What is Reseller Hosting?
BY Hal Wirtsen
A reseller is a company that buys a product or service
from another company and repackages it - usually adding
services or goods to it - under its own company or brand
name. Reseller hosting is the arrangement in which a web
host company provides storage, at a discounted price, to
web consultants who then act as hosts for other
companies.
Typically, web consultants include web designers,
developers, ad agencies, IT consulting firms, or
integration firms. The reseller companies acting as web
hosts usually also provide web site designs and management
services as well as acting as the host to the site. In
other words, according to the reseller's client, the
reseller is the host.
A web host will usually offer the reseller a hosting
package that includes storage space provided for the use of
reselling to clients at a greater price. Reseller plans are
particularly advantageous to consultants who do not need to
be concerned with physically maintaining the hardware or
the network. It allows the reseller to offer a full menu of
business options to their clients without having to be
concerned with network infrastructure or maintenance issues.
A reseller package could include a user-friendly approach
to creating a web site as well as the space for the web
site's pages and an easy-to-use interface for updating the
web site. The actual site would use the computer and the
storage facilities of a large server from a different web
hosting company that resells or hosts many different sites.
Usually, the reseller is given a control panel that allows
the reseller and its clients to modify their web accounts.
The reseller can modify and control access to these control
panels based on the customer's needs.
The reseller usually offers training and technical support
relating to their customer's sites. However, resellers
communicate directly with the web host when technical
problems come up, including downtown and access problems.
The web host sometimes provides basic reseller services,
such as control panels, web site design templates, or
custom domain name servers which can then be listed using
the reseller's domain name rather than the web host's DNS.
It is also common for the web host to provide resellers
with a personal telephone number for technical support. The
web host uses the reseller's name so that the client
believes the reseller is handling the technical support. In
the control panel account, the reseller can set up their
client's web site parameters. These include email,
scripting functions, and login access. Additionally, the
web host can provide anonymous name servers. This helps to
mask the identity of the web host's servers that are being
used by the reseller.
There are many different ways to structure reseller plans.
Most typically is for the reseller to receive a 50%
discount on the price of a hosting account that the
reseller plans to sell to another client. There are
different reseller initiative plans that are commonly
offered. These include discounts on web hosting plans,
marketing or promotional items; commissions for new
accounts; referrals, which are a one-time payment or
discounts to other services for referring new business to
the web host; virtual plans in which the reseller is sold
space on a web server that the reseller can then turn
around and sell to their clients; reseller recruitment
where the reseller recruits other resellers to join the
plan and receives a discount or payment from the web
host for additional business.
It is important for the web host to clearly outline what
their responsibilities are to the reseller. This agreement
should include details of any of the web host's existing
policies, a site usage policy, a security and a privacy
policy.
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More Great Articles by Hal Wirtsen
About the Author: Hal Wirtsen is the webmaster of
Hosting-US.com, which is a free informational website about
web hosting. For more information, please visit:
http://www.Hosting-US.com
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