Need to buy a domain name

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Can anyone recommend a good review of domain registrars?

I’m looking for a very simple, cheap purchase of a domain name.
All I want to do with it is create a very simple web page with just a few levels and links.
It’ll be little more than a brochure with contact information for my very small business.
I DO want an email address included.

No major space is needed as I can forward most email to my free email addresses.

I had something just like this a few years ago via a “free” Windows Live registration.
It was supposed to be free, but a couple years later it disappeared.

Since this is likely to happen to anything called “free” I expect to have to pay this time around, but my business is little more than a hobby, so I need the price to be pretty low.

Any helpful advice is much appreciated.

Thank you.

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I use GoDaddy for that sort of thing. They are cheap and provide free email and hosting with the registration, but the purchase process is long and convoluted, designed to make you spend more money. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and select the “no thanks” or whatever it’s called today button to skip the additional items.

cheers, Paul

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Strictly speaking a domain registrar only administers the domain name for you. You also require web hosting and email forwarding.
The recommendation of GoDaddy is generally speaking a good one: they will offer a *very* cheap all-in package. I use them myself, although I use other providers too.

* The GoDaddy online control panel offers an impressive feature set, at the cost of being rather bewildering at times.

* GoDaddy is an impressively cheap domain registrar for global domains although undercut by local providers when it comes to country-specific domains (such as .co.uk). I use FastHosts for UK domain registration.

* I have occasionally had issues with GoDaddy mail forwarding. They have very aggressive spam filters which act from time to time to block wide swathes of IP addresses: in my experience this is prone to periodically blocking some legitimate users whose IPs fall within that range. I use a local UK mail provider instead of the GoDaddy mail service (FastVision, who are exceptionally good).

In a nutshell: +1 for GoDaddy, unless you come across a specific reason to look further.

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I use GoDaddy for that sort of thing. They are cheap and provide free email and hosting with the registration, but the purchase process is long and convoluted, designed to make you spend more money. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and select the “no thanks” or whatever it’s called today button to skip the additional items.

cheers, Paul

Dont use GoDaddy. If you subscribe to anything important, you may not get it. I was getting jobs from the local government owned lottery agency and one day I stopped getting anything at all. After a few days I rang them and they were annoyed I hadnt responded and HAD sent jobs to me. So I got them to send another while I waited on the phone. Nothing. I checked all my own filter settings on my domain and nothing was wrong. I had even whitelisted them.

I rang GoDaddy and guess what? They RESERVE THE RIGHT to filter SPAM out before it gets to YOUR filters YOU had set up. I asked them to stop doing that and allow it all to come through but they wouldnt and said that spam filtering is THEIR right. I pointed out that they are costing me money and their response was to get all the mail server names I think I need to get email from that company and any other company I may deal with in the future and tell them so they can whitelist it. HUH!?!? My response was to change to Hostgator and the mail started flowing through again and I never had that problem reoccur.

GoDaddy cost me income from lost jobs with their idea that they will do what they want regardless of what you want or what is happening to you.

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I have been using Register.com for years.

Never had a problem…

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I have 6 domain names registered with namecheap and they seem to be pretty good.

Here’s a good discussion of domain registrars at the WebHostingTalk forums.

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread/?t=1159789

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I’ve used 1&1 for years, and have never had a problem.

Addendum: I should have added that, among other things, 1&1 offers both registration and hosting.

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I think godaddy.com or thewholeinternet.net are the way to go. However, you will also need a hosting plan. Thewholeinternet offers both, and I think godaddy does also.

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I would not use GoDaddy for any reason as they were supporters of SOPA. They did eventually retract their support but were initially adamant that they would not stop supporting that horrendous bit of legislation. Wikipedia withdrew from GoDaddy as a result of this.

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When I put my website up, I initially used GoDaddy too, but I found I didn’t like their interface, their ftp protocols, nothing worked easily, and I found their advertising offensive as well. I moved my domains to Blue Host within a month and have been with them for 5 years now, my second domain is still parked, I pay for the first they pay for the second, and I can make changes to my site directly from within CPanel easily and instantly. No downtime, you can always reach a LIVE person who actually knows what they are doing. Love ’em, and their hosting packages are competitive and for me reasonably priced. Oh, and I used NVU to initially build my site, a free open source site builder that allows you to toggle between plain English and HTML easily to tweak whatever you are working on.

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You probably won’t need separate hosting, your ISP should provide you with enough free space for your site already. They may also have a site building tool which will get your brochure up and running quickly. So your site will end up with a URL like:
http://members.yourisp.com/gobbly/dgook/

Get your domain name at any of the registrars mentioned above, eg hgarrett1234.com. In the registrar’s menu, go to “URL forwarding” or “Domain forwarding” or similar, where you can ‘point’ hgarrett1234.com to http://members.yourisp.com/gobbly/dgook/

Decide what email addresses you want to use, and go to “Email forwarding” in the registrar’s menu. ‘Point’ hgar@hgarrett1234.com to gargar124578@gmail.com [your free address], and you’re set.

This is basic, but probably the simplest and easiest quick setup. If you ever move your site or email from YourISP or Gmail, you only need to change the ‘pointers’ above and nobody will know–and you won’t lose traffic or email because of the change.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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I had two domains from Microsoft Live. I am very price conscious having been unemployed for some time now. The $15 per year for the old Microsoft Live would have been barely acceptable, but $6 to $8 per month was too much. Seeing as to how the websites would have to be rebuilt anyways, I decided to see what other alternative services were available.

My needs were to replace two Microsoft Live sites at minimum cost using the same domain names. My requirements included transfer of domain to new registrar, a reasonable amount of space for site, multiple email accounts or email forwarding, with high bandwidth as a bonus (just in case a planned page went viral)

In my research I decided to use

[*]1and1.com for domain registration transfer. Per domain cost 1^st year limited time offer of $4.99, renewal $10 to $12, depending upon costs at time of renewal. Allows setting up email forwarding of multiple domain emails to other accounts, such as Yahoo or Gmail. E.g. anyname@yourdomain.com forwarded to yourname@yahoo.com

[*]Weebly.com for web hosting. Free web hosting, unlimited pages, bandwidth, and storage space (with a limit of 5MB per file uploaded). Some limitations on what file types can be hosted for free. E.g. movies and other features would require Weebly PRO with monthly costs between $2.99 (2 years prepaid) and $4.58 (6 months prepaid). The free account includes a tag line advertising Weebly at the bottom of the web pages.

My next choice for web hosting would be http://www.000webhost.com: 1500 MB storage, 100 GB bandwidth, FTP, 5 email accounts, email forwarding. (Unlimited space, bandwidth and additional features $4.84/month)

The other registrars and web hosts that I reviewed (dozens from lists of hundreds) failed one or more of my criteria: no cost, storage, email, bandwidth, and other features. I was actually considering GoDaddy based on price for domain registration until I noticed only one email account, info@yourdomain.com. Google was advertising web service, Google Sites, but it was free for only the 1^st year. (Apparently it is now free, but appears limited in what can be done.)

If you can live with a subdomain like yourname.hostingservice.com, Weebly and 000webhost can provide this at no cost. There are other good service providers that I rejected because I wanted my own domain name instead of a subdomain.

If you don’t like the idea of a free web host and would rather pay several to $10 per month for service, go for a web hosting service that allows domain registration and low cost web hosting with the features that you need. Just watch out, the second and following years can be expensive. I have no idea how long Weebly or 000webhost will be around, but I suspect that 1and1 and GoDaddy and other name brands will be around for a long time. But then again I though the same about Microsoft free web service, and even the paid per year service.

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You might find this review helpful: http://www.consumersearch.com/domain-registration

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The people who follow Cringley seem to like Namecheap.com and dislike Network Solutions and GoDaddy.http://www.cringely.com/2012/06/24/i-hate-network-solutions/http://www.cringely.com/2011/07/07/which-domain-registrar-is-best/

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Take a look @ Network Solutions

The people who follow Cringley seem to like Namecheap.com and dislike Network Solutions and GoDaddy.

No idea who Cringley is, but Network Solutions is about the only registrar I would warn people to research carefully before giving them anything you care about. I haven’t heard of a registrar with a more unethical documented history, and I saw people on forums suffer some real bad stuff with them around a decade ago. Interesting that Verisign dumped them [the registrar portion] only a few years after buying them, and afaik they’ve been owned by various financial equity companies since.

GoDaddy by comparison is only a naughty teenager, I encountered only one unethical practice during my years with them–and that was withdrawn within a year. If you don’t mind their aggressive marketing and poor interface, afaik they’re fine as a registrar. Not sure about hosting though, I see plenty of complaints dotted around–but that could merely be a result of their size.

I left GoDaddy for Namecheap and expect to be with them a decade in another few years. They are very good. I can’t speak for their hosting, but it’s good practice not to buy your domain name at the same place you host your site and email–can’t be held hostage by an unethical company.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Sorry, my company filters out certain functions from Windows Secrets. I can’t post messages cleanly or edit while I am at the office. However the two links I posted above sort of work until I can fix them when I am outside my office.

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they plain ol’ try harder…
didn’t find them on first page here:
http://domain-name-registrars.findthebest.com/
but after many years experience w/ a handful of different domain name registrars now, i am recommending FatCow to everyone who asks.
for the price & excellent customer service they can’t be beat:
http://www.fatcow.com/
for first timers walking you through set up, their phone support is priceless!
you can just get a domain name if that’s all you need, or the best deal is hosting package that includes it, so be aware they push the packages.
good luck!

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http://domain-name-registrars.findthebest.com/
but personally i recommend fatcow:
http://www.fatcow.com/
after many years experience i find them the best.
best luck!

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I recommend 1and1.com. They offer both registration and hosting. Their interface/control panel is much cleaner and simpler than godaddy (which I have to use for a company web site).

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I recommend 1and1.com. They offer both registration and hosting…..

I recommend this company too. 1&1 is based here in Germany, and one of the main players in the providers game. I have ALL of my ISP stuff with them, as well as telephone and cell service.

Since many years, I have registered a Domain with them (I dont use it for a website, as there is no need at the moment) which includes flawless e-mail-service including this domain. Additional, I can access the web-mailer from any PC with internet connection via a regular browser.

A good price for the plan (flatrate for DSL, flatrate for nationwide telephone, free cell service into the 1&1 mobile net and the german telephone net) and superb support with long hours have intrigued me and recommendet it to many friends here too.

I did not know they were offering their services in the US too, but this might be one of the reasons why they are so competitiv.

Have a nice Weekend

••K®IS••

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It may cost a bit more, but never ever, have your domain name and hosting with the same place.  I leearned that the hard way when I couldn’t move my domain to a new host for weeks as it was held hostage by the host.

Martha

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It may cost a bit more, but never ever, have your domain name and hosting with the same place.* I leearned that the hard way when I couldn’t move my domain to a new host for weeks as it was held hostage by the host.

Martha

Sorry to say this but that is just rubbish! If your domain was being held hostage you can complain to Icann. It is illegal to do that. I cant even deny a domain being taken away from my control when I have control over the same domain name when they owe me money! If I say it cannot be done then I can lose the right to register domains immediately and lose every domain I control including my own to someone else to control.

Threaten with a formal complain (in writing via email address at your ISP or free email address) first and give them a period “Eg, if this isnt done in 48 hours” and if it isnt done, then you can go to another registrar and give them your business registration details and show them you own the domain and ask them to FORCIBLY take control. I have done that before when the original person who controlled the domain actually went out of business and couldnt be found on one occasion, when the person I was helping had an accounting dispute with the person they were leaving on another and when a registrar flatly refused to let anything go on yet another. If all else fails you can complain to Icann and have their heavy hand help you out, too.

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http://domain-name-registrars.findthebest.com/
or just go to fatcow:
http://www.fatcow.com/

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http://domain-name-registrars.findthebest.com/
or just go to fatcow:
http://www.fatcow.com/

Dont know why you would bother. Just set yourself up as a reseller with your domain registrar you like the best then go set up your own domain names and even those of friends and add a few bucks to the top of it for yourself for the convenience you provide. That is what a lot of web designers do. I register domains, host domains and do the site as well as all the I.T. work and it all ends up making you a few bucks here and there. That is why you would register yourself as a reseller.

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This doesn’t really help, you are hostage to whoever hosts the DNS records. If you can’t change the DNS pointers you can’t change hosts.

cheers, Paul

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Leaning toward GoogleApps at the moment. How’s this sound?

Domain registration for $10 per year
can automatically renew your domain registration in the Google Apps control panel.
Private domain registration to protect against spam at no extra charge
hide your personal information from the WHOIS directory by default. This means that Internet users won’t be able to search for the mailing address and telephone number associated with your domain name.
Full DNS control and domain management
You can manage the DNS settings for your domain and customize any functionality that suits you or your organization.
Domain locking at no extra charge
Our partners provide an additional level of security to protect against unauthorized domain transfers.
Automatically configured to work with Google services
When you activate a service in your Google Apps control panel, we’ll configure your DNS settings for you. For example, you can simply add ‘Email’ to your list of services and we’ll set up your MX records to properly send and deliver mail for your domain.
Email, calendar, instant messaging, web pages and more at no extra charge
It’s all at no additional cost! Our list of services continues to grow. You and your users will be able to communicate and share information with many Google services.

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I recommend http://www.doteasy.com/

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I have used whois.com for domain names. They are cheap and fairly easy to use. For hosting I use Startlogic. I have also used 1and1 for both

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There’s lot from which to chose…

Just stay away from Dotster! I have had the ugly experience of discovering just how bad they really are. And take my word for it, it’s BAD!

Cheers,
Drew

I’ve been pleased with Dotster so far. The only problem I’ve had with them is that when you call for service, it may take a while to actually speak with someone. But when you finally get an agent on the phone, they give you their full and complete attention.

I’d be interested in knowing what was your bad experience with Dotster.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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