OK….I think I’ve had my final straw with Godaddy Domain Name Services….I won’t air the dirty laundry this time…its just not worth it.
So…..the only thing I liked about Godaddy was the prices….and when you’ve got ~300 domain names, where most are registered for ~5 years, what’s my alternatives without spending tons?
I’m ready to make the leap, and I need some help in finding good domain name registration alternatives.
Can anyone help?
20 Responses
Not sure if you’ve ever looked at 1&1 but their prices are actually cheaper than GoDaddy. 1and1.com
$5.99 for TLD. I’ve thought about moving my domains from GoDaddy as well, but have always been taken aback by the amount of time it will take.
I may just start registering domains at 1&1 and then slowly migrating the other domains from GoDaddy as I can.
Hope it helps Jim!
I’m having good success with http://www.RegisterFly.com so far. I’ve got 10 domains with them currently and adding new ones daily. Alternatively, Yahoo! is having a $2.99 .com special right now.
Try Moniker.com – Monte Cahn, the owner is very active in the domain name space, he hosts a show at Webmater Radio and is an all around good guy. Good prices, secure locking, no bs, and very sensitive to the needs of an SEO.
I use registerfly and namecheap and am happy with both of them. The only thing they need to “fix” is requiring you to have referrer logging turned on.
Jim! I have the solution for you. Go with Enom.com. I have used a ton of domain registers, but this is the only one I would transfer all my domains! Call them and they might waive the cost to transfer in domains if you tell them you have 300 domains. Ask about the reseller account as well for discounts.
After turfing GoDaddy I have found great success with Domain-Maniac.com.
I second the recommendation for registerfly.com. I have about 75 domain names with them now.
Yahoo’s domains for $2.99 must be a loss-leader to get people in the door there, but you can do up to 5 years at this price.
For your most valuable domains use Moniker.com. It’ll cost more but they definately have the best reputation (I know several six and seven-figure domains using them.)
Otherwise, I would use RegisterFly. They aren’t perfect, but I’ve heard far less complaints than GoDaddy.
Since u have 300 domains, definetly u will need whois protection. Registryfly.com will be best fit for u. They are charging $0.9 for whois protection.
First try them for a dozen of domain and then move the rest.
THanks everyone for your advice…I’ll post on what my outcome was when I do the big change.
I was under the impression since google as a register, that whois protection was worthless….any thoughts?
I love that http://www.1and1.com offers $5.99 regular pricing (not a catchy special offer) and FREE domain private Registration. I gotta turn this feature on real soon, its a nice freebie which cost about $10 elsewhere.
Rob Higgins
Urbana, Illinois
I second Moniker.com. Monty treats people well, gives great service, and will fix (or work with you) to fix any problems.
I’ve been very happy using them – great bunch of people over there.
Hi Jim,
Send me an email at e3internet – I’ll be happy to give you a quote. We’re a small group but on the plus side, you can get hold of me anytime on IM. We register direct through Tucows, so you have the security/backup you need.
Best
Nick
“I was under the impression since google as a register, that whois protection was worthless….any thoughts?”
Registrars *only* have access to the details of the domains registered through them. Google (as any registrar) does not have access to a ‘master list’. They do however, as a registrar have direct channels to the TLD Registries (Verisign et al.) which will allow them to carry out better queries on WHOIS data.
Nick,
Can you explain this more “They do however, as a registrar have direct channels to the TLD Registries (Verisign et al.) which will allow them to carry out better queries on WHOIS data. ”
Can google find if you own a bunch of sites if they are registered with “whois protection”?
Hi Jim,
No problem. Ok, when you get agent status with a Registry they assign you access to their API as part of the deal. Think of it like getting a API code from Google. This allows you to carry out more queries on their services, WHOIS queries or domain registrations for example. Depending on your importance you will get more channels or a higher priority. Public connections are way down the list.
This is how the ‘drop-name’ services work. They lease the channels from other Registrars for this period (11am and 2pm Pacific time) which gives them the best chance of securing the domains. You may be plugging away on your laptop, but if your Registrar has leased a large amount of their API power to a drop-name company, you don’t have a chance.
So a good reason for Google becoming a registrar would be to secure some of these API channels for their own applications. With the level of queries they would be running, they would need this level of partnership with the Registries.
>Can google find if you own a bunch of sites if they are registered with “whois protection�
Apparently not. I have this on good authority from Ross Radar, Head of Research and Innovation at Tucows. Individual registrars can only have access to the data relating to their own clients. Google has exactly the same access as anyone else with a WHOIS tool (taking on board what I wrote above).
However we all know Google is building up a lot of data on domain names at the moment. They have said as much. If you are registering a new domain, then WHOIS protection can keep it off the radar. For a domain with history, it would be more complicated. In the profile Google builds up, I’m sure they would be asking questions like:
Did the domain expire?
Has the registrar changed? (All the WHOIS protection services I have seen still list the Registrar)
Have the nameservers changed from the previous values?
With their new database they could probably make some pretty sensible guesses if this domain changed hands or whether it just tried to go off the radar.
THanks Nick!
perhaps I should do a post on this topic.
No problem Jim, you’re more than welcome to use my material here.
If you need any other domain infomation, you have my email. I’d be happy to provide it (or speak directly to someone who can).
I don’t think a lot of people have really grasped why Google became a registrar quite yet. When buying old domains, people will have to be careful not to set off potential triggers in their new system.
1and1.com is the worst registrar on the planet…you’d be well-served to stay the heck away from them….just do a search for 1and1.com on any decent forum and you’ll see how bad they really are…
Just one comment on the previous information about Private Registration. I ran into this question before when I was asking about an SSL process. Nick is correct that only the registrar can see the private information, in further to that the information submitted to the registry, .com for example to Verisign, is the private information so only the registrar has the match up of the real address to the hidden address.
On the other side though be careful using private registration because some registrars may also hide the information from the WHOIS database but also make it very uncomfortable for you to transfer the domains, since the automatic email from registrar to administrative or registrant contact will go directly to the losing registrars private registration email box.
This means that you have to ask the right questions before you submit your transfers, turn off my domain lock and turn off my private registration.
I hope that helps anyone that has experienced this before. If you would like to learn more you can email me.
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