Guest guest Posted October 26, 2001 Report Share Posted October 26, 2001 I need to register a domain - does anyone know what's the best/cheapest option? I've checked out quite a few (register.com, uk2.net, and a few more) but I can't figure out how they charge and whether what they offer is good or bad. Register.com says you get 3 web pages hosted free, which sounds like a joke :-) Any ideas? Karina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2001 Report Share Posted October 26, 2001 There are 1000s of companies willing to register a domain name. The basic service means registering the name with Internic along with your details, and providing a small amount of internet space to point your domain to temporarily or park your domain. You don't have to build your site on their pages - you can transfer to a virtual hosting company that will provide the kind of service/price you are after. Once you sign up with a host, they will give you the DNS numbers for their servers which you need to tell the registration company so that they can release the domain. Lots of hosting companies will provide a registration service as well, so you don't have to mess about with this step yourself. You just have to make sure that your host company doesn't tie you into using them forever by having huge fees on domain transfer - look for one that will let you transfer to another company for free in case you don't like their service. A registrar will always let you transfer anytime for free because hosting isn't where they make their money. So basically read the fine print. Generally, if a company is offering free or really cheap registration, expect there to be some hidden costs or conditions that may cost you more in the long run. When I first got my own domain, I started out with a freebie host, figuring that I could put up with a small banner ad on my pages. Unfortunately, their service was awful, and the small banners were not so small, and were typically for on-line casinos - something I didn't particularly want to advertise on my sites. I decided to move to a paid service (about $70/year), and am really pleased with everything about it. The company I use is www.parcom.net - if you look at their site, you'll see the kind of thing they have to offer at the different price levels. There's no point in paying for more than you would want to use on your site - such as databases, secure sockets etc, if you have no need for this, and with any company, you should be able to upgrade the service if your needs change. Hope this helps! Joyce Where to get a domain I need to register a domain - does anyone know what's the best/cheapest option? I've checked out quite a few (register.com, uk2.net, and a few more) but I can't figure out how they charge and whether what they offer is good or bad. Register.com says you get 3 web pages hosted free, which sounds like a joke :-) Any ideas? Karina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2001 Report Share Posted October 26, 2001 > I need to register a domain - does anyone know what's the > best/cheapest option? > > I've checked out quite a few (register.com, uk2.net, and a few more) > but I can't figure out how they charge and whether what they offer is > good or bad. Register.com says you get 3 web pages hosted free, which > sounds like a joke :-) > > Any ideas? > > Karina As Joyce says,the best isn't usually the cheapest option. I hesitate to put our small company forward, but bsnet registers domains. does all the hassley bits for you, and hosts them too. If you go to http://www.bsnet.co.uk you can search for, and order your domain name. The price that will come up is £50 for two yrs but we charge friends less If a customer buys bulk domains (ie more than 5) we charge him 11.75 each, but for one domain it's £25 (for friends!) including hosting on our server. I'm sure there are cheaper options but we do a good reliable service. Ruthie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2001 Report Share Posted October 26, 2001 I use uk2.net and hmm. can't think of the name of the other - fasthosts - www.fasthosts.co.uk both of whom offer a web forwarding so my site is actually on freeserve and costs me nothing, but the domain names (I own about 10, for actual business and putative businesses ) are registered through those two. Of the two, fasthosts worked out cheaper, but I heard about them after I'd already registered the plushpants name. There was a discount through both if you registered more than 10 and I don't recall it being punitively expensive to register the names with either. It was a one-time payment for a two year registration. Web forwarding and email forwarding came free. Support for both is seat of the pants (ie if you can't work it out yourself, you're beggared basically!) but that's why they're so cheap. I found UK2.net to be the more intuitive of the two. Fasthosts were undergoing some changes when I registered domains with them, which meant their service took some time to kick in. In fact, I've just checked by typing one of my domain names, and it didn't send me where it should have so it obviously hasn't kicked in yet and I'll have to go and sort it out - bum! Still, it's not an up-and-running thing yet, so no major panic!! I think when it boils down to it, it doesn't matter a jot where you register your domain name, so I'd just go for the cheapest. I think the important thing is the website host. I was OK with Freeserve, as they supported my slightly weird web editing software and I initially had some help writing and uploading the site (which turned out to be a *very* mixed blessing, but that's another story), which meant that I didn't have to spend too much time figuring stuff out. The only downside of being hosted by Freeserve that I've discovered is that the stats software I originally used - which was a paying service iyswim - and the free software I now use, can't use java so I can't have a full trace on hits to my site. This doesn't bother me unduly as I'm pretty good at sorting out where actual customers come from. HTH Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2001 Report Share Posted October 30, 2001 > > I need to register a domain - does anyone know what's the > > best/cheapest option? www.123-reg.co.uk charges about £3 a year for a .co.uk domain name (you buy 2 years at a time). That doesn't include web hosting, but does include web and email forwarding which I find quite adequate for my requirements for my family website. Lynda SAHM to (8), (6), Fraser (3), Callum (15/5/00) Newsletter editor, Mid-Northumberland Branch Area Rep, Region 7 www.familygarland.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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