cPanel Reseller Web Site Hosting

The cPanel reseller hosting model functions by dividing cPanel-based web server(s) into predefined reseller accounts, which are later peddled as individual reseller packages. Each single cPanel-based reseller webspace hosting account is managed by the WebHost Manager (WHM) admin user interface. WHM is the location where the reseller sets up the shared web hosting packages promoted under his own trademark. Here are the typical steps an ordinary cPanel website hosting reseller has to pass through:

1. Pick a billing/invoicing software platform

So as to collect money from their customers, the resellers need to acquire an invoicing platform linked with the cPanel/WHM platform. The best known invoicing software platforms for cPanel and WHM are ModernBill, WHMCS, ClientExec and AWBS.

2. Establish a merchant account

A merchant account for credit/debit card payments is needed. Preferably issued by a bank (Bank of America, HSBC, Barclays, etc.) or some sort of an invoicing processor (PayPal, WorldPay, 2CheckOut, etc.). Without the merchant account, the reseller could not gather any credit/debit card payments from his web site hosting clients. This merchant account has to be set up inside the selected invoicing system by the earnest reseller.

3. Create a domain name reseller account

If you will be offering domain name registration and transfer solutions to your customers, you have to open a domain reseller account with some domain name registrar and to connect it inside the invoicing software.

4. Create the shared website hosting packages

The cPanel reseller web page hosting business model allows the reseller to sell shared hosting accounts only. Utilizing the WebHost Manager device, the wholesale webspace hosting supplies must be segmented into smaller accounts.

5. Set the prices for the shared web hosting plans

Now is the time for the reseller to choose the price tags for the offered shared website hosting plans. While performing this, it's advisable to pay good attention to the circumstance that inside the invoicing platform (which is separate from cPanel and WHM, in other words a third login place for the reseller so far and 2nd for the clients) the customers will be able to take a glimpse at their invoices (due or paid) and the previous transactions made, i.e. this is the Billing Manager for the eager cPanel hosting clients too. cPanel has approximately 150 sections inside (the client needs to pick up promptly), but does not have any Billing or Invoice Manager. Can you believe that?

6. Choose the prices for the domain names

The client interface offered by cPanel also does not support very important domain name manipulations, such as registrations, transfers, renewals, parking, DNS registrations, Domain Name System record alterations, etc. So, this invoicing platform is also offering a location for the keen cPanel webspace hosting clients where they can carry out some (albeit, not all) of the aforementioned vital domain administration and handling procedures. So, now is the time for the reseller to choose which Top-Level Domains (TLDs) will be marketed and to select their corresponding registration, transfer and renewal prices.

7. Include a customer support system

Another thing that is absent in the user interface offered by cPanel is a trouble ticket section (a trouble ticket platform). On the basis of the invoicing platform the reseller has chosen already, a client support system is either available or not. If it is not present, the reseller has to find a ticket platform and to install it somewhere. Somehow the shared hosting customers should be aware of its availability.

8. Link the order wizard with the web site

At last, now is the time for the reseller hosting site itself. There the shared web site hosting plans and domain names can be obtained by the potential customers. The whole site must operate in perfect correspondence with the invoicing system. This suggests, within the web site, the order wizards and the order pages have to be connected properly.

Let's sum up the login locations present with the cPanel-based web hosting reseller plans. There are minimum 2 and maximum 4 places to log in to, which can be very baffling for the resellers and particularly for the clients.

For the reseller the login places are:

(1) cPanel (for the reseller website); (2) WebHost Manager; (3) the payment gateway; (4) the client support platform (this is in the event that the billing software system does not already incorporate it - some do, others don't).

Login places for the avid cPanel web site hosting clients:

(1) cPanel; (2) the invoicing software platform; (3) eventually the client support system.