A domain name is the magic
that turns a raw IP address like 203.153.32.34 into a human-friendly chunk of
text like techiedas.com. Here's a look at five of the most popular domain name
registrars that help you register and manage your domains.
1&1 (1 Year Registration: $4.99)
All 1&1 domain
registrations include a simple five-page starter website (consider it a
"super" domain parking package), an email account with 2GB of
storage, and free private domain registration to shield your personal
information. 1&1 also offers free domain transfer. You can view their price schedule
here or read more about their
domain packages here.
Go Daddy (1 Year Registration: $11.99)
Go Daddy has built a
customer base by offering cheap package deals (combining domain registration
and web hosting) as well as frequent specials on domain registration. Go Daddy
registrations include what amounts to a free mini-hosting plan. You get a
five-page web site based on one of their templates, a photo album, blogging
tools, and an email account with 1GB of storage. Although Go Daddy doesn't
offer free private registration, if you register five or more domains, it's
free for all of them. You can read more about their pricing schedule and extras here.
Name (1 Year Registration: $9.99)
Name.com goes beyond simple
domain name searches and offers alternative suggestions including domain names
that are currently held but up for auction. While the majority of us are
looking to register domains cheaply and quickly, it's good to know that the
domain other services would simply flag as "Unavailable" is actually
up for auction. Name.com also has a service called Domain Grabber. If you
really want a domain but it's unavailable, you can pay Name.com (typically
between $20-50) to pounce on the domain should it become available. If simple
domain registration is all you need, however, you can read more about their pricing schedule here.
Gandi (1 Year Registration: €12/$16.85)
Gandi's
mission as a registrar and host is to offer clean, simple, no bullshit service. Every registration includes two free
SiteMaker pages, one free DotClear2 blog, private domain registration, a free
1-year SSL certificate, and a personal email. If you manage a large number of
domains, Gandi also offers a user-friendly dashboard with tag-based
organization and search. You can read more about their price schedule here and free features here.