Hi

 

I've been freelancing for a while now and work is really starting to pick up. Previously, I've just got the client to setup their own hosting space themselves (usually with some help) but I've been recently consdering whether to host the websites myself by buying a hosting package with more features, space and databases etc. Are there any real benefits other than having more control over the website and it becoming more appealing to clients if they dont have to worry about hosting themselves? Its quite a large initial cost to setup an account with unlimited MySql databases so I just wnat to know if I'll be doing the right thing. What about having to ask the client for further payments later down the line when their hosting period expires. Doesn't this just cause different problems? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Stefan

100% yes. Take any steady stream of income you can get, no matter how small! Say you have 10 clients at £10 a month, thats £100 a month for very little work. The next year you get another 10 clients, thats now £200 a month. The only downside I've ever experienced with hosting my own clients, is if the web server goes down for whatever reason you're in the firing line and sometimes you get ridiculous support requests.

Thanks for your reply Jock. Are you talking about reseller hosting? Can you recommend any companies?

Personally I have a dedicated server but I need it for certain things. It would probably be overkill if you are just starting to host sites so you could easily operate from a reseller account to begin with.

 

I've had this setup for years now so I don't really know any companies that I'd recommend. I bought cPanel/WHM for my server and the reseller feature on that is excellent, (if one of my clients has multiple sites I make them a reseller) so I would recommend finding a cpanel/WHM supplier.

I recommend HostGator - they have been great to us. And yep, take the income streams where you can.

 

Stefan - hosting your own clients is more than possible but it's you that will be responsible for them, including support, troubleshooting and billing. If you're prepared for that then go ahead, but consider things that will need attending to such as holiday coverage!

Agreed with Jock (and others) -- monthly income where you don't have much time commitment is generally a good idea. Remember to offer clients the option to pay yearly (or longer) with a % discount, which saves them money and saves you having to chase up small payments every month.

 

 

 

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St Albans Web Design

Web Design, SEO, Development, Email Marketing

Thanks for all your comments. Support is something I had not really considered as I cant imagine there being a day to day requirement as long as the website has no down time. I wouldnt have thought my clients would need to know anything more from the host than if their site is live or not. Have I missed something or am I being a little naive perhaps? Maybe I'm oerlooking this slightly.

 

I appreciate the billing is an issue and I hear it is possible for some hosting companies to send out invoinces on my behalf, this would be great. HostGator is US based, I'd rather UK based I think. Can anyone recommend a hosting company?

Support is one of those unknown quantities since different clients require varying amounts. If these are all sites that you control and you have a good quality host then you may not need to spend much time dealing with support requests. However, the more clients you get the more requests you'll get so bear that in mind!

 

Saying that, you need to remember that support requests can come in at any time day or night with no warning, so you always need to be on hand at least during office hours. Sometimes in extreme cases you can spend hours doing nothing but support and that will eat into time you might have earmarked for other projects.

 

If you're UK based then UK hosting is a logical choice, there are several hosts who hand around these forums so have a read through and make a list.

I'd say it's definitely a good idea to host your clients websites, it's easy money and also saves you time and hassle logging into and finding your way around different webhosts control panels.

 

It's regular income that keeps rising as long as you keep hold of your clients. Most of the sites I do are small sites so I can host a huge amount of them on my reseller account.

 

I use NetHosted and would definitely recommend them. I used to use a cheap US host with unlimited space & bandwidth but I soon outgrown them and had to move to a more reliable UK based host which was a major hassle so do your homework & don't just go for the cheapest deal.