If you have a great idea for a business, service or a website, one thing you’ll want to do is to secure an appropriate domain name as soon as you can. This is a good idea. Domain names are inexpensive, so it doesn’t matter if you buy the name in advance of starting work on your site. All you need to ensure when you buy the domain is that you have the option to have full control over the DNS and nameservers. Don’t worry if you don’t know what this means, just ensure you have that available.
123 Reg, LCN and Fasthosts are all good businesses to use for this reason.
If you buy the domain name yourself, resist the urge to buy web hosting or email services at the same time, even if the deal on offer looks like a steal. Instead let this be something your web developer takes care of for you. They will be in a better position to work out what you need and then they can edit the DNS of your domain to point to the services they provide.
Your web developer may offer to buy or register your chosen domain name on your behalf. If they do make sure to ask them that they add you or your company as the registrant. This is something they can do without it affecting their ability to manage your domain. So don’t let them tell you otherwise!
If someone has brought a domain name on your behalf you should check that you or your company are named as the registrant. You can find this out by going to a site like www.who.is and seeing if you are listed by typing in your domain name. It doesn’t matter so much if you don’t manage the administration of your domain, but if you’re not listed as the registrant, then should you ever want to try and move management of that domain elsewhere you’re starting at a disadvantage.
Finally, if your web developer suggests you use their own hosting or recommends a hosting package, don’t equate this to a financial advisor trying to sell you the products they recommend just to get their hands on the commission. Most web developers make next to nothing on hosting, even if th ey seem pricier. It’s largely impossible for your developer to compete with the volume sellers and hosting won’t be their core business. It’s more likely that, if they recommend a host, it’s because they are comfortable with and have evaluated their services and they know that to deploy your website on the host once it is built will save them time. Which should save you money.
