The market is good for new Web hosting companies. According to Forrester Research, there is now positive if modest growth for Web hosting and managed IT services, at both the enterprise and SMB levels.
The hosting industry is one of the few profitable sectors of the Internet. As such, large corporations such Yahoo are offering Web hosting services. You, too, can join this highly profitable business and reap the financial awards — but only if you do it right.
To build a successful Web hosting company, I offer the following two time-tested and proven rules: Focus on offering high-quality services in a tiered pricing schedule.
In addition, it is essential an automated infrastructure to create self-sufficient customers. For marketing, it is crucial to maximize intelligent marketing opportunities.
Automation will create a self-sufficient client-base and reduce your expenses down the road. In order to provide the best-possible service, you’ll want a minimum of the following processes automated: order forms (for new customer account set up or existing customer updates), billing system, administration system, end-user control panel, and technical support interface.
Order Forms
The front end of your order form should serve an minimum of these four key functions: 1) verify domain information for registration purposes, 2) validate entered results, 3) process the customer’s credit card or create an invoice, 4) enter the customer’s information into billing database for future use.
The backend of the order form must process the domain registration (if customer needs to register one) and generate the Web hosting account.
Administration System
The administration system is necessary to manage ordered accounts. You may wish to manually add or remove new domains, change passwords, etc. (more…)
