyze them, and create a room for more improvement.
Create A Strategic Business Model:
In this stage, you need to finalize on below points:
- Brand:First, you need to decide on your business or company name. Then check on the domain names available for your business. Then you need to decide on the company logo and tagline.
- Pricing Plan:Here again, you have to do some research so that you can offer the best market pricing to your clients. First, analyze the cost you are buying the hosting for and then how much the clients are willing to pay for your services. Then depending on your competitor pricing, you can set the web hosting price.
- Website Design:Then, your next step should be to have the website [No-Follow] developed with the best UI/UX design that makes it easy for navigation and reduces the bounce rate. Being the main storefront, make sure you spend a good amount to make it appealing and easy to use.
You need to fulfill some legalities, and then you can successfully start your web hosting business. After you start your business, the next thing you need to consider is providing:
Customer Support Services
This is a very important aspect you should have on your website. If possible, use the chat tool on your website to solve customer queries and issues. If you provide customer support as well, your clients would be worry-free as they can rely on you for solving their technical concerns. 24/7 technical support services can set you apart from other competitors. You can also put this aspect on your marketing banners.
How You Can Make Your Web Hosting Business Model Unique
Companies rely on web hosting service providers that can offer technical reliability and flexibility. Provide your customer with:
Uptime Guarantee: This is guaranteed by many web hosting services, and so it should be mandatorily showcased and advertised on your website.
Surge Traffic Flexibility: You should provide them the guarantee that you can handle sudden traffic influx.
Backup Support: Again, advertise on your website the option of 24/7/ 365 backup support you offer to your customers.
Value-Added Services: Think about the additional valued services like application development service with the web hosting services you can offer. Think about other services you can give your customer so that you can differentiate yourself with your competitors.
Reseller Options – You Can Consider
Some companies offer VPS reseller options. This option is best for individuals who are not technically sound and are not aware of the virtualization technology. The companies offering reseller option assign you a pool of web hosting infrastructure resources i.e., processor, RAM, and storage. Using these resources, you can create VPS and sell on your website directly. The VPS reseller provider gives you access to the control panel. Using the control panel, you can create and manage the VPS.