How to Choose Best Domain Name Registrar for Your Website

Before knowing the domain name registrars (Domain Name Registrar) you must know what domain name is and what its use in registering any website :

What is Domain Name?

Domain Name is an identification of your website or a unique name of your website, it represents an Internet Protocol (IP) resource and used for identifying a network domain over Internet. Using your domain name you can access your website contents. If you want to build a website then you need to purchase or register a domain name for your website. Without domain name you all have to remember the IP addresses of your websites which is harder to remember than domain name.

The registration of these domain names is usually managed by domain name registrars who sell their services to the public. Basically they are the companies who manage the domain names for your websites and provide their services with attractive offers and discounts. There are many domain name registrars who provide similar kind of services with same features but each registrar has its own brand value and advantages.

Definition of Domain Name Registrar:

The information about domain registration is maintained by the domain name registries, which has contract with domain registrars to provide registration services to the public.

A domain name registrar is a service provider that lets you register and purchase domain names for your websites.

Domain name registrars must have accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Most of the domain registrars charges fee for their services and products to both the annual and administration fees that is paid to ICANN.

The Domain name registrars register the domain name for a certain period of time with a certain amount. After that time period the domain will expire and you need it renew or re-register by following the same procedure and terms. For example if you want register xyz.com domain name then you have to search for availability of this domain name. If available then you can register it with domain name available for a certain time period i.e. 1 year, 2 years or more by paying determined fee.

The maximum time limit of registration for a domain name is 10 years. The domain name extensions which are common for registrations are like .com, .org, .co, io, etc, that followed by domain name.

How to Choose the Domain Registrar Company

There are hundreds of domain name registrar are available to choose from their websites. To purchase your suitable domain name from a domain name registrar you need to take extra care of it.

Here we discussed few points to consider while purchasing your domain name and other services.

1. Price Range and Contract Period

You register your domain for a certain period of one, two, three or even more years. When you looking for domain register, you go through the various pricing options and then finally you register any one of the price and period of years.

If you registering for first time you should take care of auto renewal option, doing so you don’t need to take care of your renewal and your domain will not expire if you forget to renew. You will also free to choose another registrar to transfer your domain.

2. Extra Services

Many domain name registrar companies offer additional services for domain name registration like free domain name with purchasing a hosting, free SSL certificate, website building etc. This could be very beneficial for you.

If you want all-in-one package then choose the services wisely as there may be some hidden charges in it. Apart from these you should compare the pricing of various registrars.

3. Domain Name Transfer

When you purchase your domain name you would not want to transfer it immediately but in future it may need to transfer your domain from one registrar to another. So before purchasing domain name you should check the details about transfer policy of that registrar. You would not be able to transfer your domain before 60 days of registration.

Some registrar also charge transfer fee or they don’t allow to transfer but some of them not charge and allow you to easy transfer.

4. Domain Expiry and Renew

Your purchased domain registration expires after a certain period of time whichever period you have chosen while registering. If somehow you forget to renew it or your account has not sufficient balance while renewing, this makes your domain expire and it will be available for other people to register. It is possible your domain name to be registered with other person’s business.

5. Customer Care

While choosing your domain registrar you should examine the support services of that particular company. So that after registering your domain if anything goes wrong with your site and its settings, you contact support team, they easily understand the issue and solve it quickly.

To enquire the support team of different registrar you should read the reviews of customers online from their website or you can raise any issue to let them solve to know how clearly and quickly they resolve the raised issue.

Thus, your domain is no longer in your reach now. Means your business from that site has gone for others. To prevent this type of miss happening, nowadays many registrars provide the services that hold your domain after expiry. They send you the reminder to renew before it actually expires.

While Choosing a Domain Name Registrar you should take care of:

While registering a domain name, there are some key features that you might look for. These features will be helpful to you to handle your website nicely and this will a good choice to register your website’s domain name.

1. Domain Transfer Fee

If you want to transfer your domain from current registrar to another registrar or you are planning to sell your domain, then you need to look for hidden transfer fees for that. Some registrars don’t charge for this but some may charge. For that you should make sure their fees are clearly mentioned in their terms and conditions.

2. Hidden Pricing with Add-ons

When purchasing your domain name from a domain name registrar, offer some Add-ons features and added fees for that, when you just about to purchase your domain name. So while purchasing domain name you should take care of it if it looks extra cheap as this may not the last price.

You should ensure that you are not paying extra for that domain name. Though lots of registrar are very clear about their pricing and don’t charge hidden costs.

3. User Friendly Service

Domain name registration for first time is the task that should be performed very carefully, because if you choose wrong registrar then you will face difficulty to set up your domain name with your website to maintain running condition.

Very important aspect in this scenario is Technical Support from the Registrar. At each stage you may need support team help like setting up DNS, installing WorldPress, work with C-Panel, and setting Google console or creating email address. So you should purchase he domain name from user friendly domain registrar company.

Comparative Description of Domain Name Registrars:

Here we are going to discuss comparatively about the top domain name registrar companies. Where you can analyze, compare and choose any one among them which is best suited for you to purchase a domain name.

1. GoDaddy:

GoDaddy is a well-known and most polular domain name registrar and hosting Provider Company, that provides Web hosting, WordPress hosting and also dedicated servers. They are the world’s biggest domain name registrar company. Nearly 19 million people make their websites register with GoDaddy using domain extension like.com, .net and .org. GoDaddy cost $14.99/year to register a domain name. They also provide free domain name with a hosting.

With the GoDaddy you will get the services:

1. Simple domain set up. You don’t need any technical skills: They guide you at every step to setup your domain name with hosting ensuring you best services.
2. Up to 100 subdomains create a custom web address: Under a main domain you are facilitated to make subdomains and custom web address related that websites.
3. Real-time monitoring to make sure you’re always up and running: Your website will have minimum risk to get down while running smoothly.
4. Quick, simple tools to forward your domains to any existing website: You can set up any running website with the new domain name by the help of GoDaddy tools that help you out.
5. Award Winning Support 24/7: Provide you a world-class support from their team standing by ready to help you.

2. Gandi:

Gandi was founded in 1999; currently the company offers more than 350 different extensions and manages over 1.5 million domains.

Gandi charges $15.50 to register a domain and the domain transfer fee is $8.00.

According to Gandi, Services and Features are as below:

1. Over 700 extensions: One of the largest catalogs of new TLDs, to which we add more every week.
2. Free SSL Certificate: Each domain name registration comes with a free 1-year Standard SSL certificate for secure domain.
3. 2 email mailboxes: 1000 alias included to forwarding addresses.
4. Gandi Corporate Services: Get help from a dedicated account manager, protect your brand, and enjoy special corporate services.
5. See our Reseller service details: Sell their products on your platform through their powerful API or via our website.
6. Data privacy: They can send a hidden version of your email to the registries (if applicable), so it is never public if you don’t want it to be. Their whois is also 100% GDPR compliant.
7. Unlimited support: Highly-trained support ready to help you
8. DNS management: Manage your DNS on a fast and secure interface. Our LiveDNS tool allows instant record changes.
9. DNSSEC: Available for the most popular extensions and new ones are continually being added.
10. Detailed documentation: Tutorials, guides, and videos to help you start and provide you with tips.
11. Connect to your third party apps in 1 click: Link your domains to your favorite services.
12. Manage your products on all devices: Manage all your products from your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

3. Ionos (1and1):

Ionos currently manages around 19 million domains worldwide. You can get a domain for less than $1.00. However, it is only for the first year. After this initial period the yearly cost of a domain renewal will jump back up to $14.99.

According to Ionos, they provide the Services and Features are as below:

1. Domain Names- Registers the domain names
2. Domain Transfer- Transfer your domain to IONOS, It’s quick and easy in just 3 simple steps and no transfer fee.
3. Domain Guard- Comprehensive domain protection from unauthorized access.
4. SSL Certificates- To avoid a non-secure warning in your browser bar and gain visitors’ trust with an SSL-encrypted website.
5. Website Builder- With MyWebsite, you can build a professional-looking site without paying a professional. It includes everything what you need to get started.
6. Online Starter Kit- You can build your website in just one step. Build a single page free website and if you’re satisfied, it’ll go online immediately. It costs $1/month and you can cancel it anytime.
7. WordPress Hosting- Everything you need to get your WordPress site started. Includes a managed option for comfortable, automatic updating.
8. eCommerce Website Builder- The MyWebsite Online Store packages make it easy for your business to grow and evolve, and include all the tools you need to succeed.

4. Network Solutions:

Network Solutions is a flexible domain registrar and hosting provider. They allow you to register a domain name for $9.99.

According to Network Solutions, they provide the Services and Features are as below:

1. Domain Name Search: Domain Name Search and Registration Starts Here, New Domain Extensions are here.
2. Hosting Services: Web hosting in the cloud keeps website files stored across multiple servers, keeping your site online even if servers crash.
3. Website Design: The easy way to create your own website.
4. SSL Certificate: All of the following SSL Certificates come with ‘https’ in your Web site address and a closed padlock symbol in your browser window to assist with you on your website.
5. Business Email: Business email using your custom domain reinforces your brand and presents a more professional image.
6. eCommerce Store: Control inventory levels and manage products with one-click updates.

Some more Add-ons to enhance your website:

1. CodeGuard: An automatic website backup solution for customers with web hosting packages applications.
2. SSL Certificate: Using data encryption to secure credit card transactions, data transfer, and logins, SSL has become the norm for securing social media sites.
3. SiteLock: The global leader in website security solutions offers complete malware protection.
4. MyTime Support: Always there to assist customers in setting up their products and performing tasks.

5. HostGator:

An award winning web hosting provider HostGator is a great place to register domains. It has a ton of website hosting options, 99.9% uptime guarantee, free SSL certificate, easy WordPress installs, and a free domain for a year. They also offer low priced domain registration bundles for $2.75/mo. This includes Hosting, Email & a Free Domain.

HostGator features will level up your domain management:

1. Domain locking: Prevent unauthorized transfer.
2. Easy management: Your domain control panel is designed for easy-to-use from a single dashboard.
3. Domain renewal: Domain names will auto-renew by default.
4. Domain Privacy Protection: By paying small fee, your personal information will be unavailable in any WHOIS database.

HostGator guarantees to:

1. 24/7/365 Support: HostGatorsupport team is available 24/7, 365 days a year to assist you via Telephone or Live Chat with any hosting-related queries.
2. 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee: HostGator ensures you to try their services at no risk. If you are not satisfied with their support, you can cancel your hosting plan within 45 days you will get your money back.
3. 99.9% Uptime: On purchasing hosting with domain name,HostGator facilitate your web site to 99.9% uptime means you website will hardly go offline.

6. Bluehost:

Bluehost is a popular domain name registrar and web hosting provider, it also recommended for WordPress hosting provider. Bluehost is powering over 2 million websites worldwide.

If you are planning to purchase hosting with domain name then Bluehost is best choice for you. According to Bluehost, Services are as below:

1. The Best Web Hosting: Bluehost offers best services and products. Each Domain Includes:
2. Easy Management- After getting your suitable domain name you can manage your site through a simple interface. Manage your domain and all of its setting easily using control panel. You can change DNS settings easily for multiple domains.
3. Auto-Renewal- If you forget to renew your planmanually, you can set it for auto renew and change back to manual whenever you want.
4. Domain Lock- Once you find your perfect domain, you can lock it to prevent unauthorized access and unlock it for transfers and access at any time.

According to Bluehost, its features are as below:

1. Free Domain Name for 1st Year with hosting purchase: If you purchase hosting for your website then Bluehost provide free domain name for your website for 1 year, means after 1 year you need to renew it to continue the services.  
2. Free SSL Certificate Included: Every website need SSL certificate for securely access your website, some hosting provider charge for it but you can avail it free from Bluehost with purchasing domain name or hosting.
3. 1-Click WordPress Install: Bluehost support WordPress themes to build websites, it has in-build WordPress themes and registration facility. It Provides WordPress hosting with all settings in one place.
4. 24/7 Support: Bluehost has their expert team is always on hand to help answer your questions, get you started, and grow your presence online. You can call, chat or email them any time for 24/7, 365 days in a year support.
5. Starting at $3.95/month: With the hosting at $3.95 per month + email + a free domain, there are different price of different extensions followed by domain name as given below:

Special intro offer and 30-day money-back guarantee:  After purchasing domain name and hosting, if you don’t satisfy with the Bluehost services then cancel your plan and within 30 days you can get your money back.

7. NameCheap:

Every website has a domain name. Namecheap, as a leading domain registrar, offers a wide variety of domains. It costs $10.69/year, but for a limited time, you can get a .com for $8.88, which comes with 1 year free WHOISGuard.

According to NameCheap, Services and Features are as below:

1. Reliable DNS: NameCheap’s dynamic DNS automatically manages changing IP addresses to keep your site running without downtime.
2. WhoisGuard Privacy Protection: WhoisGuard protects your privacy preventing publicly accessible Whois database. It also protects against identity theft and it is free with domain registration.
3. Comodo PositiveSSL Certificate: PositiveSSL is most popular and affordable SSL certificates. Here you can get Comodo PositiveSSL for the first year with purchase of a new domain from NameCheap.
4. Support: Namecheap support team members are available 24/7 to guide you through the purchase process and answer your questions.

8. Name.com:

Purchasing a .com or .net from Name.com will cost you $12.99, and .org will cost only $10.99. Instead domain includes all these free – URL and email forwarding, Two-Step Verification, Forwarding to social media, DNS management.

According to Name.com, their Services and Features are as below:

1. SSL Certificate: Protect website data &increase customer confidence.
2. Website Builder: Customizable templates for a professional looking site.
3. G Suite: Custom email, online storage, shared calendars, and more from Google Cloud.
4. SiteLock Website Security: Improve website security and user trust with automated malware scanning.
5. Branded URL Shortener: Share branded short links and gather analytics on who is clicking them.
6. One-Page Website: Create a simple landing page on a custom domain in minutes.
7. Hosting: Secure hosting with 99.9% uptime.

9. DreamHost:

Dreamhost was founded in 1997; currently the company manages over 1.5 million websites and has over 400,000 customers. Dreamhost charges $13.95 per year to register a .com domain name.

According to Dreamhost, their Services and Features are as below:

1. Super Easy to Use: Their custom control panel is simple to use and removes the headache of managing your web hosting.
2. Full Featured: They do more than web hosting. They provide full featured service you need to setup a website.
3. Fast & Reliable: If your website is slow or down, then you are losing customers, conversion and search engine rankings.
4. 24/7 Expert Support: Their award-winning US-based experts are available to help when you get stuck — anytime, day or night.

10. Hostinger:

Hostinger is a popular domain name registrar. On Hostinger, 15000 people visit per day. It charges $11 for .com for a year including taxes and ICANN fees and renewal fee is $10.99 for 2 years.

According to Hostinger, they provide the Services and Features are as below:

1. Easy to setup: Getting your website live is as simple as a click of a button. Everything you want, it provid in a clear way.
2. Simply fast websites: Website speed can slow or grow your business. Delight your visitors with a lightning fast website.
3. WordPress made easy: Start your website with an automatic single click WordPress installation.The backend is powered by LiteSpeed caching and advanced optimization to make sure that your websites are fast, reliable and secure.
4. 24/7/365 Chat Support: Their team of experts will solve technical issues of your websites and make it up at any time.
5. From micro to large-scale: Different projects require different technologies. Select a plan that matches your requirements to upgrade your website reach.

11. Flippa (Bonus):

Unlike other domain name registrar Flippa is different from them all. Actually they are a marketplace for sale domain names and websites too.

This will be a great experience for to purchase the domain name or website from here because the expired domain names with lot of backlinks or a website itself will boost your online journey. And once you purchase the domain from Flippa you need to register it with a new registrar and also a hosting.

12. Dictionary Domains:

Here another site which is not a domain registrar, but it has collection of all the available unregistered dictionary word domains for your next side project. It gathers one word dictionary names from .com, .org to .co and .io and displays them all. So this make very easy to search your domain name for your ambitious websites.

13. Hover:

Hover is the third-largest ICANN accredited domain name registrar. It has three big registrar merged together within the domain registrar space. They provide only domain name registration and that’s it. You don’t have to be forced to get combo pack with hosting and other services.

The .com domains start at $12.99 for domain registration, $14.99 for a renewal, and $10.99 for transferring a domain name.

14. CrazyDomains:

This is a Malaysia based domain name registrar having 1.5M users with satisfaction rate 93% ,a marvelous achievement. CrazyDomain charges $11.99 per year to register a .com domain name.

According to CrazyDomain Services and features:

1. Search and Register a Domain: Malaysia’s cheapest domain names
2. Transfer: Move your domains to us and save
3. WhoIs Domain: Find who owns a particular domain
4. Back Order: Get the domain name you want
5. Renew: Express cheap domain renewal
6. Private Registration: Protect your asset
7. Reward Program: Earn points with every purchase
8. Guard it with SSL: 85% of online buyers avoid unsecure websites without SSL certificate. So they provide you SSL and build your trust.
9. 24/7 Customer Care: Their support team is ready to help you any time.

Domain Name Price Comparison Table

Take a quick look at all of the domain registrars price range for the most popular extensions.

Domain Registrars	.com	.org	.net	.info	.co
NameCheap	$8.88	$12.98	$12.98	$1.99*	$8.48*
GoDaddy	$2.99*	$11.99*	$13.99*	$2.99*	$2.99*
BlueHost	$11.99	$8.99	$12.99	$11.99	$9.99
Enom	$13.95	$14.75	$18	$18	$32.50
Domain.com	$9.99	$14.99	$12.99	$19.98	$40.98
DreamHost	$11.95*	$13.95	$13.95	$13.95	$26.95
Name.com	$8.99*	$12.99	$10.99*	$13.99	$19.99*
ipage	$10.99	$16.99	$11.99	$16.99	$26.99
A2 Hosting	$14.95	$14.95	$14.95	$14.95	$34.95
Hostgator	$12.95	$12.95	$12.95	$12.95	$12.95
Hover	$12.99	$13.99	$15.45	$13.99	$25.99
CrazyDoamin	$11.99	$13.99	$14.00	$16.50	$12.00
Ionos(1and1)	$1*	$1*	$9*	$1*	$7*

Hope , with the help of this article you can choose your best domain name registrar.