Initial thoughts regarding choosing my next registrar - Your views appreciated

[Learning]

Hi,

I am completely new to this (just wrote first post in introductions forum this morning) so your kind patience will be highly appreciated.
I have a very small business and I am trying to learn more about domain names registration as I am creating a very simple website for my business.
I am doing it myself, taking the opportunity to learn.

My domain was registered with Yola at the beginning of this year (making use of a free offer for small business by GBBO "Getting British Business Online" initiative) and as the package with Yola is about to expire, I am looking into moving from Yola to another domain registrar.
At this stage, my prefered option would be to move my domain to a new Domain Provider and have the website separate.
I am trying to find out more about domain registrars based in the UK in order to make a good choice for my next registrar.

How should I choose my next registrar?
I am trying to nail down: what do I need, what do the different registrars offer and how their offers are different, what services they offer and what are their prices (initial price but also renewal price in future).
I would really appreciate your thoughts regarding my initial findings and questioning.

List of criterions/questions to choose registrar:
- based in UK ? (my understanding is that the country of the website affects the rankings by search engines like google)
- includes E-mail Account
- POP Email (same?)
- E-mail forwarding accounts ?
- Adverts / Banners / Popups? (no thank you)
- Domain privacy ?
- Web Diversion ?
- Administration Control Panel ?
Q: what other key Domain Features should I consider?

List continues with things that make little meaning to me - read these somewhere but not sure what it means or whether answer would be meaningful to me though ;-)
- resource limit (?)
- what servers are used for shared hosting (?)
- Web Forwarding (?)
- Setup (?)
- NameServer Control (?)

There must be loads of other things I should consider. I would appreciate if you could tell me a few.

FEES for a .co.uk domain:
123-reg: 1 year for £4.99; 10 years for £34.90
Easily.co.uk: 1 year for £5.98; 10 years for £41.35
FastHosts.co.uk: £2.95 per year (for 2 to 10 year registrations). Note: Based in the UK (+), Free Domain privacy for consumers with .uk domains
networksolutions.com : 10 years for £93.69
UK2.net: £2.69 per year
TucowsDomains ...

Any other UK-based registrars you would suggest I look into?
Any feedback regarding above or other UK-based registrars (both postitive and negative). Which one should you avoid and why? Which ones can you trust and for what reasons?

Thank you very much for reading and for your feedback/thoughts.

L

 

[AssetDomains]

Just A quick reply to get you going

Consider domainmonster to store your name reasonably priced a good support.

I use evohosting as my main hosting provider and if you only have the one domain you might also want to use them as your registrar as i think on some hosting plans domain renewal cost are free

This post May be useful
http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/hosting/103310-who-do-you-host.html

 

[Aiden Roberts]

Firstly welcome to the forum.

It's so easy to get bogged down with the detail when you first venture into domain names, if you are planning on buying hundreds of domain names then yes it's relevant, if however you are having just a few then don't feel that you need to understand everything at the outset, we have all been there.

Domainmonster are fine, helpful and have plenty of support articles to guide you through the process of transferring names etc...

Evo Hosting, I am a fan been absolutely fine with me now and when I was a complete newbie. I lost count of how many times I crashed databases and they just fixed it.

The best advice is this, every question you have asked and will ask is probably already answered on the forum, get a coffee and spend time reading you won't regret it.

The search facility at the top of the forum is your new best friend.

All the best

Rob

 

[eddieb]

I would echo the others, adding that it is probably worth using a UK-based registrar and UK-based host. I say this as I have had some unnecessary problems with staff at a US host who didnt seem to know how UK transfers work.
I found UnlimitedWebHosting to be incredibly helpful and very competitive, likewise TSOHosting

 

[Murray]

I really don't like 123-reg for anything.. Id avoid them but that is just me.

tsohost have some pretty good pricing and I find their wordpress hosting very good.

 

[stellar73]

As others have said I would opt for Domain Monster for registrations (£6.70 inc vat for a 2 year co.uk reg which is as cheap as you're likely to get and they're a decent company)

For hosting I also use TSO Host and would recommend them (I have a discount code domainoptions for 10% off any of their products if you or anyone else wants to use it)

The only problem I foresee you having is trying to transfer your name away from Yola (Tucows are the actual registrar behind Yola) - I had a name with them last year and, unlike with most other registrars, they don't make the process easy. I think I gave up in the end, I may have to re-visit it and see if I can figure it out.

 

[Learning]

Initial thoughts regarding choosing my next registrar - Thanks ... and more questions

Hi all,

Thanks for all your answers so far.
I actually have a couple of domain names (all for free so far but expiring soon) and I am also planning to have a couple more in the future.
Hence the effort to make an informed choice. Yes, this means a lot of reading on this forum and others and a little of posting a few questions. Not a problem. Also reading into this, I have come across so many bad reviews for domain registrars that I thought better to look into it now rather than be sorry later and have to spend time to sort it out when you did not expect to.

I note the recommendations for:
- domainmonster (decent company, reasonably priced - about £6.70 inc vat for a 2 year co.uk reg, good support, helpful and have plenty of support articles to guide you through the process of transferring names etc). Nb recommendations: III
- evohosting (for hosting. Domain renewal cost free on some hosting plans). Nb recommendations: II
- UnlimitedWebHosting (very helpful, very competitive). Nb recommendations: II
- TSOHosting (good pricing, wordpress hosting very good). Nb recommendations: III

And to think twice rather than use:
- 123-reg

Additional things I will check before choosing next registrar:
- UK-based registrar and UK-based host
- allows free tag changes (to move registrar if necessary)

I will also need to make sure existing registrar can change the tag to transfer the domain elsewhere otherwise will need to pay £10 + VAT for nominet to do it

Questions:
- Anyone has experience transfering name away from Yola / Tucows?
- What do you think of UK2 ? They seem cheap and have regular discount offers for domains. Is it worth considering or better to avoid for some reason?
- FastHosts.co.uk: recommended or better to think twice / avoid ?
- If I go with Domainmonster for my domain(s) registration, can I just use google site for hosting my website(s) for free or will I need tpo pay for another web host ? I know google site is very basic but it is sufficient for what I need at the moment so I am not keen on paying £ monthly yet for hosting website. Or would I have to host my website anyway as google site would create the content but not host? Confused here...

Thanks.

L

 

[AssetDomains]

I've never used googlesite so can't give any recommendations there's threads on here about this company http://www.freevirtualservers.com/free-hosting.htm
So may be worth a look if you want free hosting.

 

[namealot]

Daily ,co.,uk if you use there domain credits are quite competitive also good with technical issues and sorting out problem that arise easy to use control panel no hiiden extras etc

Domain Credits .uk x 10 £27.90 £2.79 £/Year
Domain Credits .uk x 20 £55.00 £2.75 £/Year
Domain Credits .uk x 50 £134.50 £2.69 £/Year
Domain Credits .uk x 150 £397.00 £2.65 £/Year
Domain Credits .uk x 250 £647.50 £2.59 £/Year
all prices plus VAT
(` 2 year reg = 2 credits, So 50 credits would get you 25 names etc)

=

 

[namealot]

OP has two (2) domains, in terms of the domain registration only it's possible a 5 minute job is being grossly overcomplicated here.

Hosting is going to be a seperate, more complicated matter to resolve.

The articulate and thought out way in which the poster has enquired would indicate that they should not find this so …? It is merely a few clicks and payment and should take less than a few minutes. If you find it so be so I’ll be happy to explain in more detail to you ….?

Hosting is as easy you just add your own or if you use a third party there nameservers

 

[namealot]

They won't if we all start splitting hairs over pennies here.
A £1 saving isn't a real saving if you've spent weeks deliberating over them.
Equally using a some Hosting suppliers to act as registrars is going to confuse the matter further too.



Yes, but not straightforward in this instance, it sounds like the OP has used the free google sites (Google Sites - Free websites and wikis @ sites.google.com) and hasn't decided what they want to continue doing with their sites. If they continue what they are currently doing they won't need hosting.

He asked for registrars I gave one??? You don’t like the suggestion I could care less, daily are fine for hosting and as a registrar.

 

[namealot]

Exactly it's a poor suggestion, you didn't previously recommend Daily for their hosting and you're recommending bulk domain credits for someone with two domain names which would be unsuitable. I noticed so I thought I should point it out.

Maybe you didn't read or missed what they had written.

"I actually have a couple of domain names (all for free so far but expiring soon) and I am also planning to have a couple more in the future."

Which is why I mention the domain credits this takes into account there existing and expansion ,,,
and the " I am not keen on paying £ monthly yet for hosting website."
Which is why I didn’t consider mentioning in my previous post? My subsequent post was in response to your concerns “Hosting is going to be a separate, more complicated matter to resolve.”
Hence "daily are fine for hosting " I’m sure they can sort whatever poster is unable to do...Your adding “spent weeks deliberating over them." is just rubbish . Poster hasn’t mentioned that at all ? Its also there decision as to if they wish to save money be it a penny or a £1

 

[Learning]

Hi,
Thanks all for your suggestions.
Thanks in particular to namealot: Daily and their domain credits sound of interest to me indeed. I have also noticed their one page "Online Business Card" website which would actually be sufficient for my website(s) at this stage (at only £1.99 per year).
http://www.daily.co.uk/products/domain-names/domain-name-businesscard.html
I have therefore looked into others who offer a one page "Online Business Card" website and I have found GoDaddy and Siteopia do this too.
GoDaddy offers a one page business card website as part of their Business Registration (at £3.09/yr). The Business Registration seem to have more benefit, but I have not looked into it further yet. Also I think I have read a number of recommendations to stay away from GoDaddy. Is this the main view here?
I have also come across Siteopia. It offers a one page website, with a free email account which would also be of interest to me.
http://www.siteopia.com/domain-registration
I think I will go for a registrar offering a one page Online Business Card website and I am hesitating between Daily and Siteopia.
Questions:
- GoDaddy: avoid?
- Daily: Anyone has used their one page "Online Business Card" website? Feedback?
- Siteopia: Have you used them? Would you recommend them?
Thank you for reading and for your feedback/thoughts.
L

 

[Murray]

No offense but jesus christ!

How do you ever get anything done if you spend this much time just choosing a registrar and host :| unbelievable.

Just pick one and go with it, if you don't like them switch, simple.