Web Hosting for Profit

By Matt Hedges

In order to run a good web hosting company successfully, you should have a good knowledge of computer science apart from plenty of patience. Since the development of the Control Panel, people believe that it is no longer necessary to have technical know-how as the Control Panel makes the task of getting a pre-built server and therefore hosting a site, very simple. Things can get complex. You can get a dedicated server on lease and have a sound knowledge of the Control Panel and you can then start hosting of sites, but you should remember that some restrictions are associated with the Control Panel.

For a successful run of your web hosting company in the long run, consider the ten steps that are mentioned below:

Step 1: Choose a policy that you want to utilize

You can think of using UNIX over Windows as the former is an open source program, and therefore cheaper, besides having a stable environment for web hosting. Although most of the programs can run on both of them, ASP, MS-SQL, .NET, etc. are supported by Windows only. If you are not sure about which host you want to use, you can choose a web host that will offer both the operating systems under one plan.

Step 2: Decide on the Control Panel of your choice

Control Panels can differ from the very simple ones which are user-friendly and have basic features together with the administrative ones, to the complicated ones like the the H-Sphere System.

Step 3: Select the reseller hosting provider

This is a very vital choice in beginning a web-hosting corporation. Ensure that the corporation orders same rank at par with your favored reseller-hosting corporation. Clients will not believe that corporations giving inexpensive systems are good. Points where the web host can win are:

* Client backing: Make sure that the corporation gives 2 hours phone service to the clients. If this does not work, they must have an efficient email system with fast answers to questions. Such points give clients a good concept of how the corporation could support them whenever needed.

* Control Panel and the platform: Make sure that your Control Panel has many features which you can use.

* Flexibility and features: Make sure that the initial cost that you charge to the customers includes enough bandwidth, not only for them to begin smoothly, but even be sufficient when their business expands.

* Reputation of the company: A good company would have a customer forum, so customers normally check out the forum and interact with fellow members to know what their experience with the company has been.

* Experience of the company in this field: Obviously, the longer the company has been in the field of providing web hosting services, the better it is.

Step 4: Prepare the hosting policies and settle the costs

Although you may want to offer a host of plans to your customers, do not burden them with too many to choose from. To begin with, offering them three to five plans will be enough. You should also have a close look at your competition and keep a check on what they are doing. You should also attempt to find a niche of the customers that is still left unsatisfied. It is fine if you oversell your resources if you can compensate for it by charging the individuals with services such as domain registrations, IP addresses, web stats, etc.

Step 5: Prepare a company website

Make sure to keep your website as simple as possible, and also ensure that it is user-friendly. Customers always look for something which they want, so make sure that you satisfy their needs. So it would be a better option not to waste time on telling the prospective customers about you. Rather, you can use the space to tell them how you will be able to solve their needs with affordable price and good service. You might want to use as little words as possible, but make sure that the main page has a minimum of 500 words. This would be very crucial for getting results in search engines. You can either design a website by yourself, or hire the services of a professional.

Step 6: Prepare the site for E-Commerce

You will need a payment entry, a trade account and a SSL certificate to get payments online. These are some characteristics of online trade you have to get used to.

Step 7: Offer the customers' good support

Customer support is very important as far as web hosting services goes. You can opt for a platform or a Control Panel which has a built-in helpdesk, like H-Sphere. You can commence with supporting those services which you are selling, but beyond this, it all depends on you. You can have a Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ's] which will help the customers solve some of their common problems. Also, you must have a strong email support and a quick telephone support for enabling the customers to resolve their queries in very little time.

Step 8: Setting up the billing of your client

For this purpose, you will require a billing soft ware with a merchant gateway, mainly the one which integrates with your control panel like the H-Sphere. Some examples are:

* H-Sphere: IT includes a full-fledged billing system which gives you full control over all resources and enables you to plan prices which you would like to charge from the customers.

* PayPal: This system is a moderately easier one that is well matched with many Control Panels.

* Authorize Net: This is a flexible gateway system that is compatible with all major credit card providers and also with most Control Panels.

Step 9: Design a welcome email

A welcome email for your new clients is compulsory. You can include the following:

* Complete details of the plan the customer has selected

* the registrar and the DNS changes

* a username together with a temporary password

* An exact connection to the Control Panel

* links to the important areas like FAQ's, customer support, etc.

Step 10: Marketing the website

Promoting a website is an expensive matter and eats up a great amount of time but it is very essential as high-quality advertising will make sure that clients come to the site continually. Remember that website promotion is not a temporary matter done once, but it is a continuous process. Some details you have to keep in mind are:

* Availing of all search engine outcomes

* affiliate programs and paid advertising

* newsletters

The steps mentioned below are just the basic ones, and not exhaustive. Though building of a web hosting site is challenging, it is not impossible if you are committed to it. Though many new companies are coming up each day, the market is not at the saturation point since there is a lack of good companies. You just need to take care of customer needs - word of mouth will do the rest. Remember, customer is the King!

About the Author:

This article is published with permission from WebHostingMadness.com, a provider of hosting company ratings, articles and helpful guides on web hosting.