Domain Name Registration

[stevekenson]

I turn to the collective wisdom of my friends-list and readers for suggestions: what provider and proceedure do you recommend for registering a domain name?

Right now, I’ve got stevekenson.com registered through Register.com, but it’s coming up for renewal and I’ve got the vague, unconfirmed feeling that I could do better in terms of my registration. Any suggestions?

Comments

[drivingblind.livejournal.com]

godaddy.com has a sort of repulsive advertising approach, but usually has very cheap rates for domain registration.

[garan-du.livejournal.com]

I concur.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

I went with godaddy.com but I don't know how they compare.

[dewinblaidd.livejournal.com]

I also use GoDaddy and have never had a problem with them, but I have heard a LOT of horror stories from various people around the Interweb.

I think so long as you keep the bill paid up and don't let it lapse you should be fine though.

[wyldelf.livejournal.com]

Register where you can get the cheapest annual rates (not the lowball first year, or some package discount, that most "cheap" registration sites do) and then cherry pick your hosting service. It's better not to have them linked in my mind, as it makes changing hosting services easier down the road, but at the very least there's no reason to link them.

I register with 1and1.com - right now they're offering $7 per domain for .com. I've been using them for over 4 years now, and never have had an issue. My price has stayed locked apparently because I pay less than $6 a year (either that I'll get the new rate in a few months when my year is up). I've never hosted with 1and1.

GoDaddy might be a great choice for hosts (I've been looking at switching to them) but no reason to change your registration to them as they're the same price as Register.com.

[dewinblaidd.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone said anything about hosts, but if I missed it somewhere, what this guy said.

NEVER EVER buy your domains from your web hosting provider. Never. Always keep the two separate.

If anyone is looking for cheap shared or virtual hosting, I have been using GeekStorage for over a year now with great success. They may look a little pricey compared to those Unlimited everything hosts, but they have done right by me.

[darktouch.livejournal.com]

Thirded on this one. I use Yahoo for my registration and Drak for my hosting. In terms of hosting I know several people who recommend dreamhost as well. In terms of Yahoo.. I like it because that's where I started and the interface feels very non-arcane. It probably isn't my cheapest option however.

[technocowboy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, both GiveMamaSomeSugar and WolfAndBear are registered through GoDaddy. I've had them for a looooooong time.

[jcstarbrand.livejournal.com]

There's some ongoing Godaddy discount codes here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/godaddy-code

[guyinsf.livejournal.com]

Huh. I'm no expert in these matters, but I've been exceedingly happy with Dreamhost both for registration and hosting. (...tho I have no idea why there are recommendations that you should never put the two eggs in one basket earlier in your comments to this post.)

Dreamhost has been very good to me, and they make it very easy for me to have as much or as little control over every facet of my hosting and registration as I want. They've never done anything evil (or morally questionable) that I'm aware of, and that's pretty high praise for most companies these days.

...and tho it's *not* the reason I'm recommending them, they do happen to give a referral bonus, so if'n you decide to work with them... ;)

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

Whoever you pick, make sure you can pay for years at a time, and that you have a rock solid e-mail address for them to send you reminders. GoDaddy and pairnic have both worked out for me in the past, though they both like to jack you up if you wait until the last minute to renew.