I'm looking for recommendations for a new domain registrar and separately a good web host.
I've been using Moniker.com as a registrar and various hosts who have all since folded or been bought out by others (resellers I guess).
While Moniker is good and I shall continue to use them if all else fails, they're not the cheapest and the customer service is US based which is expensive if I need to ring them. For these reasons I'm interested in finding some alternative options.
The following factors are important to me.
Domain registrar:
- Low price for registering / renewing domain names
- Easy user interface for updating the DNS settings, parking domains, locking the domains, updating / hiding whois info, etc
- No 'hidden fees' or 'surprise charges'.
- Easy transfer of domains to and from the registrar.
- Friendly customer service who are easy to contact and respond quickly.
- UK or US based, but will consider other countries if you've had a great experience with them.
Web Host:
- Reasonable price considering the service levels (cheapest isn't necessarily better as cheap means people are probably cutting corners somewhere in the equation).
- Good customer service when raising tickets (friendly + fast / useful response).
- Clarity about how many accounts they host on their server (preferably a fixed amount rather than 'unlimited' (which will effect all the sites on the server eventually when under load).
- UK and US based (although will consider other countries if you've had a good experience with them).
I'm interested in hearing your experiences with your current preferred registrar and host.
- How long have you been with them?
- Do you know / interact with specific people within the company that are friendly and helpful?
- Who would you recommend and why?
And finally, if you have any good 'heads up' tips I ought to be aware of, I'm all ears!
Thanks!
Patrick
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