Hi Everyone,
Here's a very valuable piece of advice from someone who made this mistake...
DO NOT USE A SMALL WEB HOSTING COMPANY TO PURCHASE YOUR DOMAIN NAME AND/OR HOST YOUR INTERNET SITE!
Here's what can happen to you...
1. The reseller drops dead! What are you going to do to get your files and domain back in a timely fashion?
2. The reseller/provider gets disgruntled with you because you want to move to another provider or for some other silly reason. They can and more than likely will shut down your service and create an issue with you re-routing your domain and name servers. This can take days. Bottom line...this happened to me!
3. Domain re-sellers name themselves as the administrative, billing, and technical contact on your account - which in essence makes them the registered entity for your domain! Even though you may have paid for use of your domain - according to the registrars - you're s**t out of luck my friend!
Here are some tips to avoid this mess...
1. Purchase your domain through a reputable company like IPower www.ipower.com or www.register.com.
2. Always name yourself as the billing, administrative, and technical contact for your domain! Do not put anyone else on your account. This is what ultimately saved my butt!
3. Get the passwords for your domain account so you can re-route your domain and change name servers at any time. This is HUGE!
4. Only purchase web hosting from a large company with great references!
5. Make sure your web hosting company has 24-hour customer/technical service providers! All the good ones offer "live chat" services! (None of this we're closed after 6pm BS.) The internet is open 24/7 - so should they! Period...end of story.
I know it's tempting to use a small provider to save a few bucks - and it's not worth it my friend. Web hosting has become very inexpensive and easy to get no matter how big or small your business. The guy sitting in his underwear, running a small web hosting company from his bedroom or co-locating his servers elsewhere has become passe'. This type of provider just doesn't cut it nowadays.
Take it from me as I just went through a similar issue. Spend the few dollars or so a month and get quality service.
My recommendation is to use the services of IPower at www.ipower.com for ALL your internet e-mail and website needs. I get NOTHING for recommending them. I'm just very impressed with all their services and can tell you first hand - this is a quality organization with tremendous customer service!
Also, as an aside...make sure to purchase your domain name as soon as possible! If your name is William Boone...do not hesitate to purchase williamboone.com. Anyone who's anyone will have their own website up in the next couple years. Do not risk someone else buying your name...get yours today by clicking here...
www.ipower.com.
Until next time...
Peter
PS: If you have any web horror stories you'd like to share, please e-mail them to me at peter@peterwink.com. I'd like to use them for future blogs.
If you like the free articles on this blog or find them helpful, let Peter know by buying him his all-time favorite gift - an Amazon gift certificate. Click Here!
