Shared vs. Reseller Website Hosting

Lets see what you have to consider before you plan to set up a website. You will either go for buying a web server along with its support equipments and a qualified technician to run it properly or you will pay a monthly fee to a company that runs websites to hold your website on their equipment. A big company who wants to go online can afford to spend this kind of amount but for others, it is better to go for the second option. You don’t need to spend buckets full of money on setting up the required web server infrastructure. So all you need to do is rent a server space from one of the web server companies. If you think it is as simple as it sounds, read ahead.

Not really. Once you start shopping around for web hosting services, they have several different options to choose from. One of the first big decisions to make is if you want shared or reseller web hosting. But what exactly is the difference?

The main difference between the two is their scale. A shared web hosting requires you to pay for server space for only website with one domain name. If you want to set up more than one website, you will have to pay additional fee for each website. A reseller web hosting requires you to pay for a server space that can be used for more than one website. You can divide the space to host all your websites and if some space is left, you can even sell it to someone else and become a web-hosting subcontractor. Both options have plus and minus points. Lets discuss them to help you decide which one you should choose.

If you want to use this facility for personal or small business, then you should opt for shared web hosting. It also turns out to be cheaper, efficient and simple for a small-scale requirement. You will get one domain name for one website and you can set up sub-domains for the different parts of this website in most cases. The main advantage of shared web hosting is that you get the support along with the web space that you are paying for. Your web hosting provider makes sure that your website is easily accessible and faces no problems. If you need any technical support at any time, they will be there to take care of that. So, one of your major problems is tackled without you putting any effort. Another advantage is that it is around five to twenty times less costly than the reseller web hosting with the rent of $5 or sometimes even free.

The free web hosting is not the right option if you are running your business on your website. Since they don’t charge you anything so you cant expect to get their support when some problem occurs. If their site goes down, your business goes down as well because you cant be sure when their site will become all right. You can’t rely on them but if you go for a paid shared web host then this problem is solved. The amount you have to pay them is decided by the size of your website and the expected traffic to that site. They will make sure that you get their support 24/7 throughout the year if you face any technical problem. You can use the services of a web hosting company Hotgator and use one of the three packages (varying from $4.95 to $12.95) offered by them. Don’t forget that you will have to buy another shared web hosting plan and therefore spending double amount if you decide you set up another website.

Reseller web hosting has advantages like flexibility and economies of scales. It is better for you if you have a fast growing business or if you are running multiple businesses. With shared web hosting you will have to keep adding the cost with each addition of a website. But with reseller web hosting you have to pay once for all the space rented to you. You can divide this space to set up lots of websites and can even rent the left over space to other individuals or small businesses. It is also possible to relocate the resources of your website when it starts growing. With right approach, you will find that reseller web hosting will actually be cheaper than using shared web hosting on a large scale.

There are, however, two main drawbacks to reseller web hosting. The first is expense. While Hostgator offers shared web hosting for prices between $5 and $13 a month, their reseller packages vary between $25 and $100 a month, depending on size and traffic. Sure, some of this expense could be offset by reselling your unused web space to others, but that is never a sure thing. What if you have trouble finding customers? There is a good chance that in any given month, you will have some hosting space you are not using, but still paying for.

Let’s discuss the second problem with reseller web hosting. As a subcontractor, you will be asked to provide support to your customers too. If the people whom you have sold your unused space face some technical problem, what will you do? You can solve their administrative problems to a certain extent but you will be helpless in other problems. Only your web-hosting provider can help you with solving technical problems like Internet outage etc. If this is the case your customers will not rely on you and when they are not satisfied by your services, they might shift to other service providers. This can make things difficult for you as you may lose your reputation and also your clients. This will increase your monthly expenditure and upset your budget too.