Just to clarify, a domain name is the think you type into a browser to get to a certain web page. Some people refer to domain names as virtual property. Domaining, or the act of buying and selling domains as commodities, or parking them to generate income, is an interesting business model into itself. For most business however, there are 2 main reasons to register a domain name. The first is to use as the place you send people to your web property. For example, when people want to find out more about what I am doing, I can tell them to go to www.travismoise.com. The second reason to register a domain name is to redirect people to a web property that you do not personally own. Such as for an affiliate link or your store on a site like eBay. So, rather than tell people to check out my eBay store, I say go to: www.folkseller.com.
Ok, so I want to buy a domain for my business, where do I get one?
You need to create an account with a domain name registrar. There are LOTS of registers online, I will give you recommendations for only 2 that I have worked with personally for me and my clients.
Registering with GoDaddy.com.
Pros: Godaddy is the king of all registers. It captures a full 10% of the market. Plus, the customer service is great, and the fantastic control panel makes managing your domain(s) relatively easy.
Cons: While Godaddy my be the best, they are certainly not the cheapest. And, everything you want to add is an additional fee. If you are on a very limited budget, and want to get the most bang for your buck, and value your time as nearly zero, than consider 1and1.com
Registering a Domain with 1and1.com.
Pros: 1and1 is big, dependable, and offer a lot of extras for free. Including free email, and free private registration if you want to register a domain in secret. Also, in the case that you you accidentally let a domain expire with 1and1, which is very difficult to do by the way, then they will give you one month in which to pay the redemption fees and fax in the domain redemption form along with $40.00 to get it back. That may seem steep but Godaddy give you only 18 days and charges about twice as much. (OK, ask me how come I know...) As a final plus for 1and1, it really is difficult to accidentally let you domains expire.
Cons: Customer service is not great. I have experienced talking to people in the US and presumable India and the company is actually based in Germany. While being a multinational company has it's advantages, as a customer, getting a response like, "Well we need to wait for the paperwork to be approved by corporate in Germany, and it may take a few days", is not reassuring. Another negative about 1and1 is how hard they make it to actually manage your domains. Want to print a list of your domains? Hard. Want to cancel a domain. You need to login to a separate sub domain. I think they intentionally hide these features thinking that people will stay with 1and1 because it is not worth the hassle to change over.
Best Domain Name Register?
I think it would be a company that combined the actual services and prices of 1and1 with the customer service and usability of GoDaddy. And, while there are probably hundreds of domain name registrars out there, my vote would be to go with GoDaddy.com for everyone were price wasn't the absolute 100% bottom line.
