Succeeding in the competitive web hosting market is challenging, especially since there were over 1.13 billion websites in the second quarter of 2023.
For a new, small web hosting provider aiming to earn in a market dominated by top providers holding 24% share, reseller hosting is a viable option.
It allows you to buy server space from established providers and sell it to your clients, offering a simpler start.
This article covers everything you need to know about providing web hosting services that land hosting clients.
20 Effective Strategies to Convert Clients for Your Web Hosting Business
Invest in white-label reseller hosting and advertising
White-label reseller hosting lets you sell another provider's hosting services under your brand.
This helps you build your own brand identity, making a lasting impression on potential customers who might return when they need hosting services.
Effective and clear branding is key to highlighting what you offer. While advertising is expensive, it's a worthwhile investment to become recognized and considered by future customers.
Engage your existing web business customers
If you already run a business, promoting your reseller hosting to existing customers is smart, as they trust you and have worked with you before.
Identify your target audience
To maximize the impact of your reseller business's marketing efforts, prioritize precision in your approach towards who you serve and how you serve them.
- Research and identify your target audience to understand potential buyers.
- Tailor your marketing strategy to meet the specific needs of your target audience.
- Position your brand to align closely with your audience's requirements for a compelling value proposition.
- Ensure your target market is large enough to sustain and profit your business.
- Consider niches like restaurants or grocery stores to focus your efforts.
Affiliate programs
- Implement an affiliate program for customer earnings through service sales.
- Encourage broader involvement with affiliate-driven sales.
- Boost business growth and credibility with affiliate referrals.
- Motivate referrals with rewards: free services, sales commissions, or coupons.
Pay attention to SEO
Good SEO is crucial for your reseller business. It helps your business appear higher in search engine rankings, increasing your visibility.
With effective SEO, your business will show up more often when customers search for relevant keywords.
You'll need to choose between focusing on general SEO or local SEO, which boosts your visibility in your local area. If targeting small local businesses, prioritize local SEO.
Great reseller hosting website
Prioritize a reseller hosting website that excels in simplicity, accessibility, and transparency, catering to the digital habits and preferences of today's consumers.
- Design the website to be intuitive, simple, and easy to navigate.
- Include all relevant information and concise guidelines for product use and payment options.
- Adopt a customer-centric approach in website design, prioritizing user needs and preferences.
- Choose a professional-looking theme that adapts well to various devices.
- Emphasize mobile-friendly design, catering to the 90% of users who use mobile devices for browsing.
- Be transparent about pricing to avoid the risk of losing clients to hidden fees.
Start a blog
Blogging can enhance your business's credibility and reputation by showcasing your expertise in your field.
It demonstrates your knowledge, suggesting your services are high quality.
Furthermore, blogging boosts your SEO rankings and provides a platform to address customer queries, expanding your resources.
However, focus on producing quality content, as customers can tell if content lacks substance.
Ensure fast and high-quality support for your web hosting clients
- Cater to both experts and newcomers with excellent customer service to resolve any issues.
- Use a small customer base to your advantage for personalized interactions.
- Foster customer loyalty through direct communication.
- Encourage referrals to expand your customer base and grow your business.
- Offer various support channels like email, phone, or live chat if possible.
- Direct interactions with customers promote long-term benefits and make them feel valued.
Social media presence
Harnessing social media's extensive daily engagement offers a unique opportunity to connect with a vast audience through strategic and focused activity.
- Social media is a cost-effective way to reach a wide audience — around 52% of the world's population uses social media daily.
- Prioritize active engagement on fewer platforms rather than spreading thinly across many.
- Active presence is key; inactive pages won't attract attention.
- Promote both your core services and blog to attract a broader audience.
- Attracting readers can increase the potential customer base and web traffic.
Choose a quality parent provider
Choose a parent web hosting provider carefully to ensure quality services.
Your offerings and income will depend on their resources, uptime, customer service, security, and reseller plans.
Opt for a provider with balanced plans that are affordable to resell and profitable for you.
Monitor competitors
Use the competitive nature of the reseller hosting industry to your advantage.
- Learn from competitors' successes and failures.
- Analyze and adopt effective marketing strategies from competitors.
- Research competitors' keywords for better SEO.
- Utilize high-traffic keywords from competitors' paid ads in your campaigns.
Collect reviews and feedback
Collecting reviews boosts credibility as potential customers can see others' opinions and experiences.
Use negative feedback to improve your services. Always respond to reviews, showing you value customer opinions and feedback.
Engage in industry forums
- Network in industry forums to meet potential partners and interested clients.
- Use forums as a free promotion and networking tool.
- Stay updated on industry trends by engaging with peers.
- Generate new ideas for business improvement through interactions.
Create attractive CTAs
Use call-to-action (CTA) banners to encourage specific actions, like trying a new product or reading a blog post.
Place these as buttons or links on your site to direct customers. CTAs effectively promote products and highlight their value, boosting customer engagement.
Utilize email marketing
Email marketing is an affordable method to promote your business, products, and discounts to a broad audience.
With email users expected to reach 4.6 billion by 2025, it's vital to engage this growing audience with captivating emails.
Attend seminars and conferences
- Attend seminars and conferences to find partners and new customers.
- Learn industry trends and improvement methods.
- Present your business positively and actively engage.
- Encourage others to share information about your business.
List your business on online directories
Listing your business on online directories like Yelp increases visibility and is crucial for the growth and success of new businesses with few customers.
This enhances your reach beyond advertising, benefiting your business.
Make your website available in multiple languages
- Multilingual websites can attract customers globally.
- Cater to non-English speakers to broaden your customer base.
- Include languages with many speakers, such as German, Spanish, and French, for a competitive edge.
- Being accessible in multiple languages makes your business more appealing to diverse customers.
Directly interact with clients
Direct interaction with clients, such as through email or phone calls, builds lasting relationships by making them feel valued and involved, especially in today's automated world.
Ask for referrals
Even without an affiliate program, encourage client referrals by offering incentives like discounts or coupons.
This strategy can expand your customer base over time. Remember, don't pressure clients; let them decide to refer voluntarily.
Analyzing Hosting Performance: Metrics That Matter
Evaluating the performance of your hosting service is essential for ensuring high-quality user experiences and maintaining a competitive edge.
Here are the key metrics that matter when analyzing hosting performance:
Uptime: This is the amount of time your hosting service is available and operational. Aim for an uptime of 99.9% or higher to ensure reliability.
Page Load Time: The speed at which pages load on your website directly impacts user satisfaction and SEO rankings. Faster load times lead to better user experiences.
Server Response Time: This measures the time it takes for your server to respond to a request. A lower server response time means a quicker start to load your website content.
Traffic Capacity: Understanding the number of visitors your site can handle simultaneously without performance degradation is key to scaling your service effectively.
Error Rates: Keep an eye on the frequency of server errors (like 404, or 500 errors). High error rates can indicate underlying problems with your hosting environment.
Backup and Recovery Times: Regularly test your backup systems to ensure fast and reliable recovery times in the event of data loss.
Customer Support Response Time: The speed and efficiency of your customer support team in resolving issues can greatly influence customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Integrating Third-Party Services and Tools for Added Value
Integrating third-party services and tools can significantly enhance the value of your hosting services by offering comprehensive solutions that meet diverse client needs.
Here are ways to leverage these integrations for added value:
CDN: Speeds up website loading by caching content globally, reducing server strain.
SSL Certificates: Enhances security and credibility, vital for e-commerce.
Website Builders: Enables easy website creation, suited for non-technical users.
Email Hosting: Provides professional email tied to domain names, crucial for business communication.
Automated Backups: Ensures data safety with easy recovery, offering peace of mind.
Security Checks: Protects against threats with regular scanning, improving security.
SEO Tools: Assists in optimizing websites for search engines, increasing visibility.
Analytics Tools: Allows performance monitoring and understanding visitor behavior.
Payment Gateways: Facilitates smooth online transactions for e-commerce sites.
CRM Integration: Improves customer relationship management and interactions.
Bottom Line
Numerous strategies can attract web hosting clients and expand your business.
Despite the industry's competitiveness, leveraging the advantages of reseller hosting can help you stand out and succeed.
By applying discussed methods, you can quickly establish your business, generate revenue, and cultivate a loyal customer base.
Above all, patience and dedication is key to building your online presence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is reseller hosting profitable?
In general, reseller hosting is very profitable. However, to be able to offset your initial cost, the hardest part will be getting your first few reseller clients.
What’s included in a reseller package?
Reseller packages commonly include disk space, domain hosting, bandwidth, the latest cPanel control panel, premium support by the hosting providers, the ability to brand your own web hosting company, and so on.
How do I become a hosting reseller?
To become a hosting reseller, all you need to do is select a host, choose a hosting package, create your own hosting packages, and get your hosting business online.
Can you make money with reseller hosting?
You definitely can. There are countless success stories from entrepreneurs that have managed to take on hundreds, even thousands of clients, just be aware of the work you’ll need to put in.
Read our article to learn more about web hosting business income.
Can I sell my hosting?
Reseller hosting is a profitable option for agencies. It lets you sell another provider's hosting at a markup instead of creating your own. Set your own prices and enhance the service for your clients. Check out our white-label reseller hosting plans.
I've been navigating the web hosting waters for years now. As the Chief Editor at Verpex, I team up with some awesome writers to dish out the good stuff on hosting. Got a Master's in Journalism, so I always have an eye out for quality. Whether you're just dipping your toes or you're a seasoned surfer, I'm here to make everything web hosting feel like a breeze
View all posts by Julia Lozanov