What do you value in your domain registrar?
Thursday October 5, 2006
Okay, based on the comments in my last post, cost per year is really important when choosing a domain registrar. But what else do you care about? Is that the only deciding factor? And what if two registrars cost the same per year - how do you decide then?
Post your comments here explaining what you look for in a domain registrar. I'd really like to know. I know what I look for - but what about you?
Okay, this cracked me up - in starting my research on domain registrars I started with GoDaddy, because they are easily the most popular in my other straw poll. And when I go to GoDaddy to learn more about their Domain Names, I get the following:
That doesn't give me warm fuzzies about the registrar - yes, I got it today, so clearly it only just expired, but you get the expiry notices 30 days in advance - why didn't they update it? I hope it's just a glitch. That does happen - and it can be really annoying when it does.
Comments
We use Omnis.com…they’re as cheap as godaddy, allow you to pay via paypal, or directly with them and their interface is really easy to use…especially if you have a lot of domain names to manage and keep track of.
We left Network Solutions because they are very heavy in red tape to get things registered and moved. Their customer service (about a year ago when we gave up on them) was dismal…it took forever to get a response from anyone.
This may have changed.
I actually like GoDaddy.com as a registrar. The process of extracting client and personal domain registrations from other registrars can be traumatic, and I have found GoDaddy.com to be very helpful. The interface is maddeningly, deadly slow, but I still manage to get done what I need. I find their assault-style marketing — 4 pages from the ‘click to buy’ button detouring through products they want you to buy, before you actually get to the ‘who are you, and how are you paying for this’. The interface gives the impression that I have very good visibility into each domain’s registration, and very good control over the contents of each registration. I feel they are responsible in keeping their (and my) data secure from mischief and mistakes, without the keypunch-style ‘authentication’ I suffered under Network Solutions. And yes, I did improve my typing speed on keypunch machines while taking Fortran Level G and WatFor courses.
I host elsewhere, for convenience, satisfaction with extreme reliability and fast server performance, and I tolerate the excellent but bare-bones hosting customer service (DaThorn.com). When I tried to use a GoDaddy.com secure certificate it wouldn’t work on my server — it seems to be the less expensive ‘chained’ certificate. My customer and I ended up using a certificate from my hosting provider — installed flawlessly, no problems since.
To summarize, I choose to stay with GoDaddy.com for the confidence and control I have over registration information, with low costs a very close second reason. The interface is wa-a-ay too slow to be really convenient, but the slow speed is my only complaint there (it seems they pack each page with so many ads that slow the loading…). I use dialup exclusively to connect to the Internet. I feel this helps me keep a focus on keeping my client’s sites performing well for visitors.
Why on earth would you go to “img” to reach godaddy’s domain registration site!
I’ve used godaddy for a number of years now and have been consistently pleased by their service as well as their prices.
I believe I registered my first domain about twenty years ago. Because of my advice, the company I worked for at the time was able to secure one of the old Class B (pre-CIDR) licenses.
With that being said, however, I still don’t really understand what a Domain Registrar actually does (except avoid going out of business - the only real problem that I saw mentioned in this thread and the previous one).
A hosting service, I understand. My web pages are actually on their server. I can see where they provide an actual service. But I don’t know what a registrar actually does. I’d like someone to explain this to me.
Anyway … Jennifer asked for some of us to relate our experiences. Yeah … I’ve had a few.
Registration “hijacking” was a real problem. You would receive an email saying, “Your domain registration will expire soon. If you don’t re-register, you’ll lose it. Go to this site to re-register.”
(And … Network Solutions was one of the companies guilty of doing this at the time too!)
What they didn’t tell you was that you were actually changing your registrar by going to their web site. I was busy and just told my secretary to pay the bill without reading it and got stuck once. I wrote dozens of emails and even tried to contact somebody in charge at IANA to try to get my money back. No dice. Nobody would respond. I eventually just re-registered with somebody else and kissed off the registration fee with the hijacker.
Recently, a client (who paid their own domain registration) forgot to renew in time. The client said it cost about a hundred dollars to get the domain registration back again (for two domains).
Right now, I’m using Pacific SpecWare as a registrar. They’re cheap — much less than Network Solutions — and they have a nice interface.
I didn’t go to img.godaddy.com - their Web site called that URL (probably for an image) while on their secure server. I went to https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/registrar/search.asp?se=%2B&ci=414 and got that error.
Honestly, I think the error was something like the designer forgot to change the image URL from https to http - and they don’t have a secure certificate for that domain because they don’t need one.
I’m not getting the error when I go to their site now, so they got it fixed. Which is good - I can tell you from personal experience that that certificate error causes a lot of phone calls from VPs to the Web department - and they’re not “how’s your day going” type calls.
I just couldn’t resist pointing out the error message when I got it, as it did make me laugh. (And yes, I know I have a strange sense of humor.)
Okay, I just tried something, and GoDaddy is better - because they suggest viable alternatives when your first choice is taken. I knew the domain I wanted was used, but I searched for it anyway, and found another one that works even better. Thanks GoDaddy!
Now I just have to register it and take screenshots for my “how to register with GoDaddy” article.
Please, you have to promise me not to find more registrars for me to try out - I don’t know if I’ll be forgiven if I buy too many more domains.
I’ve been using mydotnames.net for years and for the price and ease of use, it just can’t be beat. Had used GoDaddy and NS, but they love to hijack your domains if they expire and mydotnames are kind enough to remind you when they are about to expire and EVEN give you 30 days BEYOND expiration to renew them. Something that the “big boys” do not do. Mydotnames.net is cheaper and their interface is so convenient…they list all my clients on a single page with the expiration dates right there in one place so I don’t have to go searching all over the place for expirations, etc. They also allow me easy access to change DNS settings. Everything in mydotnames.net is simple to use which makes things easy on me. I will continue to use them until someone proves to me that I should switch back to godaddy or ns…however since those two left such a bad taste in my mouth, I’d have to get a really good sales pitch to switch things over to either of them.
Hope this helps.
Happy Webbing.
Anna Holland
Got domain registration and email account from DomainDirect. Seem like nice people, but email gets screwed up royal from time to time.
Quite happy with GoDaddy, though I don’t use their email or anything they could screw up.
I love Jennifer Kyrnin’s page. I have learnt loads
well I buy my Domain names at lycos because I get provision of that, I make even profit on a domain name
I love Jennifer Kyrnin’s page. I have learnt loads - That wasn’t all I said! I also mentioned http://123-reg.co.uk and https://heartinternet.co.uk
Great service and facillities from https://heartinternet.co.uk plus free hosting and .com and .co.uk domains for $15 yearly.
Hi,
I use IpowerWeb for my domain names. Cost $2.99 per year and free if you use them for hosting. Hosting is as low as $7.99 per month ( paid annually ), this is for full commercial sites or small sites, unlimited emails, ftp, etc.
www.ipowerweb.com
Thanks,
Wayne
I’m a total geek/nerd and I love to tweek things until they fit MY style, even if it is “wrong.” So top priority for me in choosing a registrar (that I could afford) was one that gave me absolute control. Control of the DNS records, of the web site, of the subdomains, of the emails, of everything. Not that there are not others, and I’m sure there are, but I selected GoDaddy. I only have two complaints, one, as mentioned above by Brad, is the speed of their interface. And if Brad wants to try a slow connection, try using my T-Mobile card. Avg speed is in the late 1980’s at 23-28k !! Some secure sites even “time out” before I get a page loaded. The other complaint I have is that they are too heavily leaning on the IE browser. Though in the past 6 months they have been improving on that score. Much of the site now is operational in Mozilla/Opera as well. Still lack full function in the webmail and blog entry screens thou. Of course their pages don’t come close to standards complaint either, but I can’t hold that against them, seems most of the business world just don’t get it on that score, yet.
Oops, forgot about the cert thing. I have lived with worse from “better” sites. Hotmail switched to live.com, and was using the old cert for over a month!!! Gave my browsers fits forever. And I’ve lost count on the number of times a subdomain has triggered a mismatch on cert/site name issues. As to the specifics of that error, can’t even guess what went wrong, but the site is still under a cert and the new cert was issued effective 2006.10.05 00:05:27 GMT, so somewhere someone didn’t get something linked/installed in time, but the new cert was available before it was needed. I guess even little guys have to deal with institutional red tape.
Well, when I first started learning web design in the 90’s, NS and Register were the only two around I’d heard of, and they were charging $72 per domain name. Couldn’t afford that, being I was just a college student with a few bucks in my pocket, so I settled on free hosting for awhile. In ‘99 when I did finally get enough money to buy my domain name, my first requirement was a good price with hosting. I looked again at NS, and the $35 was still too much for my small budget, and at the time, hobby for desiging sites. I went with another host who was a bit cheaper, and in 2001 switched to GoDaddy because I was having problems with that host.
Now I look for customer service and support, easy registration process, access to change name servers, and no requirement to host with them. I don’t host with my registrar, once bitten, twice shy. I also check out their business policies to see if there would be a hassle to transfer away from them or make changes that are normally required for them to make outside of your control panel. With GoDaddy I have the control to do what I need to do, and can easily tell my clients how to change what needs to be changed if they want to handle it themselves. I have looked into other registrars and haven’t seen them offer anything I can’t get from GoDaddy.
My biggest pet peeve back then was the companies that hijacked your domain name if you weren’t paying attention. I remember getting 10… yes, 10… postal mailings from NS claiming that my domain was expiring. The first one I got, I read over, and then cruised to their web site for more information because I was already with GoDaddy at that point and was wondering why NS was sending me mail. Once I realized it was a ploy for business, I tossed it and the following ones. Shortly after receiving the first 3, there were several articles on the web that warned people about this tactic, as well as multiple posts on mailing lists. Even GoDaddy had to send out an e-mail warning customers about this. I also received several mailings from Register.com.
In the end I stay with GoDaddy because the price is right, the ease of updating/changing anything with my domains is good (never experienced slow pages, even when I was on dial-up), and if I ever needed to call/e-mail customer service, I can do so and get an immediate response. No waiting days.
The way I see it, all the other little extras the companies offer is fluff I don’t need. I do what I need to do with my domains and don’t pay extra for products I never use. As Mike J said on the other comment board, “I like getting the most bang for my buck period.” And for me, that means no frills, but knowing I can have them if I want them for no additional charge.
Just one last thing: Anna H., GoDaddy starts notifying you 90 days (60, 30, and 15 days too) PRIOR to your domain name expiring. I think that is more than enough time to be told, “Hey, time to renew.” Think about it in terms of business… if you provided an ongoing service to a client (say yearly hosting), and you notified them that the payment was due in 90 days, then 60, then 30, then 15, and they didn’t pay you by the due date, I think you would stop providing that service until you received payment for the service, no? And just FYI, GoDaddy did allow for a 30 day extension for awhile. Keep in mind that they have to pay the registry a few to keep the domain name listed in the database, and if you don’t pay them, they can’t pay the registry for the name. Which means the registry can take it out of the database (remove the IP association), and then the site points to nowhere. As Spock would say, “That is logical.”
I agree with the others on the quality of your column. Thanks for doing it.
We registered our domain with namesecure about 2 years ago and have had no problems. They were recommended by a friend as they are reasonable, and the name is portable, unlike some of the other offers out there. We have changed hosting companies twice and our name goes where we go.
I have used wundersolutions for years and while there are a myriad of reasons for doing so, their service and response times cannot be beat! You can call and talk to a real person who is knowledgeable, helpful, and doesn’t talk to you as if you’re an idiot.
Registering a domain name is only $15/year but I don’t use them for their cost.
Their interface is really easy to use,especially if you have a lot of domain names to manage and track.
They suggest viable alternatives when your first choice is taken.
You are notified when your domain is about to expire and give you 30 days BEYOND expiration to renew them, often renewing them immediately while waiting for payment!
There is no requirement to host with them. However, when you host multiple domains with them, your hosting fee is “comp’ed”.
Finally, I can easily tell my clients how to change what needs to be changed if they want to handle it themselves.
Well, I can tell you what I DON’T value! I have/had been a loyal RegisterFly customer for over five years, but their lack of customer - support isn’t even close enough - recognition?? is appalling. In April and May, I started noticing charges for various amounts from $35 to $$130+ . I looked in their billing system - no substantiation to be found. I called them multiple times - interminable hold! Emails in their ‘ticket’ system were answered after sending another after 8 days - and bills requiring to be paid - basically telling me to ‘cool my jets’ they had to get to it! Finally someone got back to me, and was able to reverse two of the charges on one credit card - apparently their automatic billing system had a problem, and they double billed some customers. She then asked for the other charges I talked about, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE IN THE EMAIL SHE SENT TO ME FROM MY ORIGINAL! I sent additional documentation several times with no response.
Well, I finally went to my CC company, and said I cannot find the charges in the system; if they are real I will pay them, but I am getting no response. After a few months, they got back to me (with a few interim updates) to say that Registerfly could not substantiate the claims, and refunded my money, which at that point was over $500, as well as the fact that my credit of over $30 disappeared!
Is my story over? NO! I needed to access my account recently to get to a page that said my account was suspended for chargebacks! (Account spelled with one ‘c’) Well, let’s start again:
No answer to emails
No answer to voicemails
Now when I call, I’m ‘first in line’ but then the call goes to voicemail - BUT THE MAILBOX HAS BEEN FULL FOR OVER A WEEK!
In the meantime, my three websites are not on the web. Two of them have links at the bottom - “Why am I seeing this?” - and the email goes to whois and the auto responder says the domain name may be available!
I have over 100 domain names registered with Registerfly, and I can’t begin to express my shock and dismay - and indignation.
Today I called again - the non toll free number hidden on the website. After multiple times of getting to customer service, who says talk to the risk dept, where again the mailbox is full, I again called CS who said they would walk the message over and have them call immediately. Well, it’s almost an hour; I guess time stands still in Registerfly land.
So this question is in perfect timing. I am a great customer; I’m loyal and I’m appreciative. But I have had terrible customer care with Registerfly, and would recommend it to no one. (Although I had recommended it highly to colleagues in the past.) This issue has significant financial and legal implications.
I welcome any recommendations! I may have to contact the NJ State Attorney General and the BBB, but what happens to my websites which aren’t up, and my potential loss of my purchased names?
Protect yourself - avoid RegisterFly at all costs!
I refuse to use Network Solutions because of their past business practices.
BlueHost offers free domain names with their service.
I’ve moved tree domain namse from NS and will move all I can from them.