Web hosting has become a much bigger business than it once was. With more and more companies and individuals alike getting on the web and building websites, there is an unprecedented demand for web hosting services; this trend shows no sign of slowing.
In 2005 alone, more than 38 million people created their first websites. By the end of 2008, this will be one of the largest businesses in the world; and a lot of these new sites will be part of the affiliate marketing industry.
This explosion in the availability of web hosting services means that it is far easier than it used to be to find a web host which meets your needs. For most people looking into web hosting services, customer support is the most important concern. It is a given that with more and more business happening online that traditional means of advertising will become less effective. A lot of people decide on a web hosting service provider based on the information available to them, especially the recommendations of those who have used the services of a given company themselves.
For web hosting affiliates, there is a great opportunity to take advantage of here. There are a lot of different web hosting affiliate programs out there; finding one which appeals to you should be an easy task.
So how can you become a successful affiliate in the web hosting niche market? Anyone who has or is planning to build a website needs webhosting; making web hosting an easy product for you to sell. Right now, there is no one dominant force in the industry, so most choose web hosts on the strength of recommendations. They will usually get these recommendations from people they know who have tried out a given web hosting service.
With so many web hosting companies offering affiliate programs, there is certain to be one which meets your criteria for an affiliate program.
If you have a web hosting service you are happy with, ask if they have an affiliate program. Rather than paying them for web hosting, try to get them to pay you to promote their service. You may be able to do this as easily as just placing a “powered by” or “hosted by” link on your site. After all, if you can avoid paying for web hosting, why wouldn’t you? You can even make some money by telling your visitors that you think your hosting company is great.
When looking for a web host, look for the same thing everyone else does – excellent customer support. There’s a lot of web hosting affiliate programs out there; you can even find residual affiliate programs, where you are paid each month for the clients which you refer to the hosting company. This can give you a steady revenue stream and with some work, this can be a substantial income.
Web hosting is just one example of a niche market which affiliates can do well in if they have the confidence in their own abilities and the drive to succeed. Keep in mind that you will need to invest some hard work and be patient in order to be successful; but stick with it and the results can be very rewarding.
There is really no such thing as the perfect affiliate market; but there may be the perfect affiliate market for you if you are willing to seek it out and out in the necessary work to succeed.
47 Comments
Bruno Auger
October 24, 2008Haha Reed
I am glad you wrote this post on web hosting. I use to provide customer suport from a small web hosting company. I tell you the things people ask in relation to web hosting.
I know customer support is key in any online business and should never be put off thats for sure.
I, myself now try to provide a good outlet for people to contact me as I sell hosting myself now.
There are many great markets for peopleto dive into and make great profits from. Just choose the best one that fitsypur personality as I did.
Bruno Augers last blog post..Internet Marketing with Affiliate Landmines
Peter
October 24, 2008Hallo Reed,
it is sure to have a well ülaced hosting and I can only recommend one hoster which is well placed in this market and feedung you with everything you need, KioskWebhosting.com you have this oster especially for the MARKETING eg. as affiliate, as websales, as blog hosting etc.
As far as I know you are using this one as well.
sincerely Peter
Sheila
October 24, 2008This is a great idea. I can see where it would be profitable with some really reliable hosting sources.
thanks for the tip!
Mohamed Akram
October 24, 2008Hello Reed
I am so glad to talked about this topic as I am really thinking right now in promoting Web Hosting, so I needed motivation and here you are motivating me to start 😀
Thanks so Much for these valuable Posts
Mohamed Akram
Egypt
Peter
October 24, 2008Hi Reed,
pls excuse typing errors which do not influence the aim of the writer.
Thanks to you end excuses to the readers.
Peter
earl
October 24, 2008Hi Reed,
I’m brand new to your site and internet marketing. This is a good idea.
i don’t even have a blog yet. but i would advertise from what I see hostgator or bluehost i think.
any ideas on how to get started would be welcomed.
Lori
October 24, 2008Great example for an affiliate product to become a super affiliate for. Recommending hosting solutions to others is probably one of the easier products I have made money from considering everyone needs it and because I was able to shared my own personal experience about the hosting company I was recommnending.
Blessings,
Lori
Saikat
October 24, 2008I strongly believe that it is more to do with a successful website which can pre sell visitors than just making a nice looking dead website from any good hosts.
Everything is not realy in webhosting. There are a lot more to it to actually make your wbesite successful.
Roy Tebbenham
October 24, 2008Very good advice and should provide a nice recurring income.
I like the Hostgator affiliate program …maybe some readers would like to check it out.
Roy
Bruno Auger
October 24, 2008Earl
I know Reed or even myself could provide you with a few ideas and even where to start with geting a blog
Bruno Augers last blog post..Internet Marketing with Affiliate Landmines
subroto
October 24, 2008Hi Reed,
It is a very good blog. The time is really ripe for this type of article to be published. Thanks!
The Infotainer
October 24, 2008Reed
This is a great example of selecting a potentially great product to focus on.
=> The market is massive
=> The services too are a massive confusion
=> So … people need guidance
=> Easy to build blogs and lenses etc to provide valuable information and thus build authority
=> This will get you high SERPs and thus massive traffic
=> Successful customers need more hosting all the time so they will be back for more.
The trick is … to find examples in your niche. And webhosting covers any niche where the market needs to get online.
Hope this further inspires some to give this a go.
John Gordon
The Infotainer
Max
October 24, 2008This is a good idea. I hadn’t thought about
that but I think I will add a website affiliate link to my blog!Thanks for the tip.
Maxs last blog post..How To Find Legitimate Resell Rights Products
James and Helen
October 24, 2008Reed we wish you would say who is the best host company and where to get our domain. There are so many out there and yet they are do different. Thank you as we are learning so much from you. James and Helen
http://www.sucopycat.com/r/GodISAlive/home.html
PV Reymond
October 24, 2008Hi Reed,
As you said, web hosting is a good opportunity to make money as an affiliate.
A good way to promote this kind of affiliate programs is giving away information about how to use the service.
You can create screenshots or video tutorials explaining how to set it up and how to get the best out of it.
On the other hand, there are some web hosting companies that pay a residual income.
It means that every month they pay you a commission as long as the person referred by you is an active member.
Thanks,
^PV Reymond
http://www.pvreymond.com
Matthew Detrick
October 24, 2008Hey Reed,
What’s good in your life today?
Hey, thank you for posting this
today. What you said at the end
about choosing the affiliate
program that is right for you is
spot on.
Tons of affiliate programs exists
and they wouldn’t exist if they
didn’t make money.
Took me a long time to settle
on a major market to focus on,
though now that I did, results
abound. 🙂
Thank you for the motivation.
Be well my friend.
Sincerely,
Matthew Detrick
Barb Hicks
October 24, 2008I remember waking up one morning and finding all my sites gone. So I opened my own hosting business about 5 or 6 years ago (can’t remember as one day floats into the next.) I take care of all techy stuff and am considered the “Cron Queen”. My clients are happy and know they can call on me anytime as I am never too busy to help, but I hardly ever get calls for help because most all of my clients are webmasters themselves. Hosting is one of two businesses I run. The other is my online store/catalog that I have redesigned and is now ready for holiday shopping to commence. 🙂
Rivers Corbett
October 24, 2008Reed..great article on web hosting and the part I like best about it is that it says…if you are going to use a hosting company…why not take advantage of the promoting the service you are using and at the very least getting it for free!
Here’s to your success!
Rivers
TRIPTI SONI
October 24, 2008Hi
Good information about a new income source I read about some hosting companies pay you for refferals Now i will inquire about my hosting company Thanks for great idea
http://quickincomewithsuccess.com
Tripti soni
Jay
October 24, 2008One word about referring any service, hosting or otherwise. Your credibility and reputation is on the line. By all means, check out the company you are referring. Don’t just stick up a banner on your site for just anybody. Make an effort to know what your affiliate choice has to offer and decide if you would have appreciated such a referral.
I like my hosting companies and have first hand experience so I am comfortable becoming an affiliate. Always good practice to know what you are passing along.
Jay
PS here is my personal favorite but I also have a couple more:
http://www.pappashop.com/whmcs/aff.php?aff=053
Jays last blog post..Time to Get Serious about Your Internet Business
Horace Moning
October 24, 2008I don”t if i want loose money in business.
normz2
October 25, 2008I can see a big opportunity in web hosting, the way the internet is expanding. A good web host can take on quite a few different income streams, by offering different services. Good service is a must. If I had several websites, I would certainly want to become an affiliate.
Serena Carcasole
October 25, 2008Awesome post as usual Reed!
I have been a affilaite and customer with http://www.Bluehost.com and they are super! They have fantastic 24/7 customer support and they are only $6.95 per month for hosting. I would say they are probably one of the top 3 hosting companies if not #1!
They also have a great affilaite program. $65 per referral. All my website design clients end up using them for hosting. If you do require hosting please visit my website under my resources page and sign up under my affilaite link 🙂 I also have another 2 hosting companies I am affilaite with but they are nothing like Bluehost!!
🙂
Serena Carcasole
Almost Certified Internet Marketing VA :)www.vbsondemand.com
Your 1STOP Business Service Shop
Outsource your way to success!
Serena Carcasoles last blog post..Blogsite – 4 Great Reasons to Have One
Misato Katsuragi
October 25, 2008Hello Reed,
I have often thought about reccommending a webhost as an affiliate. If I were to choose one, I would have to reccommend Startlogic.
A recent search I did listed a website with a bunch of webhosts compared to each other, and on that website they ranked Startlogic as the #1 webhost.
I definately have been happy with them, that’s for sure. The best thing I like about this particular webhost is the customer service. I never get a voicemail, or recording, or even get put on hold.
I also don’t get no tech support people from India who can only speak broken english and are often hard to understand.
Does this problem seem familiar to most of you? I bet it does. About half of the large corporations who have any tech support seem to have this problem, and they wonder why people gripe about their customer service. ;D
Startlogic has always been able to help me when I have had to call them. You actually get to talk to real, halfway intelligent people who try to solve your particular problem and not like others who’s only jobs are to read you the same script that they read to everyone who calls.
The thing here though is, I have done keyword research on this niche before, and the numbers didn’t look promsing.
For the most part, there were a lot of search on keywords and key phrases related to this niche, but they also had way to much competition, as far as the number of other sites that provide info and content on the same topic, so how do you figure that promoting webhosts as an affiliate is profitable?
My own keyword research kind of contradicts what you are saying.
delords
October 25, 2008Excellent Article reed thanks
I have been an affiliate of hostgator web hosting and its been going good,
Lon Naylor
October 25, 2008Reed,
Great tip! Web hosting is one of those little affiliate pieces that many folks overlook but that everyone needs…and we can provide a resource link for them.
Lon Naylor
Geoff Dodd
October 25, 2008Reed, A really high quality web host with a cracker Affiliate Program is SiteSell.com driven by Dr Ken Evoy. It is great because it pays lifetime residuals and the hosting is supported by real SEO and tweaking tests and services that ensure a site owner’s working success. I’m not including any link here but I do recommend this as I’ve experienced it with 2 sites since 2003.
Geoff Dodd
Australia
Richard
October 25, 2008Another market which we often overlook for it’s income potential; on my own site I review what I consider are the top 3 hosting services – I believe this is better than promoting one: visitors can view the features and benefits and select a best match.
Keep up the excellent standard!
admin
October 25, 2008@Bruno choosing niches that fit your personality and interests is a great point thanks.
@Peter a lot of people use Kiosk especially internet marketers
@Sheila, Mohamed you’re welcome
@Earl continue reading this blog and you’ll find lots of tips
@Lori congrats on your success
@Saikat yes there’s a lot more to marketing then having a good host this is just an example of something you could promote and make money doing.
@Roy hostgator’s affiliate program is nice
@Bruno feel free to write up some ideas about that maybe it could become a guest article shoot me an email reedfloren AT gmail.com for more details
@Subroto you’re welcome
@John great tips to inspire thanks
@Max you’re welcome
@James & Helen hostgator.com and namecheap.com are the places I use
@PV wonderful tips
@Matthew you’re welcome 🙂
@Barb congrats on your success
@Rivers thanks
@Tripti I highly recommend doing that.
@Jay agreed your credibility is hard to build but easy to destroy be careful what you promote
@Horace what are you saying?
@normz2 I think we will see a lot of all in one marketing style/web hosting/autoresponder type companies cropping up
@Serena and @Misato very nice, thanks for the heads up
@delords thanks
@Lon thanks
@Geoff great tip Dr. Evoy has been around a long time, I remember reading some of his stuff when I started.
@Richard thanks, yes I can see a review site for this doing very well.
Timothy Millar
October 26, 2008Right on Reed, Web hosting is a hot market and
if you can combine it with domain name resales
(expired domains) you could probably really
do well. I am currently working on a system of this sort and will let you know how it works out.
With all of these comments I might want to hurry!
Timothy Millar
Timothy Millars last blog post..Getting your Traffic from Ad Exchanges?
admin
October 26, 2008@Timothy thank you
Jussi Koiranen
October 29, 2008Being seen as a guru or professional means more traffic, easier conversions and thus more sales and residual sales! Getting customer feedback means more words to your site, more content to your site and something that just might trigger “that someone”.
admin
October 30, 2008@Jussi yes I would agree with that.
Codrut Turcanu I Blog for Profit
October 30, 2008You’ve said…
“there is no one dominant force in the industry”
I have to argue with you a bit… dreamhost is a recognized force, maybe others will come into mind, but that’s the one I’m using 🙂
admin
November 2, 2008@Codrut dreamhost is big but they also have several competitors that are the same size. What I meant was there’s no host that is synonymous with the word hosting.
proson
November 5, 2008yeah Reed.. being a web hosting affiliate
probably is better than being a reseller.
I once was a reseller, but I was “one man band” and customer support takes too much time, so I am going to bother…. anyway nice reading of your article
For a limited time, Download Two Ready Made Adsense Hot Niches Site For FREE! details at
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Bryan Hee
November 6, 2008Web hosting and domain affiliate programs are “butter and bread” businesses. They need to complement with each other.
To Your Success
Bryan Hee
Ishan
November 8, 2008Great stuff!!! These ways to make money online are good..
Thanks!
Tripti Soni
admin
November 9, 2008@proson thanks, agreed most people would be better off being an affiliate
@Bryan yes they do go together nicely.
@Ishan you’re welcome
Jay
November 21, 2008Reed, I hear ya, when deciding who was the best host to recommend, I didn’t have to go far. I love my guys and to refer them, even if for zero commission, is where I am.
It’s nice to have those you can count on.
Jay
Jays last blog post..My first site–and my second–and my third, how easy it is!
Athens GA Web Design
November 26, 2008I just set up a page of my blog comparing various hosting companies, and I’m hoping that this will supplement my income a little. I’m also a freelance designer & developer, so I also have a change to do a little off-line marketing when it comes to hosting as well. It all goes well, I may just spin this off and make it it’s own website, but I wanted to try it on my blog first, since I already have a lot of content and links there.
Asher
December 3, 2008Hi Reed,
Hosting is another great way to make money by being an affiliate. When people see that you are making money online and they want to have their own, it’s great when you can make your own suggestions.
Just send them to your affiliate link and viola! =D
Asher
Luca - Reach Success Online
December 15, 2008I’m using Netfirms at the moment because it’s the one I originally used for my Computer Service business. You’re right that there are so many choices out there now. Cpanel is what to look for in a host as it makes things a little easier. I plan on moving to Hostgator at some point and they do have an affiliate program
Ari Lestariono
January 25, 2009To be a super affiliates, honestly up to date, I don’t think it’s a short time project, it’s a long road, if anyone ever promised you to get results in short terms, be prepared for disappointment.Lot’s of hype out there, better learn to do it gradually.
Ari Lestarionos last blog post..Top 13 New Years Resolutions (continued)
theguru
February 3, 2009Right on the money. And there are so many niches,it is hard to go wrong…. plus the barriers to doing business have never been so low…. a $10 domain name and $5 for hosting first month, you are good to go….on the other hand, the level of knowledge is low, so failure high…at least its not asmall fortunewhen they go down. Go Nichers!
Altis Lo (Beaulife)
March 15, 2009In Chinese, we believe that business is two way. So, Reed Floren’s idea is a good way to make some decent earnings from the web hosting company, in addition to hosting our web with the company. We also believe the power of word-of-mouth, therefore, introducing a good web hosting service company to our scope of contacts (or so-called human network) is also a good testimonial to prospective customers.
happysus Sait
January 11, 2010You may feel very upset when it comes to choose the web hosting for your website because there are so many web hosting providers on this planet. If you are still new to website as well as web hosting, you may want the advice or lists of best web hosting so you can choose easily for your website.
net kl hosting, after-sales support certainly proved awesome, in terms of internet speed and the quality of your … I have been using netkl services for the past 2-3 years.
Only $17/y, +one free domain.
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