# If buying a domain and hosting from separate companies



## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

I have read where people recommend not using the same company for buying your domain and also hosting your site.

So assuming you buy a domain from one place like Go Daddy and then host the site at a second, what extras if any do you first buy? For example do you buy your security certificate from the 1st place where you buy your domain or the second where you hot from? Is there any extras that would be better purchased with the first company when buying the domain, or strictly buy the domain only.

I guess I should ask, is it true that it is better to use two companies. I am leaning towards Blue Host and it sure seems like it would be easier, and I would prefer to just use them for everything. Would that be a mistake?

Thanks for you help.


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## TheJaspMan (Jul 20, 2009)

I have spent the last 24 years in IT. I can honestly say that these days its much simpler for someone new to get their domain and hosting in the same place. It eliminates a lot of headaches.

Godaddy may not always rank in my #1 companies but their price is right and they have very good support for their customers. And the new server farms they are using have gotten much better in the past year or two. I personally use them for several things.


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

TheJaspMan said:


> I have spent the last 24 years in IT. I can honestly say that these days its much simpler for someone new to get their domain and hosting in the same place. It eliminates a lot of headaches.
> 
> Godaddy may not always rank in my #1 companies but their price is right and they have very good support for their customers. And the new server farms they are using have gotten much better in the past year or two. I personally use them for several things.


 
Thanks so much for the advice. 

If I may ask another question, how important is it to get a dedicated server and a SSL certificate for your site?


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## TheJaspMan (Jul 20, 2009)

Louie2010 said:


> Thanks so much for the advice.
> 
> If I may ask another question, how important is it to get a dedicated server and a SSL certificate for your site?


 
A dedicated server is overpriced and unneeded in most cases. But the SSL is a must if you are doing any online sales or secure stuff.


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

I was told that in order to get the SSL ($45) I needed to also get a dedicated IP ($30). Maybe that is different than a dedicated server?

If I am only going to start out only with Paypal do I still need the SSL or would that be unnecessary until I start taking credit cards?


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## RIIR (Jan 18, 2011)

Louie2010 said:


> I was told that in order to get the SSL ($45) I needed to also get a dedicated IP ($30). Maybe that is different than a dedicated server?
> 
> If I am only going to start out only with Paypal do I still need the SSL or would that be unnecessary until I start taking credit cards?


Yes, an SSL certificate needs a dedicated IP. Many hosting plans include at least one dedicated IP as well, so shop around. If you purchase your domain name and SSL certificate from GoDaddy and want to host your site somewhere else, all you have to do is change your Nameservers at GoDaddy to your new hosts Nameservers, takes less than one minute to do and is very simple - I've done this many times. So don't feel you're locked into a one stop shop solution. GoDaddy has great prices on domain names and the best prices on SSL's, but I personally wouldn't use them for hosting. 

If you are starting out with just Paypal, you don't need an SSL, as customers will be redirected to Paypal for payment, which is secure, then redirected back to your website once their transaction is completed. 

What many people don't take into consideration when launching an ecommerce business is being able to scale for future growth. Yes, shared hosting accounts are nice and cheap, but you can easily out grow it if business takes off and traffic increases. When it's time to scale up, this could be a painful process. I agree that dedicated servers are over priced and can be overkill, but Virtual Private Hosting, VPS, is a very easily scalable option that I would recommend if you're really serious about growing your ecommerce business and especially if you use an ecommerce cart that is built on a Content Management System, CMS, which can be server intensive.


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## TheJaspMan (Jul 20, 2009)

RIIR said:


> Yes, an SSL certificate needs a dedicated IP. Many hosting plans include at least one dedicated IP as well, so shop around. If you purchase your domain name and SSL certificate from GoDaddy and want to host your site somewhere else, all you have to do is change your Nameservers at GoDaddy to your new hosts Nameservers, takes less than one minute to do and is very simple - I've done this many times. So don't feel you're locked into a one stop shop solution. GoDaddy has great prices on domain names and the best prices on SSL's, but I personally wouldn't use them for hosting.
> 
> If you are starting out with just Paypal, you don't need an SSL, as customers will be redirected to Paypal for payment, which is secure, then redirected back to your website once their transaction is completed.
> 
> What many people don't take into consideration when launching an ecommerce business is being able to scale for future growth. Yes, shared hosting accounts are nice and cheap, but you can easily out grow it if business takes off and traffic increases. When it's time to scale up, this could be a painful process. I agree that dedicated servers are over priced and can be overkill, but Virtual Private Hosting, VPS, is a very easily scalable option that I would recommend if you're really serious about growing your ecommerce business and especially if you use an ecommerce cart that is built on a Content Management System, CMS, which can be server intensive.


 
Actually godaddy will setup an SSL on their hosting without the dedicated IP options. They handle all that. I run several sites for $5 a month with good performance and all with SSL. Plus in many cases they run bundle specials. I just paid three monts of hosting upfront and got my SSL for half off. Total investment was around $40. Then $4.99 a month after the first 90 days.


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## evolvebranding (Mar 30, 2011)

Agree with comments, i keep my domain and hosting together to keep it simple. Seems most do domains and hosting and prices are usually not that different.


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I'm in a similar position to you Louie, I bought a GoDaddy domain and my site is hosted on Bluehost. We use Paypal for payment but I was wondering about the need for SSL myself.

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'm safe on a shared account for now but looking forward to outgrowing it!


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

NigelT said:


> I'm in a similar position to you Louie, I bought a GoDaddy domain and my site is hosted on Bluehost. We use Paypal for payment but I was wondering about the need for SSL myself.
> 
> Thanks for the info guys. I think I'm safe on a shared account for now but looking forward to outgrowing it!


 
Are you happy with Bluehost? I have all but decided to go with them.

Which of the shopping carts that they offer did you use? I have zero experience with setting something like this up and hope to do it myself.


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

We've been on Bluehost for a while now. At first we weren't too thrilled, but recently I think they have moved data centers or something and the reliability has improved.

For our cart we use a Joomla extension called SimpleCaddy. There are more comprehanisve options, but for now I just wanted something very simple to integrate into our existing site.


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## gnizitigid (Jan 23, 2007)

Louie2010 said:


> Are you happy with Bluehost? I have all but decided to go with them.
> 
> Which of the shopping carts that they offer did you use? I have zero experience with setting something like this up and hope to do it myself.


You can try cpanel based hosting which include shop cart as well. you need to install those from admin panel...cpanel includes oscommerce, zencart as well as other softwares


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