Web developers and web designers work on web servers almost every day. Because of this, it is easier if the server environment is predictable. For that reason it’s often best for web designers and developers to offer web hosting solutions as part of the development package. This means that the web designer or web developer is purchasing the hosting and reselling it to the client.
The advantage to doing this for web professionals is that there will be no surprises. The server environment they will be working on will always be the same. This saves on development time. Web developers and web designers will also profit from reselling hosting in this way, since it’s a value added service that gives the web professional a residual income, and helps to ensure customer loyalty.
Web hosting companies that cater to web developers and web designers will offer various hosting solutions that will fit the needs of these web professionals. These different types of hosting can be offered on either Windows or Linux based hosting, depending on the needs, skills, and programming languages used by the developer or designer.
The most basic hosting level that can be used by web professionals is a web host reseller account. A reseller account allows different domain accounts with their own domain hosting managers, such as cpanel, with the reseller account managed under a web hosting management admin area, such as WHM. A reseller account is a shared hosting solution with a difference. The reseller purchaser can use the account to run multiple domains, each with their own stats, their own email accounts, their own database management areas, and other administrative functions. The reseller can then resell domain hosting to their clients. This is a great solution for web designers and developers just getting started and/or who work primarily with small businesses.
The next step up would be a virtual private server, which is a partitioned section of a server and acts as its own server. This allows the web professional to run their operating system of choice, and to independently boot their own server. Most VPS hosting is managed hosting, with the hosting company performing system administration and monitoring, but there also exists unmanaged VPS hosting which will allow the customer to monitor and administer their own server. VPS hosting offers greater security, greater bandwidth and the ability to configure the server to customer needs. But because the server is shared with other VPS accounts, the cost is less than a dedicated server.
For web design and development companies who are working at an enterprise level, a dedicated server is the answer. These allow the web development company to offer large companies a managed hosting solution along with the design and development. Dedicated server hosting can be purchased as managed hosting or unmanaged hosting.
It is smart for web hosting companies to offer cheap web hosting plans tailored to web designers and developers. These are the web hosting company’s best and most educated customers.
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