Hi,

 

I'm rather new to the web design world, currently I'm using Joomla in combination with some custom CSS to create web sites. I've not had any clients yet, I've just been doing it for 'fun' so far, plus I created a website for a small local company that was just static HTML and CSS, it was just a case of uploading the new files to their host.

 

I've got two business models I could work with. I could either design and build clients websites and arrange hosting, then pass over the reigns to the client, so they own the code and they are the admins for the host.

 

Alternatively I could charge a monthly/yearly fee to arrange the host, and I would stay the owner of the website. But my question is do I have to set up a new host for all of my clients? Or would say, Vidahost's Business+ Hosting do the job? Where I can register up to 100 domains, with 30GB storage, and 500GB bandwidth.

 

So my question is, would me personally getting the Business+ Hosting package and the charging clients to have their domains on my package be allowed by the host / law? Or would I need to be a reseller and just give them control?

 

My target will be small businesses / sole traders. So there shouldn't be anything too fancy on the host.

 

Thanks,

Hi Jameshartwm,

 

Interesting post you've put up...

 

Please note: I am also the Head of Product and Marketing for Vidahost (Part of Paragon Internet Group) as well

 

My recommendation is to have a blend of the two options you discuss above.

1. Offer your design services with or without hosting
2. Offer to hand over the code for the client to manage or charge a maintenance fee
   1. However, the seasoned designers of WDF would be best to tell you whether this is a viable option or not
3. With regards to the type of hosting package, if you may have the option of managing/not managing sites then I HIGHLY recommend going for our Reseller 25 package to start off with and when you grow, you will be able to seamlessly upgrade the package later on. It costs £14.99 pm (cheaper than Business+).
   1. Each customer or you will have access to just that particular account to manage site files/emails/additional domains etc.
   2. You may have different hosting charges that you want to charge your potential customers e.g. for your friend you might give a free package and to clients you might charge different prices dependent on their package requirements
   3. By having a reseller account, you can control the usage of the hosting space e.g. you might get one client who needs a lot of space or gets a lot of traffic and if need be you can tweak the amount allocated to them and charge (if you want to charge for the extra bandwidth use)

 

 

So my question is, would me personally getting the Business+ Hosting package and the charging clients to have their domains on my package be allowed by the host / law? Or would I need to be a reseller and just give them control?

 

Yes, it is allowed by the hosting provider and no you are not breaking the law, but without the reseller functionality people logging into the account have access to other client files (if you allow them access).

 

I hope this clarifies, if not please do not hesitate to ask further questions.

 

W.

Hi WahidAziz,

 

Thank you very much for such a detailed and extremely useful reply. You have certainly given me a lot to think about, I'll consider my options this week, and I may well come back to you with more questions.

 

Thanks again,

My pleasure.

I would recommend hosting your clients sites. All it takes is a client to forget to renew their account and it all starts getting messy. At least when it's your account, you can prevent this from happening. It also makes support easier, some hosting companies require that you provide proof that you're acting on behalf of a company for security reasons. Since you would be the one who purchased the hosting, it makes things easier.

 

We setup a standing order that takes any hosting costs out of their bank account monthly, that way there's no waiting for a check in the post.

 

Regarding who owns the website or code, that's something that goes inside your contract and can differ between clients. Generally, if they did want to move away for whatever reason, it's easy enough to provide them with what they need, and you just invoice for your time spent assisting them with the move.

Thanks Jack,

 

I'm currently in the process of writing my standard contract. There are certainly a lot of things to think about.

I would certainly go for the reseller option because it gives you the choice of managing your clients sites yourself, or handing it over to them. If they manage themselves, you still earn extra for providing the account.

A cpanel reseller can cost you as little as 15 dollars per month, roughly equivalent to £9.30.