Cheapest Domain Name Registrars – Who Offers The Best Deal on the Internet Today?

With so many registrars to choose from, information overload happens all too easily and it can be tempting to take what looks like the cheapest deal at the time.

However, if you want to find the cheapest domain for your website it is worth taking a bit of time to evaluate what’s on offer from the different registrars, as well as be aware of what to look for before choosing who to register your domain with.

Why The Cheapest Is Not Always The Best….

Firstly, you need to make sure that the registrar is accredited by ICANN, or that it is an authorized reseller of an accredited registrar. You can check this at the icann.org accredited list of registrars.

Next you need to find out if there are any costs involved for transferring a domain to another domain registrar if you are not happy with the service they are providing, or if you find one with lower costs. Registrars – whether they offer the cheapest domains or the most expensive, have a reputation for holding domain names ‘hostage’, with some charging outrageous fees for transferring to another registrar, or they create long delays to avoid losing business. You may well find the cheapest name with one registrar, but if they offer poor service and make it difficult for you to change to another registrar, it may be worthwhile paying a little more for better customer service and support.

Check out the features offered by the registrar; some of the services may duplicate what you already get from your hosting service, such as email accounts, email forwarding and domain forwarding. Some companies will lower the price of domains if you select some of their add-on services, so whilst at first glance you may think they are expensive, you could well find that they offer the cheapest domains if you require their extra services.

Although registering a domain should be a simple and straightforward process, it is useful to have some sort of customer service support available in case you run into difficulties. If the provider does not offer any customer support, I would err on the side of caution and choose one which does provide assistance, even if you have to pay slightly more for the domain. Look for customer support with email options and live chat rather than just a toll call option which of course will end up costing you more money.

The Cheapest Domain Name Ever

You will find some registrars who offer the cheapest domain ever – FREE! However, as with everything ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’. If you do opt for one of these offers you need to make sure that the domain is registered to you, and not to your web host or registrar. Some people have discovered that free or below-cost domains are at best difficult – and more likely impossible – to switch to a competing registrar at a later stage.

A final thought before you choose the cheapest domain name; you might think it’s a bargain to go for one of the.info domains, but there are many people who search for a website by simply guessing a website name and entering it into their toolbar instead of using a search engine. Most people will look for a.com website, or a country-specific TLD such as .uk, .au, .us for example. If you opt for the cheapest domain available rather than one of the more recognised TLDs it can make your site harder to find, and possibly harder to rank for in the search engines.