# What's the best place to register for a domain name?



## prattejr (Oct 17, 2007)

Can someone give me some suggestions as to where is the best place to register a domain name. I want to be sure that whatever the avenue I use the company doesn't retain possession of the domain name. Therefore it will always remain mine. Also i notice sites like Yahoo small business charges $10.00 a year for a domain name. Is this a normal contigent fee? Thanks in advance!!


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## jimbo17 (Dec 4, 2007)

Go Daddy is one place and so far I have been very happy with them hosting my web site.

They also have a great control panel which gives you more information about your site then you really need to know.

If you are looking for a good SEO course try doing a Goolge search.

There is a lady who I think is named Chricket or something like that who is the best in the business at teaching you how to get search engines to find your site.

When I do a goolge search for my products over one million hits come back with my site ranked first on the list.

Please note I do not pay to be ranked number one and it's only though hard work that you get there.

Hope that helps Jimbo


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

It will generally cost $10 a year or less to register a domain name.

Good places to register a name include: godaddy.com, mydomain.com, namecheap.com


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## prattejr (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks for the info! One last question: I've talk to the Yahoo small business sales team and apparently they register the Domain in their name and I would essentially lease it from them. They also said that if I later chose to have someone else host my site i would have to continue to pay the yearly fee to retain use of the domain name. Is this the case with most sites? Can't I just pay a one time fee to own a domain name?


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

prattejr said:


> Thanks for the info! One last question: I've talk to the Yahoo small business sales team and apparently they register the Domain in their name and I would essentially lease it from them. They also said that if I later chose to have someone else host my site i would have to continue to pay the yearly fee to retain use of the domain name. Is this the case with most sites? Can't I just pay a one time fee to own a domain name?


Do not lease your domain name. Honestly I've never even heard of that, although that doesn't mean much. Sounds very shady... run away. Register it in your name so that you have the right to do whatever you want with it.

You cannot pay a 1-time fee for a domain name. You can only pay for X number of years. GoDaddy offers 10 year plans for about $100 (for a .com). Some others might offer longer registration periods. If you do not renew it when your time runs out, it will be made available the public.


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## prattejr (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks I will go to GoDaddy then


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Try startlogic.com its $6.50 per year and reduces I think on 2 year plan good hosting also


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## Weezey Baby (Dec 11, 2007)

I just created my website through godaddy.com and I have the url and everything registered. Are there any good plans on godaddy.com to create a design and website?

Thanks,
Seth


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## COEDS (Oct 4, 2006)

I have used godaddy.com for a few years and have had no problems...... JB


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## Press Doctor (Dec 12, 2007)

Never had a problem with Godaddy and had them for years.

Put in this promo code to get $6.95 domains from them.

*chill3*


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

prattejr said:


> Thanks for the info! One last question: I've talk to the Yahoo small business sales team and apparently they register the Domain in their name and I would essentially lease it from them. They also said that if I later chose to have someone else host my site i would have to continue to pay the yearly fee to retain use of the domain name. Is this the case with most sites? Can't I just pay a one time fee to own a domain name?


I think what they meant by "leasing" the domain is that you DO have to pay yearly for the domain.

There is no way to pay "one time" for ANY domain and never have to pay again. 

It's like your car registration. You have to renew it year after year.

Whether you do it through Yahoo or GoDaddy, you'll have to pay each year.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

GoDaddy's shopping carts are the pits.

They are fine folks for domain names, but that's about it. You can do better with everything they offer elsewhere.
.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

prattejr said:


> Thanks for the info! One last question: I've talk to the Yahoo small business sales team and apparently they register the Domain in their name and I would essentially lease it from them. They also said that if I later chose to have someone else host my site i would have to continue to pay the yearly fee to retain use of the domain name. Is this the case with most sites? Can't I just pay a one time fee to own a domain name?


I've been through this with Yahoo. I was a headache, but it was not because the name is leased. They locked my domain name. 

With yahoo, the name wasn't "mine". It was only mine as long as I was with Yahoo for my "hosting". Yahoo wasn't the registrar, they gave it to a foreign company to do that.

I wanted to go to Dodaddy for hosting and registrar services. I couldn't. The foreign company that Yahoo used put a 'one year hold' on transferring the name away from them. They "locked" it.

Godaddy tried to help me get my name away. Together, we couldn't do it, but since I only had 3 months left until the one year mark, I waited it out *miffed* of course, since I signed up with Yahoo thinking "I was free to cancel" at any time. Which, obviously, I guess I wasn't.

Now I am registered with Godaddy. My name is mine - regardless of who hosts it, as long as my fees are paid.

I do not recommend Yahoo for this reason. The Yahoo guy said he never saw a lock on a name before, but between signing up and supposedly being free to leave, a weird lock on the name, and now he's not seen it before? I didn't know what to believe and what not to. 

Godaddy is nothing but helpful, comparatively speaking.

Hope this helps someone else someday avoid the trap I got into.


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## Leatherneck (Jan 18, 2008)

i've heard that godaddy is awesome to work with too. that is who i plan on using. based on references i have gotten about godaddy from friends they seem like the best choice to me.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Hiya, Rick. I had been advised of that at the time I went with them, and you can see from where I was, what a big improvement going there was. As of now, I have heard recommendations for others that people view as better than godaddy. It's the same as bulk inks (I was just reading an older bulk ink thread in between this) I am gathering information on all that. Godaddy is a viable option, but if I find something easy to work with (I am green in web development) - that really is better - I will certainly get the word to you.


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## Leatherneck (Jan 18, 2008)

thanks kelly I would appreciate that  and hiya to you as well! I remember reading about the mess you were in with yahoo and how they had locked your name up and would not allow you to use it. that would have been very frustrating at best. I'm glad in the end it worked out for you


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## mothertongues (Aug 8, 2005)

Godaddy. Love it. Easy, cheap, no problems.


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## cbpclothing (Oct 1, 2007)

I've used godaddy for many sites as well.. good host.. just remember if you're using the basic shared hosting accounts and you setup ecommerce card on it you will need to add in the godaddy proxy otherwise your payments won't work..

anyways, as far as domains... you can get your domains for $3.99 for the first year and then $8.99 from then on at DomainsAreFree - $3.99 Cheap Domain Name Registration ... thats where most of my domains are bought, and most of them are then hosted at godaddy


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## springleap (Feb 28, 2008)

Godaddy are GREAT for registering domains and i've got quite a few "hobby" type sites hosted with them.

However, (and i've never experienced this with them) if you search on google, there are many discussion forums which talk about the problems with godaddy - as they register and host the domains for you, if something goes wrong with your site (ie: someone spams using your IP), and they take it down, they control the domain.

Theirfore, it might be better to register with godaddy and host elsewhere, or pay slightly more (as godaddy are cheap) and register your primary domain elsewhere.

But as I said earlier, I've NEVER had an issue with the - this is simply from reading other forums etc


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

There's another issue that I've heard mentioned here on these forums...one person did a search for a domain name on GoDaddy. Just a simple search. They didn't buy right away.

Well, they went back a couple of days later, and the domain they searched for was taken! 

Then they got an email offer to buy the domain name for $200. 

GoDaddy may not be the best place to search for your domain name if you don't plan on buying right away.

Same goes for several other domain registrars. I forget the big one that had this problem.

If you want to search for your domain name availability, go to somewhere like whois.net to see if your domain name choice is taken, then when you're ready to buy, go to GoDaddy or your chosen registrar, and register it right away.

My registrar of choice is Namecheap.com - Domain name registration, renewal and transfers - Cheap SSL Certificates - Web Hosting - Free URL Forwarding, Free e-mail forwarding and Free DNS services are included with our cheap domain registration service

Never had a problem with them registering a domain I've searched for.


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## springleap (Feb 28, 2008)

Chani - didn't realise it was godaddy as well who were involved in that scheme.

I know that one of the other large domain registrars is currently being sued for doing exactly that - seeing what the domain search is - registering it - keeping it for the max time before they have to pay (registrars have special rules) and either selling it for a hefty premium if it's in demand, or if it's working for them with direct traffic, or SEO traffic (if it had previously been optimised and given up).

If it's not working for them after the "free time", they simply drop it...


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Network solutions is a big culprit, and godaddy gave someone a problem. Heres a link to the thread that has a full discussion on that topic. Bobbie gives a detailed explaination of what Eric is talking about. There is some* great* information in this thread, names of the good and bad, and Rodney gives a good domain search link in here:


http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t37575-4.html#post221499
This thread became a topic on domain name searches, and names held for ransom.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

Yeah, pretty scary and slimey, isn't it?


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

Thanks, Kelly, I couldn't remember the actual thread.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

I've been looking for it for two weeks now, and it's been a long dry search. I'm going to thank you for posting your link again, that did the trick. In the end I am going to stay with godaddy, unless something way better turns up. Thanks again for that link.


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## springleap (Feb 28, 2008)

So it's a Rock & a Hard place. If you want to work with the biggest guys like godaddy, then there are issues, and if you want to work with smaller guys, then you face other issues like higher domain costs & hosting which "sometimes" can not have the 99.9% uptime they claim on the surface.


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## oiskallmate (Feb 19, 2008)

yeah, i;ve always liked using GoDaddy, but as it was said before, if you are doing searches for possible domain names.. BE READY TO BUY ONE when you find it cause they are VERY TRICKY about taking your ideas before you actually are able to get it yourself.. as far as hosting, well GoDaddy is OK but it will be limiting as to how much traffic you can handle as the eCommerce solutions are very lame... so I'd say register at GoDaddy, thier support and basic funtionality is great but if you want to go your own way as far as your site then DEFINATLY host somewhere like www.lunarpages.com and have someone build your site there, you can keep your domain at GoDaddy and just point the domain to your new site at lunar pages.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

Yes. 

It's actually suggested all the time that you never host your website with your domain registrar. That only leads to trouble (as Kelly experienced). If you ever choose to change hosts, they could hold your domain hostage, or vice versa.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Chani said:


> Yes.
> 
> It's actually suggested all the time that you never host your website with your domain registrar. That only leads to trouble (as Kelly experienced). If you ever choose to change hosts, they could hold your domain hostage, or vice versa.


I had problems with Yahoo. They did the hosting and subbed out the registrar part to some company overseas who put a one year "hold" on my name.

With the Yahoo's business hosting, I should have been free to leave anytime. The glitch with them was, when I cancelled hosting, my name would temporarily be "free and up for grabs" again. I didn't like the small chance someone could take it from me between registrars. 

I wanted to move to Godaddy for better pricing and to secure my name for good. So I set out to cancel and move and Yahoo "apologized" telling me there was an odd "lock" on the name for a one year period, and even with the help of Godaddy's tech guy, we couldn't find a way to wrangle it from them. Yahoo said they 'never saw' that before.  I waited until the one year mark (4 months) and got out of Dodge!!

Godaddy gave me total assistance and being a complete noob, I found them patient and helpful. 

After I learned about Godaddy grabbing someone's name after a search, I was disappointed. 

By the way, when I searched names 2 years ago, I was searching again and again for a month, and never had these problems. I was horrified when I heard of this practice. That would have put the screws to me for sure, since naming was so difficult to begin with.

So far, I haven't heard of anyone with my exact situation, but I share it so hopefully no one gets "locked" and held hostage like I was.


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

I've used Lunarpages in the past and had good luck with it. I bought domain names and host two of my blogs there. I've never had any issues. 

Of course, I've only used them for blogs, but I do know they have shopping carts and web sites as well.


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## Jeepwidow (Feb 12, 2008)

I loved godaddy at one time, but they have gotten too big for themselves. Warning folks, if a rep from godaddy calls and asks if there is anything they can do for you, please say no thank you and hang up. I got a call and in the conversation mentioned that I'm considering adding to my domain name (.net) The rep said to let him know if he could help. When I went to buy the domain the next day, I found the rep had bought it himself. UGH. 

Since the domain world is still a wild west, be careful of who you talk to. Some domain names sound great, and you'll know it. Buy it right away when that feeling speaks to you.


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## urbeen (Aug 3, 2006)

Hello all

Yahoo currently has a special this month $1.99/yr for 1st time users


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## marlo45 (Oct 4, 2007)

Chani said:


> There's another issue that I've heard mentioned here on these forums...one person did a search for a domain name on GoDaddy. Just a simple search. They didn't buy right away.
> 
> Well, they went back a couple of days later, and the domain they searched for was taken!
> 
> ...


I think the other company you're referring to is Network Solutions. I never had any problems with Godaddy before, but i have personally searched for a domain name on Network Solutions and just like you mentioned, a few days later it was unavailable. They never did set a price, but i wasn't interested after that.

By the way, Godaddy is my choice for domain names and hosting. They have great customer service!


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Leatherneck said:


> thanks kelly I would appreciate that  and hiya to you as well! I remember reading about the mess you were in with yahoo and how they had locked your name up and would not allow you to use it. that would have been very frustrating at best. I'm glad in the end it worked out for you


Hey Rick,

Yes, yahoo really tied me up with that lock. I was able to use the name, but I was forced to keep the service for one full year, and I signed up thinking I was free to leave. Well, I guess I was free to leave, but without my domain name.

I just continued with Yahoo for hosting until one year, then I called godaddy and they helped me over the bridge. I haven't had any issues at all with godaddy, but would not like it if they were doing anything that is bad business like grabbing names to sell higher since you want them. Most folks have no issues, so I feel fine with godaddy.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

marlo45 said:


> I think the other company you're referring to is Network Solutions. I never had any problems with Godaddy before, but i have personally searched for a domain name on Network Solutions and just like you mentioned, a few days later it was unavailable. They never did set a price, but i wasn't interested after that.
> 
> By the way, Godaddy is my choice for domain names and hosting. They have great customer service!


Yes! It was Network Solutions. I couldn't believe when I read that report.


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## Xeon (Aug 11, 2007)

You can try NameCheap.com or iPower.

If you want domain names only without web hosting, iPower is a very good one.
If you want domain + web hosting, run away from them or they'll show you the REAL meaning of WEB HOSTING HELL.


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## atomikk (Mar 4, 2008)

lunarpages.com is what I like using, $6 a month and they give you your domain for free


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## Titchimp (Nov 30, 2006)

I normally use 123-reg but i used Godaddy the other day for a registration, found the whole process very long and they kept trying to trick me into buying more than the domain!


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## bunuttz808 (Mar 4, 2008)

I have been using Yahoo Stores for awhile. Both for my Commerce and Domain names and it ghas been a favorable experience for me. Good Customer Service and they are supposed to be favorable in Search Engines...goodluck in your ventures! 

~M


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

Titchimp said:


> I normally use 123-reg but i used Godaddy the other day for a registration, found the whole process very long and they kept trying to trick me into buying more than the domain!


Yeah, GoDaddy makes very little money off of domain registration. They make most of their money off the extra crap they trick people into paying for.


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## goonatic (Sep 5, 2007)

$10 per year is standard. Most regulations are setup by the ICANN group which controls the WWW. They make you pay every year so that unused domains will go back into the pool if someone doesn't re-register.

Godaddy has the best admin features for controlling your domains. Namecheap also has ggod admin features. I have used Yahoo and find that there admin tools are outdated.

Mark


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## CoolTechno (Sep 27, 2008)

normally the standard is around $10 per year. I would recommend GoDaddy, and there are loads of promo coupons which you can get .com for about $7 a year.

there are loads of places which offer domain registration free of charge as well, but there are hitches attached with it


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## bgraphics (Sep 27, 2008)

I use 1and1.com and love it


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## Gamechanger (Sep 30, 2008)

A great read. So far from what I read: namecheap and godaddy are the ones that I would have to consider for myself.

NOTE: I am all new to the t-shirt biz and the information on this great forum is just fab. Thanx.


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## TheGiftedG (Oct 20, 2008)

I always use Grab A Dot Com - Cheap Domain Names

They are the same as godaddy but much cheaper! the service is just as good and i have never had any problems, i have over 300 domain names with them and recommend them to anyone.


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## lburton3 (Aug 14, 2008)

i love godaddy, and they love me.

proof: when i registered my domain name, they personally called me within an hour to make sure everything was going alight!

enough said.


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## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

if you are going to have a domain AND a website, i suggest waiting until you are ready for post.. Research good hosts and make sure you pick the right one for your use..

GoDaddy is great for domains, HORRIBLE (in my opinion) for hosting.. I can not stand their user interface and control panel. It is all very confusing.. even for me. 

Anyways, USUALLY when you sign up for a year or so worth of hosting you get a FREE domain.. so dont just jump in a buy a domain.. Try to get a deal.


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## theprintshop (Oct 8, 2008)

prattejr said:


> Can someone give me some suggestions as to where is the best place to register a domain name. I want to be sure that whatever the avenue I use the company doesn't retain possession of the domain name. Therefore it will always remain mine. Also i notice sites like Yahoo small business charges $10.00 a year for a domain name. Is this a normal contigent fee? Thanks in advance!!


Best would be to use an established company who have fast servers and based in the USA (if you are located in USA). Last thing you want is your customers go to your site and the company who you have hosted the site their web server is down..that is not good. If your server is based in USA then the pages will come up faster than compared to having the web pages hosted in Europe. This become important when you plan to SEO (Search engine optimization) your site for google, yahoo and plan to target the local US market...etc..


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## Lopsta Ecommerce (Sep 23, 2009)

i use namecheap, but notice that most hoster have one free domain included in the standard hosting packages. so if you are looking for both hosting and domain if might be better to start with a hosting offer.
the domain will ALWAYS be yours.

i find godaddy website and admin structure very confusing.
i switched from godaddy to hostmosnster recently and like it much more.


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