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Where to Register
Domains?
By
Zach Bastick
Gone are the days when
Network Solutions would
charge you astronomical
fees to register
domains. Actually, their
fees are still heavy,
but they have
competition now. There
are hundreds of Domain
Registrars on the
Internet today most
which charge
considerably lesser than
Network Solutions to
register domains. But
with so many registrars,
how exactly do you go
about selecting the one
for you? When you
register domains, here's
what you need to pay
attention to.
First and foremost, you
check if provider is an
accredited ICANN domain
registrar. This is
important because ICANN
only certifies
businesses with the
right technology and
processes. Besides that,
if you register domains
with an ICANN accredited
registrar, and they do
foul up; you always have
the choice of
complaining about it to
ICANN. So always look
for an “ICANN
accredited” seal on the
registrar’s site before
you go ahead and
register domains with
them.
Secondly, before you
register domains,
you should know what
kind of domains you may
need in future. Almost
everyone will register
domains with Top Level
Domains (TLDs) like
.com, .org and .net. But
not all registrars will
register domains with
international extensions
such as .in, .fr, .eu,
.cc, or even specialized
extensions such as the
more recent .mobi. Of
course, when a new TLD
or ccTLD is approved by
ICANN, it takes time for
registrars to upgrade
the applications and pay
fees to handle the new
extensions; so users
(such as yourself) may
experience a delay
before being able to
seamlessly register
domains in new
extensions. But, in any
case, your registrar
should be proactive in
doing it. Otherwise, you
will end up depending on
several registrars to
register domains in
these other fancy TLDs.
This means more control
panels to look after,
more usernames and
passwords, and often,
more headaches every
time you register
domains. However, there
are some people who
prefer to do this, but
for different reasons
entirely: They will
register domains with
the lowest cost
registrar for a
particular TLD at that
time.
Another point worth
consideration is how
powerful and
feature-rich the control
panel of your domain
registrar is. Some
registrars only let you
register domains with
basic services: they
won't let you set your
own child name-servers,
or they will make the
domain transfer process
overly complex and time
consuming (so that you
will be stuck with the
registrar that you
register domains with).
You might also want a
separate account manager
of a domain or a group
of domains, while you
look after billing and
renewals. Other features
like alternative name
suggestions, whois data
privacy, and, added
services like email and
hosting differ from
provider to provider and
may not be included at
all when you register
domains with them. So
before you go ahead and
register domains with
any old registrar, you
need to consider what
features you want, and
how much you are ready
to pay for them.
Again, if you are
looking to register
domains in bulk, you
should look for a
registrar that allows
you to do so at a
considerable discount.
Most registrars offer
bulk discounts to good
customers. If you do
want to register domains
in bulk, or want to
become a reseller, you
should check if your
registrar provides
customizable web pages
or APIs (interfaces)
that allow you to sell
domains with your own
prices and branding. Of
course, there are
additional costs
involved for this. These
are levied on a
subscription basis.
Also, as the API and web
pages will reside on
your provider's servers,
uptimes and service
quality become an
important point to
check. If you plan to do
a lot of business after
you register domains,
you should stick with
providers with a good
reputation. With
competition just a click
away, lost business
never comes back.
You should pay attention
to the price last. Most
competitive providers
allow you to register
domains in .com, .org
and .net, at a price
near 9 USD (inclusive of
the 0.25 USD ICANN
surcharge). However, the
cost per domain varies a
great deal if you are
looking to register
domains in other
extensions and ccTLDs
(Country Code Top Level
Domains). If you are
just a casual buyer, or
are just interested in
registering domains with
.com, .org and .net
extensions; the price
shouldn't bother you
much. But if you are
registering domains in
bulk, cost savings of
even one dollar per
domain becomes huge when
you talk numbers. Before
you decide to register
domains, and especially
if you are looking to
invest in domain names,
you should check out a
few registrars, as
prices change almost
every day. Good hunting.
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