Should I host & register at separate companies?

[Roxie]

Rosalind...I notice that you say you use godaddy.com for domain registration, but use datawebpro for hosting.

Is there a reason that you keep those 2 services separate?

Thanks

[Will]

It's often prudent to register your domains with a different company to that which hosts them for the simple reason that it's easier to switch hosts should you fall out with them for whatever reason.

I've read too many horror stories about hosts making things difficult for people to point their domains to other hosts simply because there's very little money to be made and so customer service goes down the pan.

For people who are new to domain registration and hosting, it can seem like a more attractive proposition to register and host with the same company, but it's very easy to manage the two separately and any good host will assist you in setting things up so that your domain name points to their hosting server.

[fiatlux5762]

There isn't really a "one size fits all" answer to this question. I've experienced my own horror stories in cases where the domain registration was at a company not hosting the web site also. The most important thing to remember is that if you experience a company intentionally not honoring its obligations (register, transfer, or renewal) regarding a domain you have paid for let them know that you will file a formal complaint with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organization. Their web address is icann dot org.

Jason

[rr]

I learned it in a hardway. I registered a site thru my host who also hosts it obviously ... When I want to move my site to different host as my requirements got more, they gave me hard time moving the site to different registrar ...

So morale : DON'T register the domain name with the host.

.

[profitclinic]

I agree... it's better if they're kept separate.

My first host registered my domain name for me -- in HIS name!

When I decided to transfer to a more client-friendly web host, he blocked the transfer of my domain name for almost two weeks, claiming he couldn't do anything about it. I found out that he was objecting to each transfer authorization request from the registrar.

I gave him 24 hours to transfer registration to me before I let my mad-dog lawyer off the leash and he made the transfer just 5 minutes before the deadline.

So I set up a new site and domain that listed web-hosts who do dodgy stuff, like hijacking domain names, and left him on it for three years. (It cost him a LOT of new business. It even made it into a national small business magazine article, hitting his business even harder. Stupidity is its own reward.)

I have most of my 100-plus domain names registered through GoDaddy and have had no problems with them so far. However, I know a number of serious online marketers who've had problems -- mainly the creation of some very dubious disputes that have cost my friends money to resolve (and the money has ALL gone to GoDaddy).

For the past 12 months I've been using NameCheap.com and find the service excellent. For my .au domains I use NameScout.com -- much cheaper than other .au registrars.


John Counsel
CEO, The Profit Clinic