It’s a well-known fact that any web hosting provider is probably able to register a domain name for you. But should anyone take that to mean that registering theirs with just any provider will do? Not all Canadian web hosts are equal, and more than 20 years in the business gives us the authority to make that assertion plus state that we’re one of the best Canadian web hosting providers available to people these days.
A domain registrar may seem like a very rudimentary thing once you’ve decided on a domain name, but there are advantages to doing it as part of getting the best price on web hosting in Canada.
This may be the point where some of you will say that of course we will be advising you that way, but there really is something to the insistence that is makes sense to do both your domain name purchase and domain registrar through a reputable web hosting provider. And it’s not just the possibility of auto-renewals each year to make sure you can keep a domain name permanently. That’s something that nearly every provider will offer too.
Instead it’s more related to the bigger picture of you taking your business or whatever else it is you’ve got and moving it online for better reach with customers or other interest groups depending on the nature of your website and your interests with it. So with that understood what we’re going to look at with this week’s blog entry is the top 5 considerations you should be weighing before choosing a domain name registrar.
We talked in a recent blog entry here about how a .ca domain is often best for any website representing a business or venture in Canada. Dot com domains may still be the standard and the most ubiquitous of all of them, but there are times when it is very advantageous to be prominently identifying yourself as Canadian with a .ca domain, and as you’d guess we are always the best choice for registering a .ca domain name in Canada.
You’re encourage to continue reading here, but rest assured 4GoodHosting is going to be checking all 5 of these boxes. And we can also help you with free site migration if you’re moving an existing site over to a .ca domain extension. Choose a web hosting package and we will have you covered.
Choose Wisely
A good bit of thought should go into choosing your .CA domain name. Once you’ve decided on one the first step is going to be too see if it’s available for you. If it is then your next choice is going to be of domain registrars, and it does matter which one you choose. Registrars don’t sell domain names as much as they register to the World Wide Web registry.
And no one will need to be told that there are hundreds of registrars out there and there is more to the differences between them than just spelling or the 2-3 letters that come after the dot. Taking this into consideration is just one part of choosing the right domain name registrar, and so let’s get into the specifics of which domain name registerer in Canada is going to be best for you.
Evaluate the Registrar’s Reviews
These days people make purchasing or becoming-client decisions based on online reviews for all sorts of things. A domain registrar can be another one where reading favourable reviews is something you’ll want to be able to do before you choose one. Checking out customer reviews should help give you an idea of the level of service and support that the registrar provides and what sort of response they can offer if something should go wrong.
Pricing is Clear and Affordable
Registering a .CA domain isn’t going to be expensive, and usually the way it works with domain names is that you won’t be paying any more than $20 per year to retain a domain name. And with each renewal of a domain name it stays yours for another year. It’s likely the registrars you’re considering offer the same prices, and that’s what you’ll get here at 4GoodHosting too.
Ensure that you’re entirely clear on the chosen registrar’s pricing model before you decide on a domain name purchase with them. Be aware that it’s not uncommon for registrars have a discount for the first year of registration, but the renewal price after one year is higher. Understanding all the costs associated with the domain before purchasing is something that the provider is making very clear to you.
Domain Name Expiration Policy
We’ve talked about this enough to this point that people who are taking their website online for the first time will know that you don’t just register a domain name and then have it be yours forever. Your ownership of it will expire after one year, and you’re going to need to renew it if you want to keep it for your website. Not everyone is 100% on top of everything like they might wish they were, and sometimes people will forget to renew their domain name. That is if they don’t get a reminder that they need to do that!
A good domain name registrar in Canada is going to send you a reminder well in advance of your domain name expiration, and that’s something you can count on receiving if you’re getting web hosting from us here at 4GoodHosting. In some instances it may be possible for you to have a grace period and this is something you want to consider when choosing a provider who can registered your domain name.
But be fully aware that when a domain name is not renewed then it very quickly becomes available to anyone else if they search for its availability, and they are fully able to claim a domain name if you aren’t retaining it. No one wants to end up paying a large fee or risk losing their domain name altogether.
Take Count of Add-On Services
You may start leaning towards one registrar over another with your domain name purchase when you become aware of their bundling in other useful services like web hosting, a website builder available to higher web hosting package customers, custom email addresses and more. Especially advisable for those trying to get a business up and running with minimal fuss, as having all their essential services in one place can be a significant advantage when choosing web hosting.
CIRA-Certified Registrars are Best
CIRA-certified domain name registrars get that accreditation by proving they meet and exceed customers expectations when it comes registering domain names. As you’d expect, we are on here at 4GoodHosting , and we like to remind prospective customers that you’re able to register multiple domain names too if that’s what you need to do. Good registrars will also be proactive in telling you that it’s usually be to incorporate the business name as your domain name.
The hope here is that this brief overview of choosing a domain name registrar is a good starting point for those of you who have one in mind and a ready to check domain name availability. Follow the lead of hundreds of others who’ve tasked us with their domain name purchase and choose 4GoodHosting for the best in simplicity and ensuring you can renew a domain name easily in a year from now. We can also suggest a custom .CA email address if you’re still unsure of which one might be best for your website, as that’s something we’ve done hundreds of times too. We’ve got every aspect of this covered for you if that’s what you’re looking for here.
