Best Domain Host

[Star Tup]

First small steps for an online gift shop. Yes, there are many, but hopefully mine will have enough of a twist to make a few bob, it won't need to pay the mortgage.
Anyway, first step is a trade show at the N.E.C on Monday to research products and prices. I really ought to buy the domain name so I have something credible to put on my badge. Can someone recommend a host. Price is less important than the product and service. I've used 123.Reg before for an idea which went cold - no real complaints apart from parking my domain, using it for advertising, and, strangely, the same two words appeared on a card at 123.Greetings! I'd rather the domain is quiet until I am ready to launch - Is this possible?
Down the line will be a Ltd company, a website, Trademark, Twitter, Facebook etc. I wonder though, am I better off doing all of this in one go. After all, if someone likes the name, they could pinch it.
Perhaps, on Monday, I'm better off using a (slightly) false business name.
Many thanks.

 

[Ian J]

I can heartily recommend Openmind Hosting as their price is highly competitive and their service second to none.

I have had problems with the hosting of my website and am now on my fourth host in two months but at last I have found a good 'un (thanks to a recommendation from forum member fisicx) and even though my site may well have caused a few problems initially they have responded to each of my support tickets very quickly and efficiently too and now it's running very well with page loading times much quicker than with the previous hosts.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

We offer a Site Builder hosting solution with a free .co.uk domain registration (free for the first year). This gives you the ability to build a website using templates and add-in the ECWID shopping cart. We can also assist you with setting up Credit and Debit card processing for the store as this is a service we offer.

We can also just do the domain registration on it's own. We don't profess to being the cheapest because we don't offer 'cheap' service. Instead we offer high standards of service and support. We have been trading since 1995 and are Nominet and ICANN accredited.

Feel free to call us on the number in my signature to discuss your requirements in more detail.

 

[Jason L]

We’ve tried a number of domain name registrars and hosts over the years. For me, when buying the domain one of the biggest things to look out for is the renewal fee. Some providers put the fees up considerably for subsequent years renewal. It can also be a pain, costly and quite a lot of admin to then transfer the domain to another provider.

I like 123-reg for buying domains. Prices are good (and transparent) and their customer service is also good whenever we have needed it.

For hosting, one of the best providers we found was Rackspace.

When you are set on your name, I would try and get everything set up in pretty quick succession, i.e. domain names, secure your social media pages (with your own brand name/vanity URLs) etc

 

[Star Tup]

Thank you for your replies. Openmind has some good reviews and perhaps then, 123-reg are fine. The IT and Web side of things really is my weak spot and I'll have to pay someone to help with this. In the meantime, just so I make the right initial moves (and excuse my ignorance) aside from simply buying the domain do I need to make sure they are also the right host, or are these not tied in. Jason, I note when you recommend re domain and host they are separate companies.
To give an idea of scale, my business will sell 80 products from £10 to £20, and turnover may range from, say 5 a day up to 100 after a year or 2. Something close, in terms of the kind of website I'd need is Kidzcraft.co.uk. Do you think they have a dedicated host or are ok with shared hosting?

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

Lowreg.co.uk are worth looking at, very good prices on domains and hosting. Nice people who run it as well.

I use webhostingbuzz.co.uk too, a much larger company but they're very good also.

 

[KM-Tiger]

Important to realise that domain registration and hosting are separate things. They can both be done by the same company, but do not have to be.

If it was me I'd register the domain via 123-reg to make sure I owned it, and as many variations as possible. When you are ready you can point the domain(s) to your hosting provider of choice.

 

[Ian J]

To give an idea of scale, my business will sell 80 products from £10 to £20, and turnover may range from, say 5 a day up to 100 after a year or 2. Something close, in terms of the kind of website I'd need is Kidzcraft.co.uk. Do you think they have a dedicated host or are ok with shared hosting?

If 80 products equates to 80 pages it's fairly small as my website is at least 50% larger than that and shared hosting works well for me.

You can register the domain name via someone like OpenMind for a fiver and their Silver Shared hosting will only cost you £40pa plus vat which should be more than sufficient

 

[Jason L]

Jason, I note when you recommend re domain and host they are separate companies.

As KM-Tiger says, you can use the same provider to both buy your domains and then host your website - but you don't have to, they can be separate. I personally don't have experience of 123-reg as web hosts - but like them for buying domains.

I suspect shared/cloud hosting will be fine for you.

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

I've had a host of trouble with 123reg with my domains. I've heard Daily are good registrars but I don't have personal experience of them.

Just avoid 1and1. Now they really are a nightmare.

 

[Jason L]

I've had a host of trouble with 123reg with my domains.

Yeah, I guess domain registrars and hosting companies are like banks - some people will have great experiences, some terrible. Maybe good to visit one of the review sites to see what average scores are for a particular provider - that should give you a good indication.

 

[Ian J]

As KM-Tiger says, you can use the same provider to both buy your domains and then host your website - but you don't have to, they can be separate. I personally don't have experience of 123-reg as web hosts - but like them for buying domains.

I have used 123-Reg as a webhost but couldn't get on with site management is it seemed unwieldy so moved them all away.

Whilst people can use a domain registrar and separate host why would you as the registration of a name either comes free with the hosting package or else only costs a few quid so it's far more convenient to use the one company for both

 

[Jason L]

Whilst people can use a domain registrar and separate host why would you as the registration of a name either comes free with the hosting package or else only costs a few quid so it's far more convenient to use the one company for both

I'm all for less admin, but sometimes especially over time you may find you use different companies. I've bought domains with a provider before they then shot up in price when it came to auto-renewal. And we've had hosting that started off well, but then the performance deteriorated. It's good to know you don't have to manage it all with one company as it just gives you more flexibility/choice.

 

[antropy]

After all, if someone likes the name, they could pinch it.

I don't think you're in much danger of someone seeing you've registered the domain and then setting up a Limited Company/brand with the same name ... I could be wrong, but I suspect what makes it valuable is the ideas you have for it.

 

[Nuno]

Everyone has different experiences. I have used 1&1 for domains since about 2002, and have had up to 60 there, none just parked.
I have never had a problem.

 

[Ian J]

I don't think you're in much danger of someone seeing you've registered the domain and then setting up a Limited Company/brand with the same name ....

I registered factoringsolutions.co.uk on 4th December 1999 and one month later someone else registered the limited company name so it can and does happen

 

[SellerExpress]

123 reg for domain buying.

Lots of different hosting options depending on your requirements and budget, Arvixe and Tsohost are two that spring to mind.

I wish you the best of luck in your new ecommerce business.

 

[Ian J]

123 reg for domain buying.

Why? What makes them any better than any of the many other sellers

 

[grgzy]

I have used godaddy a lot as find they have an easy to use interface if you wish to quickly buy multiple domains and host a small website with them.

I do feel their shared hosting plans are "over-shared" as even on some of my small sites I have seen them go unresponsive.

My larger business I use UK2, Can be awkward hosting multiple domains as everything is reliant on C-Panel but the speed and reliability is much better over godaddy + their support is very good.

 

[webhostuk]

Thank you for your replies. Openmind has some good reviews and perhaps then, 123-reg are fine. The IT and Web side of things really is my weak spot and I'll have to pay someone to help with this. In the meantime, just so I make the right initial moves (and excuse my ignorance) aside from simply buying the domain do I need to make sure they are also the right host, or are these not tied in. Jason, I note when you recommend re domain and host they are separate companies.
To give an idea of scale, my business will sell 80 products from £10 to £20, and turnover may range from, say 5 a day up to 100 after a year or 2. Something close, in terms of the kind of website I'd need is Kidzcraft.co.uk. Do you think they have a dedicated host or are ok with shared hosting?

If its a complete new site will suggest to start with shared hosting, later as your website visitor and products grow you can upgrade to vps or dedicated server, this will save you some money .

 

[LowPrices.uk]

Heart Internet have been find for my UK domain name registrations, GoDaddy have been find for my .com registrations.

Rgds

 

[Star Tup]

Thank you. It's good to know that where I buy the domain is not critical. Antropy, you are dead right, it's the ideas I have that will make the brand work (or not). But the name is quite general, an umbrella, and it could work for someone else. When a name like this is registered it must be pretty obvious a company is to follow and any hawk may swoop, if indeed there is a secondary maket in company and social media names.

 

[fisicx]

If you get the company registered and buy the .com and .co.uk domain names you are pretty much covered. You might get some plonker try to register the name with facebook or twitter but they can't pretend to be you.

To go back to your original question, Openmind hosting gets my vote. I've got a dedicated server and it's the dogs doodahs.