Welcome!

[HalfMoon]

Just out of interest, how do you go about hosting for your smaller clients? Do you have a reseller account or set them up with a basic package from one of the innumerable hosts out there? I personally prefer to get them set up with a seperate host - that way they get the bill every year and pay the host directly without having to come through me.

Just curious to know how others go about this!

[tayzar44]

Actually, I also do the way like you do. I don't want to confuse with hosting fees with clients. Don't want to affiliate with any hosting cause when hosting down few minutes for some reasons, clients call me to fix it. that make me sick.

[hayley]

I have a reseller but if you're not prepared to deal with hosting support issues, your best bet is to have a recommended supplier who's affordable.

On the other hand, the clients that I host keep coming back to me for web design work, whereas the ones I don't host often go elsewhere. Building relationships with your customers is the way to get repeat business and if you're able to provide a good quality hosting service for them, it might be worth your while.

[jock]

I always host my clients site, no matter how big or small.

[iGammaRay]

web development firm having experience in providing affordable web site development solutions .

f... spammers already hit Smashing Mag forums...

[jock]

LOL why would anyone hire you for web development, you cant even type your own URL correctly

[mike_h]

I used to direct clients to hosting companies because I didn't want to be involved, but I found they would always end up emailing me with any issues regarding hosting anyway (downtime, create a new email account), so I thought I might as well host them. I have a reseller account which is worthwhile for a bit of extra money every year.

[BrightEyesDavid]

I have a reseller account and host all my clients that want me to. I don't spend too much time with issues, and the extra income is worth having to me.

[crinkle]

I have a couple of servers and manage my own hosting. I started out with reseller accounts, but it became extraordinarily cost inefficient (not to mention slow!).

[TidePowerd]

Some hosts will handle the billing if you buy a reseller account. You simply configure what "packages" you want to offer (how much disk space, how much bandwidth, price, etc.), then set your clients up with whatever package they've purchased. I used to have a Hostgator reseller account, and I believe they also provide you with some kind of brandable portal page that you can direct your clients to for them to input their CC info so that the billing is processed each month, then deposited into a bank account of your choice.

I'm sort of ambivalent on this one though...it's a little extra money coming in each month, plus you have more control over how their server is configured (for some larger websites, this might be important). On the other hand, you aren't ever "done" with the client, which might lead to some opportunities for "scope creep" if you're not strict on the rules.

P.S. -- I say "I believe..." because I actually did the billing through my own system, rather than theirs. But I heard it's supposed to be quite easy to set up and use, both for you and your clients. I'm sure that there are some other hosts that offer this service as well.

[gray]

As a web designer and developer, I use to simply set up my clients with hosting through http://HandsOnWebHosting.com (which I have an affiliate program set up through) so that everything was in their name and they would get billed each year, so that I didn't have to have any more involvement. But, I'm looking for ways to increase my income, and I like Hayley's comments about how being more involved in the hosting might get me more repeat business.

Here's my question: should I really set up an official "reseller" account through someone like http://hostgator.com, or do you think that I can make do simply getting myself an "unlimited" web hosting account through http://dreamhost.com or http://bluehost.com and simply configure all of my new web projects as "add-on domains?" Is this simply to amateur, or shady? I don't imagine that my clients will need or want to do much backend admin work that would require their own cpanel.

Does anybody have specific recommendations for resellers?

[jock]

If i were you gray, I'd start with a reseller account with unbranded nameservers. Then grow to a VPS or Dedicated if required.

[gray]

Thanks Jock, any suggestions of resellers that offer unbranded nameservers?

[jock]

I don't know any off the top of my head that I could recommend I'd check out http://www.webhostingtalk.com/ and have a hunt around, they should be able to recommend you a decent host. Just make sure you go with a reputable company with low latency and good network speed.

[downliner]

Mosso (now The Rackspace Cloud) are good for reselling. Its $100 a month, worth it if you already have a few clients to foot the bill. They also offer unbranded live chat meaning your clients can get tech support through your website, without knowing their actually chatting to Rackspace