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DO NOT USE NETWORK SOLUTIONS FOR ANYTHING, EVER!
Registering a domain name is pretty cheap and easy. There are a couple pitfalls that could kill you if you’re not careful, but if you watch out for them, it’ll all be fine.
First, you should understand how the whole DNS thing works. You don’t need to, but it helps to know what you’re doing.
Manage Your Own Domain Name
You might have a technical guy handling all of this computery stuff for you, and that’s cool, but you need to make sure that you have the domain name registered in your name, on your account. You need to have control over the domain name registration as much as you need to have the key to the front door of your house. You need to have the userID and password to the account that manages the domain name.
I’ve heard of people having their developer manage it for them, then running into a conflict with the developer some how and the domain name gets held for ransom. You don’t need to do much with the domain name registration, but when you need to make that one critical change to move to a new web host or a new developer, then you need the keys to that kingdom.
If you set up the registration account, then make sure that your email is the one on file with them. When you share the password with the developer, so he can manage it for you, he’s able to change the password. The only way to protect yourself from that is if you can hit that “Forget your password” link and have the new password emailed to you. Make sure you own everything. Don’t let anyone else help you out with this one. Do it yourself.
Make Sure You Can Transfer It
The other area where you can be vulnerable is with the ability to transfer your domain name to another registrar. The reason that Network Solutions is so evil is that they make you actually call them and listen to a sales pitch before they will release your domain name for transfer. It should be a simple process of logging in, asking for the transfer, responding to some emails and being on your way. It should take 5 minutes to transfer.
My nightmare experience was with JumpDomain. They were great in the old days. They were the cheapest that I could find and the admin interface was powerful adn easy to use. I registered probably 100 domain names with them over the years that I was with them. I recommended them to friends also. (Sorry!)
The trick to transfers is that the registrar has to approve it. They have to send you a code for each domain name. This rule was put in place to prevent unauthorized transfers by bad guys. I appreciate that, but the system better work.
Then, one dark and stormy night, I had a problem with one of the domain names. I opened a help desk ticket on it, asking them to fix the error on their end. No answer. I opened another ticket. No answer. Waited and waited. Sent email. I looked up their WHOIS contact info and sent emails. No response. Over all, I waited a couple months for any kind of response. I did some research and decided to move them all to GoDaddy. I had about 40 names to move at that point.
I finally did some research and found that they were using Enom for their registration. I emailled, then called Enom and explained the situation. They finally emailed me the codes and I was able to transfer them to GoDaddy. Total time to transfer: 3 months.
I learned that prices change and you should always shop around instead of just renewing every year. I learned that the registrar can kill you if they want to, so pick wisely. Admin interfaces can improve, so get the easy to use interface. If you don’t like it, transfer to somewhere else.
GoDaddy seems to be the best and the cheapest, right now. That may change in the next month or two. Network Solutions is horrible. Never, ever, use them. Enom was helpful to me, but they have had some questionable stories told about them. Ask a friend. Ask on line. Ask in forums. Ask me.
Shop around and don’t get bit.