How to research for a good Web Host and Domain Name registrar

I am in the process of registering more and more domain names so it seems natural to look for the best pricing deal.

Does GoDaddy really suck?

Registering multiple domain names can add up quickly, especially if you register both the NoDashVersion.com and Dashed-Version.com names.

Each domain name represents a new site concept which will in most cases involve the selection of a web hosting plan.

It also makes sense to pay a little less for web hosting right? After all, all these new projects add up.

How much do you really save?

The answer to this question depends on how much value we place on our time, and our ability to determine what other software tools are required to run the type of website we have in mind.

In other words, if we think that our time is valuable, we will not mind investing an extra $50-$400 per project per year, especially if there is a lot of value added services and software tools included in the price.

What's the point in saving 50 bucks a year on some bare-bones web hosting if our time gets wasted with support issues or we need to buy additional products and services in order to run our site effectively?

Example of Web Hosting Hell:
http://www.godaddysux.com/web_hosting_hell.html

I do not know about you, but after I read one of these bad web hosting reviews, I start to become very cautious about that company. In this case, it is GoDaddy.

Research your new Web Host or Domain Name registrar

I remembered that GoDaddy has been mentioned a number of times in some of the Internet Marketing courses and SEO books that I own, so I decided to check GoDaddy out. By check them out, I do not mean just visit their web site, swallow their sales pitch and click through to the checkout patting myself on the back for a job well done.

I did a search at Google.com for the term godaddy review, and discovered some interesting results.

After reading a few of the results, I decided to search for the term "do not use godaddy" (this string was searched enclosed with "inverted commas"), and discovered even more negative feedback not only about their web hosting services but also their domain name registration and associated services.

Is it all about Price?

No way. Do we *really* save? on one hand it looks like a saving but on the other hand the saving can be offset by extra costs elsewhere.

As a result of this little study, I have no desire at this time to change my domain name registrar or my two web hosting companies that I use just to save a few bucks.

At the moment, I enjoy the following benefits from my web hosts and domain name registrar:

Everything works to my satisfaction 99.99% of the time
Very little support needed in the first place
Support queries attended to quickly
Support queries always solved to my satisfaction
I never suffer from emotional disturbance as a result of dealing with rude support staff
I am never accused of being the problem
Example of excellent support

I created a new directory and installed a PHP script on one of my sites. All the file permissions were set correctly and the files were uploaded in the correct format.

So I edited the HTML user interfaces and tried to upload them to this new directory. For some reason I was denied access to this new directory. Permission Denied!

I emailed my web host with a description of the problem and within a few hours my web host sent me an email saying that the problem has been fixed and that I can now proceed to upload into that directory. Wow!

A good Web Hosting and Domain Name service is worth it's weight in Gold

Who really wants unnecessary dramas with web hosting and domain name registrars? Nobody does! (except those that cannot survive one day without chaos)

The peace of mind for a few extra bucks a year buys is priceless.

Besides, even if I select some of the platinum (no extras to buy) web hosting deals out there, it still only costs about 10-30 bucks a week to run a business on the Internet.

Imagine that, for a few extra bucks, I need not worry about: Content Management Software, web design, domain name registrations, expensive keyword research and SEO tools, search engine rankings, and the list goes on and adds up *real* quick.

Compare this to a regular bricks and mortar business where you pay thousands a month in rental fees just for a bit of floor space.

Sometimes it pays to do the sums. It might *appear* to cost more money at first, but does it really cost more after you calculate the out-going dollars over the whole year?

When I was in the process of building my first web site, I would not have had the capacity to answer that question because I had no experience. But you know that old saying:

"When someone with experience meets someone with money, the one with the experience ends up with the money and the one who had the money, ends up with an experience"

As a result, I have ended up spending thousands of dollars on eBooks, software, scripts, courses, private memberships, DVDs, VCDs, MP3s in an attempt to complete the online Marketing mystery. This is all now part of my experience.

Conclusion

When we go looking to buy a car or a house, we do not base our decision on price alone. Otherwise we would all be driving around in smokey old $200 bombs. We look for features which we then translate in some way to benefits.

So why waste time looking for cheap-as-chips deals for the very important job of setting up an online Business? We would do much better to look beyond price when buying services on the Internet.

About the Author

Copyright 2004 Ed Zivkovic
Ed Zivkovic is based on the Gold Coast in Australia. Contact details are available at his web site along with many helpful webmaster articles: http://www.ezau.com

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