Building / Transfering wp sites to others - help needed

People will have different approaches depending on how they conduct their businesses. Generally it comes down to whether you provide the hosting/domain or you help them to source their own.

You Provide -

You can signup to become a hosting reseller. Use a company like Hostgator and you'll get a lot of space for supposedly unlimited domains for around $30/mth, or whatever their rates are. Then you include hosting as part of the design package at whatever rate you want, perhaps $9.95/mth for a basic site. You register their domain on their behalf. When you create the domain, you become the 'technical contact' and you set them up as the owner. You use your email address so you get the renewal reminders. You renew for them and bill them for the renewal. A lot of designers will offer to throw-in a years free hosting to sweeten the deal. Since it isn't costing you much it's a good incentive.
Using Hostagator, every account comes with a Cpanel for controlling email, backups etc. You can give them password access to Cpanel if they ask for it, usually they don't and they don't care. You setup all their email, forwarding etc as part of the design deal.

They Host
Some folks may not want to host with you. They get paranoid and think that their website is hosted from your spare bedroom or something. So you help them go it alone. Here's how -
Become an affiliate with a host company like Hostgator. Now instruct your client that s/he needs to create hosting on a Wordpress compatible platform, and that Hostgator is the company of choice. Send them a link to Hostgator using your affiliate link so you'll get a commission on the deal.
When they get to Hostgator they can also register a domain. Tell them which host package to select so they don't screw up. For most people the Hostgator 'Hatchling' plan is good enough for 8 bucks per month.
Then tell them that when they receive their account setup confirmation, they should forward you the activation email. This has everything you need for CPanel and FTP access so you're ready to get started on the design. Obviously you can install Wordpress in 2 clicks through Cpanel.
If they already have a domain, have them setup the Hosting as above then forward you the activation email. Then you instruct them on how the login at their domain registrant and change the DNS record. The DNS info is in the Hostgator hosting activation email.

That should do it.

I normally instruct them how to buy a domain and host with my recommendations (and affiliate link for Hostgator).

They give me the login details and I build their website.

The best way would be to do as described above - get a reseller hosting account. That way you can create cPanel accounts to keep everything organized, and it's way easier to move an account to another host this way.

Make the client buy the domain name, find them a coupon for Godaddy that makes it a little cheaper (heck, join CJ and you can get coupons that will link to your affiliate id with them). That way they are 100% responsible for the domain ownership (honestly, if they want to run a website, they should be able to take the 5 minutes to learn how to manage the domain).

No. Once the client has the domain, walk them through the process of pointing it at the nameservers for your reseller account. Then create an account on your reseller plan and it's all good.


It's up to you on whether you want to provide ongoing support. Most companies will charge a monthly maintenance fee to cover things like that, some provide free support for 3-6 months after, and others simply say they don't provide support once the work is completed (which leaves the client hanging, not a really good idea).

This is why I said make domain ownership 100% their responsibility. If they fail to renew it, they cannot blame you for anything.

Good luck!

There are good reasons for the client being educated about their domain and having full control over their hosting account and domain. I've seen instances where designers literally held the clients hostage when their services were no longer desired by the client. Then of course, something drastic could happen to the designer where they are no longer able to adminster the website and domain.

Yep, reseller account is a good way to go. If they won't bite, then you can copy the website files, put into zip and send them them files.

Thanks for your replies. Exactly what I wanted to know. More in fact - I'd planned on being an affiliate but didn't know about reselling.

One quick question about that: although I can make a decent wordpress site I'm not an expert. Is it easy enough to set up a reseller account, add new clients/sites, and maintain it all?

Thanks again everyone!

Hi, I'm trying to learn how to transfer wordpress sites after I sell them. I rather not have to hire someone to do it. Is it possible to have the new owner create a database with the same credentials and then I just FTP the files in? Would that be the easiest solution? I'm intimated going into myphpadmin as I fear I'll screw something up! I'm very comfortable using FTP though. Any suggestions? Thanks!