cPanel Reseller Hosting

The cPanel reseller hosting operating model operates by dividing cPanel web hosting server(s) into predefined reseller plans, which are later sold as individual reseller accounts. Every single cPanel-based reseller hosting package is administered by the WebHost Manager (WHM) management device. WHM is the location where the reseller creates the shared web hosting accounts promoted on behalf of his own brand. Here are the typical stages an ordinary cPanel-based web hosting reseller has to undergo:

1. Choose a billing/invoicing software system

In order to accept payments from their customers, the resellers have to obtain an invoicing software platform connected with the cPanel/WHM software. The most popular invoicing software systems for cPanel and WHM are ModernBill, WHMCS, ClientExec and AWBS.

2. Set up a merchant account

A merchant account for credit/debit card transactions is required. Preferably issued by a bank (Bank of America, HSBC, Barclays, etc.) or some sort of a billing system (PayPal, WorldPay, 2CheckOut, etc.). Without the merchant account, the reseller cannot collect any credit/debit card payments from his site hosting clients. This merchant account has to be created inside the chosen payment system by the keen reseller.

3. Open a domain name reseller account

If you are about to offer domain name registration and transfer services to your clients, you have to create a domain reseller account with a certain domain registrar and to link it inside the billing gateway.

4. Create the shared web page hosting plans

The cPanel reseller web site hosting business model allows the reseller to sell shared hosting accounts exclusively. Utilizing the WHM tool, the wholesale web site hosting resources need to be sliced into smaller packages.

5. Select the price tags for the shared hosting packages

Now is the time for the reseller to set the price tags for the offered shared website hosting packages. While doing this, it's good to pay good attention to the circumstance that inside the invoice software platform (which is independent from cPanel and WebHost Manager, in other words a third login place for the reseller so far and 2nd for the customers) the customers will be able to take a peek at their invoices (due or paid) and the previous payments made, i.e. this is the Billing Manager for the exalted cPanel hosting customers too. cPanel has around 150 sections inside (the client needs to pick up swiftly), but does not have any Billing or Invoice Manager. Can you believe that?

6. Set the prices for the domains

The customer interface provided by cPanel also does not support very vital domain name operations, such as registrations, transfers, renewals, parking, DNS registrations, DNS record alterations, etc. So, this payment platform is also providing a location for the passionate cPanel web space hosting clients where they can perform some (yet, not all) of the aforementioned crucial domain administration and manipulation procedures. So, now is the time for the reseller to choose which Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are going to be marketed and to set their respective registration, transfer and renewal prices.

7. Append a customer support platform

Another thing that is lacking in the client interface offered by cPanel is a trouble ticket section (a customer support system). On the basis of the billing gateway the reseller has chosen already, a client support platform is either present or not. If it is not present, the reseller has to find a customer support system and to install it somewhere. Somehow the shared webspace hosting clients should be aware of its presence.

8. Link the order wizard with the website

Finally, now is the time for the reseller hosting web site itself. There the shared web site hosting plans and domain names can be purchased by the prospective customers. The entire web site must work in perfect harmony with the payment processor. This implies, within the site, the order wizards and the order pages need to be linked properly.

Let's sum up the login places available with the cPanel site hosting reseller accounts. There are at least 2 and maximum 4 places to log in to, which can be very baffling for the resellers and notably for the customers.

For the reseller the login places are:

(1) cPanel (for the reseller web site); (2) WebHost Manager; (3) the payment software platform; (4) the customer support system (this is in case the billing platform does not already contain it - some do, others don't).

Login locations for the excited cPanel web hosting customers:

(1) cPanel; (2) the invoicing software; (3) ultimately the client support trouble ticket platform.