Choosing a domain name for your small business website is one of the first and most crucial steps in exploring new opportunities in the cyberspace.
There are different characteristics of a good domain name, such as being short, memorable, easy to pronounce and type, unique, brandable, etc.
Once you’ve settled on a domain name and you’re ready to register it, the next big step is finding a good domain registrar company you can trust to keep your domain safe and secure.
What to Look For When Choosing a Domain Registrar?
The following are the most important criteria to keep in mind when deciding between different domain registrars.
ICANN Accreditation
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the organization that maintains and administers the global domain name system infrastructure. They make policies and rules that domain registrars are required to adhere to.
An ICANN-accredited registrar is one that is authorized by ICANN to provide domain registration services. All reputable registrars out there are accredited by ICANN and usually feature the ICANN logo in the footer of their website.
If in doubt, you can easily access the public list of ICANN-accredited registrars to check if the company you’re interested in is listed or not. If not, it’s better to avoid it and choose one of the accredited providers instead.
Reasonable Prices
Domain registration and renewal prices vary from one TLD (extension) to another and from one registrar to another.
Many registrars offer a discounted price for the initial first-year registration and then charge a higher price for renewal. Some companies have low/reasonable renewal prices, and some are often criticized for being expensive.
Take your time to check out and compare prices at different registrars to find the best deal for you.
Whois Privacy
A Whois privacy feature, aka private registration, helps you protect your personal information by removing your contact details from the public Whois record of the domain.
Without Whois privacy, your name, location, email address and phone number will be publicly displayed in the Whois record of your domain. This may lead to privacy and security risks you don’t need.
Look for a domain registrar that offers free Whois privacy. Luckily, many companies do offer it for free, so this should be an easy task.
DNS Management
Every domain name needs to be connected to a DNS service to be functional. Most registrars offer free DNS service and management tools with varying features.
Some companies offer an advanced or premium DNS service with higher reliability, speed and security. This can come in handy if you are looking to use the domain for a high-traffic website or app and you need maximum DNS uptime and speed.
Security Features
In addition to Whois privacy, several other security features can help protect your account and domains.
Look for two-factor authentication, domain locking/unlocking feature, and automatic renewal (to prevent accidental expiration).
Support Service
The support service is arguably the most critical aspect to take into account when choosing a company to register your business domain name with.
You want to opt for a registrar that has 24/7 technical support via different means (email, live chat and/or phone). But what’s more important than that is how knowledgeable, responsive, and helpful the support team is.
Search for user reviews of the company to see what other customers say about their support service, and give it a try yourself by contacting them and asking some random technical questions.
What Are The Best Domain Registrars?
Most review sites don’t necessarily provide an impartial advice on the right domain registrars to consider, because those are usually affiliate-written reviews.
You can find more genuine reviews on online forums and community sites like Reddit. You can also participate in conversations there and seek advice from other experienced users.
Three of the best domain registrars according to Reddit users are Namecheap, Cloudflare, and Dynadot. These three are often recommended for their low prices and good overall service.
Cloudflare is more favored by tech-savvy users, while Namecheap makes a better choice for small business owners because of their simpler interface and quick live chat support.
What About Web Hosting?
Although many companies offer domain name + web hosting bundles, experienced webmasters would often argue that it’s better to keep your domains and hosting separate from each other for better security and management, especially if you own multiple domains.
We’ve already looked at some of the good places to register a domain name, so what sites offer good hosting services?
There’s no simple answer to this question given the many varying factors one has to consider when choosing a web hosting provider, such as the type of website you have, its content, its traffic, your budget, etc.
Back to Reddit recommendations, some of the best affordable web hosting providers that Redditors think highly of include KnownHost and Cloudways.
For technically experienced users who can manage their own server, DigitalOcean and Vultr offer high-performance cloud server instances at low prices.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a reliable company to register a domain name for your small business, opt for a registrar that is ICANN-accredited, has reasonable renewal prices, and offers free Whois privacy as well as DNS service.
You should also make sure that the service is secure and that you can enable two-factor authentication to enhance the security of your account and domains.
Finally, look for users reviews on webmaster forums and Reddit to get a better picture of the company’s reliability and the quality of their support service.