Buying a domain?

[Fade2Black]

I am considering buying a domain, for example (thisdomain.com) but I'm not exactly sure what website to go through to start the process. I don't know a whole lot about all that kind of stuff so any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. I'm also new to the forum and I'm not sure if this is the right topic to post this in so please bare with me. Thank you!

[Erock]

Hey thanks for making this thread. I was basically about to ask the same thing. I just want to park a certain domain name and wanted to ask people if they've had a good experience with a certain service.

[Dan.Linehan]

Domain availablity: Psychic Whois

Ordering the domain and the hosting plan: DreamHost Web Hosting using coupon code "mddr" for $50 off.

I personally have had bad experiences with 1and1 and Godaddy.

My 2c.

[Blueskied]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I personally have had bad experiences with 1and1 and Godaddy.

What were your bad experiences with Godaddy?
I am asking because i've got my 2 domains registered with them.

[moondream]

I've bought a couple through namecheap.com after hearing good things from several other people online who've used them. I haven't had any problems so far. There's a May discount code (code: MAYFLOWERS) that allows you to register the domain for $8.41.

[tracyrtwyman]

My bad experience with godaddy in the past was that I registered a domain and just used it to point to another site that I already had. Then my computer died and I lost the password to control it. So I contacted them and tried to get the password reset and they put me through Hell literally making them sending copies of my passport and birth certificate to prove that I was me. And that didn't work. They still wouldn't let me control my own domain. Then my ownership lapsed and before I got a chance someone else scooped it up and turned into one of those sites that has nothing on it but links and ads.

[Marth]

basically if you want a website & have things posted on it you will also need to buy a hosting account or set up your own server on your computer with a program like Apache, I recommend buying the hosting account though. read this thread

[Restrikted]

I bought a domain name not too long ago (have yet to get hosting for it) from GoDaddy, and it seems to me like they really care about the customer. About a day after buying my domain, a representative called asking if they could be of any further assistance. I think that's pretty good for a company so big. Although, I haven't put them "through the test" of customer service like Tracy did, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt, or sand, whichever you prefer (gotta give the people options). As for hosting, its all a matter of preference, people will swear by hundreds of different companies. I personally use Penguin Web Hosting, and they've been great so far (had them for over a year).

[sunj]

Generally on sites where you can buy domains, like Dreamhost, you type in the name you want and it will do a check for you to see if it's available. It's before you pay anything for it. I'm with Dreamhost for 2 years with just the domain and never had problems with them. In a few months I will be hosting with them.

[Niki]

Just a quick tip.

Never check the availability of a domain name with NetworkSolutions, because they "preorder it" and then ask more money for it .

[pianoperformer]

I recommend NameCheap as well. I have all 20 of my domains with them and have never had a problem.

I would not recommend DreamHost for hosting. They are very cheap, which might seem OK, but it is cheaper than they can realistically provide. With such cheap hosts, they will often try to overload their servers in order to make the most profit, which translates to your Web site being slow. Further, if you have a dynamic Web site (e.g., blog, forums, etc), and it gets too popular, many of such Web hosts will have no problem with kicking you off the server. Any shared Web host has limits concerning your Web site activity and load on the server, but the threshold is often much lower with budget hosts.

I, instead, recommend Cartika Hosting. They are much more expensive, but they are the best host I have found in my approximately 7 years of owning Web sites. They are one of only two hosts that I would trust, the other being WebOnce. If money were no object, though, I would go with Cartika Hosting. I have close ties to both, having a friend who works as a support rep at the former, and being friends with the owner in the latter, so I do know that both are quality hosts. I have reasons for choosing Cartika Hosting that are mostly technical and that I will not go into here. However, suffice it to say that due to their superior setup, Web sites will usually be faster there than on most other shared hosts.

N.B.: I have no experience with DreamHost, just with hosts in the same category as they.

[uberinquisitive]

You can register for domain name on godaddy.com. I think it's about $10/year.

Do NOT register through your web host! I registered through DreamHost, but when I moved over to Lunarpages, it was a big pain.

You can get a free year of hosting on Lunarpages by using TrialPay.

I have a BlockBuster rental membership now (which I wanted anyways), which I signed up for via TrialPay. And the Lunarpages came free.

If you don't need a BlockBuster membership (or any of the other memberships), simply cancel before the free trial is over. You still get to keep your web hosting.

[Syr]

To throw in my 2 cents: ServInt.net is an excellent host in my opinion. They are over a decade in the business (which is very long for such a young industry).

The majority of sites I have are hosted on one account at ServInt, where I have virtual root access to (meaning I rent a part of a server as if it's my own dedicated server). And because I'm not that linux-literate, I have to use their network operations center sometimes, which do the tasks I can handle, but that support is already in the monthly fee. And most of my domains are registered at GoDaddy as well, altough I heard very bad things about their hosting.