RSS Subscribe Selecting A Domain Registrar
You need more than an idea and hosting plan to set up a website. You also need a domain name. A domain name is your uniqueaddress on the Internet. Cheapwebhostingreport.com, google.com,microsoft.com, and yahoo.com are examples of domain names.
Why "Free" is sometimes bad
Many web hosting companies will offer to give you a domain namewhen you sign up with them. This can be a great deal, providedthey register the domain in your name. Unfortunately,some hosting companies register the domain in their name.That means that they own your address and they don't have to letyou move your domain name to another web hosting company. Thiscan be very bad. It would be like someone else owning the nameof your company. So before you take advantage of free domainregistration with the hosting company you choose, be sure thatthey register the domain in your name. If they do not say theydo, it's probably safest to assume that they do not.
Fortunately, reg
What to Look For
There are two important things to look for in a domainregistrar: reliability and location. No one knows exactly whatwill happen if a domain registrar goes bankrupt. There aresupposed to be safeguards in place to protect domain registrantsfrom losing their domains, but you don't want to be one of thepeople testing these procedures, so a solvent, reliable domainregistrar is a must. Location is important because domainregistrars are subject to the laws of the country where they arelocated and some have been known to refuse to grant (or worseyet, grant and then take back) domain names that areunacceptable under the laws of their home country. A registrarin the US may be your best bet if you have possible "freedom ofspeech" issues with the domain name (or the site contents insome cases) you'd like to use.
What to Avoid
Most registrars now offer all sorts of additional features --like web hosting. Most of the web hosting plans we've seen atdomain registrars are feature poor and over priced. If you aretempted by one, think twice and check out other hosts beforebuying web hosting from your domain registrar. Many will try tomake it sound like it is a lot of extra work to host elsewhere.It isn't. All you have to do is point your domain account at theregistrar to the nameservers your web hosting company gives you.This involves typing two urls. It is not hard at all.
My clients and I have had good luck with the following threedomain registrars.
First Choice: GoDaddyhttp://www.cheapwebhostingreport.com/zgodaddy.php
Our current first choice of an affordable, reliable, US-baseddomain registrar is one of the most popular domain registars, GoDaddy. They can register .com, .net, .org,..biz, .info, ,ws, .us and .name domains for $9.95 a year or less(and there are additional discounts when you register formultiple years). If you already have a domain name and are stillpaying $35 dollars a year for it, you can reduce your domaincosts by transfering you domain to GoDaddy and paying just $7.95(for most types of domains) to renew your domain for anadditional year.
Second Choice: Dotster.comhttp://www.cheapwebhostingreport.com/zdotster.ph
Dotster.com is our second choice of anaffordable, reliable, US-based domain registrar. They canregister .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us and .name domainsfor $14.95 a year (discounted when you register for multipleyears). If you already have a domain name and are still paying$35 dollars a year for it, you can save money by transferingyour domain to Dotster and paying just $8.95 to renew yourdomain for an additional year.
Third Choice: Yahoohttp://www.cheapwebhostingreport.com/zyahoodomains.php
Many of my small business clients like Yahoo Small Business. They only register..com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us
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3.22 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
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