Domain Name

I am partial to Dreamhost. They provide name registration as well as hosting and easy blog activation.

I have heard that http://www.1and1.com is good. I was pleased with register.com until I added an email account to my domain and have had issues with the reliability and ability to consistently access my email account in a timely fashion. Argh!!! I will likely take the domain name elsewhere. Apparently, once you buy a domain name, you do have the ability to move it to another registering company.

I currently use www.1and1.com and have been pleased with them so far. They have a few issues with their interface, but the customer service has always been good. Their hosting fees are pretty inexpensive, too.

Bri

I think hosting is the item you have to be more careful with, registrars haven't been an issue for me. I use godaddy, haven't had any problems.

Registration doesn't matter as much as hosting, I definitely agree on that one. I like gandi.net myself, but Dreamhost isn't bad if you want to host it with them as well.

Also check out drak.net, "Blue hosting in a Red State" run by a very cool woman down in Austin. They give free hosting to non-profits, and do a good job of walking their talk on a range of progressive issues.

Thank you for the question, as I currently use go daddy for domain name registration. I can always use more information from those in the know. Godaddy often has specials. Some times for as little as $10/year you can reserve a domain name,if you reserve 3 or more names.
We often reserve names for friends as gifts for a year or so, for that price.

I agree hosting is the real issue. And I thank the others for giving me some more information.

Kathleen

Hey CJ,

I use GoDaddy.com for my domain name registrations. For hosting I use Dreamhost. You usually get one free domain when you sign up for Dreamhost. Do a search for "Dreamhost Coupons" on Google. There are some huge savings out there.

Here is a discount link for a $6.95/domain for GoDaddy.

http://www.dealtaker.com/bounce.php?C0url=coupon48106

No problem.

You can always transfer the registration to another site or host later. If you are trying to save money then I believe there is an easy to use site called mydomain You are only going to be saving a dollar or two a year though. Another thought is to register your .com and then also do it in .net, .org, etc. My domain offers bulk pricing, unlike other sites. Go daddy often has specials though and you can make a pretty decent site with them.

If you are planning on registering a lot of domains you want to use a service like godaddy or namecheap which allows mass edit features. Both are solid choices for just one or two domains as well.

Between the two, namecheap is slightly more expensive than godaddy but i prefer their user interface and customer service much more.

Stick with someone reputable however, you don't want to go down the path of RegistryFly....

In any case if you are paying more than 8 or 9 bucks a year you are getting ripped off. Don't opt in for things like email, free hosting, etc. Just buy the domain and get your hosting elsewhere.

Domain registrar hosting is notoriously crappy.

EDIT: you can also always find discounts at http://www.retailmenot.com/ not my site btw = not spaming ;) Just enter the domain name where you are registering and you can usually save a buck or so in the "coupon" field.

namecheap is easier to navigate and doesn't as aggressively upsell you on crap you don't need. i was very happy with my experience when i bought tietheknotspot.com ..