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I try to focus on helpful topics with this blog most of the time (my occasional rant aside), and in my own mind that means topics on growing your site(s) and growing your traffic. With my 10 plus years of building web sites and working with hosting providers and domain registrars I sometimes forget that not everyone visiting my blog has that same experience; and from many of the questions I get it’s actually obvious that some don’t even really understand what domain registrars and web hosting providers do… and don’t do for you.

So, this posting is really for the complete “newbie” who has never registered a domain name or used a web hosting company before. I’m going to explain what these are, what you should expect from the companies you use and even offer a little help with finding reliable and reputable companies to deal with. It’ll save you time, money and frustrations in the future if you learn how to determine what makes the best web hosting and domain registrar company for your needs now.

What is a registrar?
In simple terms, a domain registrar is an authorized seller of domain name registrations. When you purchase a domain name you’re not purchasing a physical product, you’re purchasing the registration of a certain web address which you can then point to your server or web hosting account so that when people visit that domain address they’re delivered to your web site.

The registrar’s function is to attach your information to the domain name and facilitate that “pointing” process so that your visitors find your web site when they type your domain into their web browser.

It’s a little more technical than that, but for 99% of the world who won’t be dealing with the more complex issues of domaining that description is probably adequate.

Are all domain registrars created equal?
In a word, yes and no. While all of them do the same thing, they don’t all do it for the same price; and there have been some instances of domain registrars using shady tactics or worse, disappearing on customers without notice leaving lots of people in a real pickle.

To avoid these hassles and not get bilked on pricing I always refer friends and family to the following 2 domain registrars:

www.GoDaddy.com & www.NameCheap.com

Both have been in business a long time (almost no chance they’d ever disappear) and have solid reputations in the industry. Also, both charge competitive rates (about $9) for .com registrations. Paying more than that somewhere means you’re paying too much, and paying less somewhere means there’s a risk involved in my opinion.

Finding the best web hosting provider?
A web host is kind of like an Internet landlord. They operate servers that–like a large apartment building–will be home to lots of tenants (or web sites), and for a monthly fee you can house your web site on their server.

In short, a server is just a computer with some special software running on it and a high speed constant connection to the Internet.

Are all web hosting companies created equal?
Absolutely not. When gaging hosting providers it helps to keep that landlord analogy in mind. What I mean is you want a web host who is going to be helpful and supportive when you call–just as you would want your landlord to be when a pipe breaks.

You want them to understand the dangers of the neighborhood your server is in too, and for them to be on top of all the latest security measures that will prevent the riff-raff from getting inside and making trouble.

You also want a provider who’s got a good reputation, if it were a landlord you’d love to hear that current tenants really like him wouldn’t you? Same thing with a host. If the web hosting company has a customer forum on their web site (many do) that’s a good place to look around and see how their customers talk about the service. Are they constantly complaining about stuff, or do they generally seem to enjoy their experiences with the host? A little time spent reading threads on the host’s forum should give you a good idea of how their current customers think of them.

Another resource if the host doesn’t have a forum is on blogs. People who run their own blogs are paying for hosting, and bloggers who have been around for a while have likely gone through several hosts over time to find the best web hosting for them.

Obviously I’d say ignore a recommendation from a blog that appears to be spammy or designed for marketing, there are a lot of those that have been made just to fool people. But blogs that you normally follow and trust are a great place to find information and credible recommendations.

In-fact, the host I always refer friends and family to is one I found based on a blogger’s recommendation and I’ve been nothing but happy with them for a long time now:
HostGator

They’ve been around for many years, have a great reputation and happy current customers (I know this personally), the support people are always available and friendly and the pricing is below what I pay with some other hosts I use and have used before.

HostGator also lets you register your domain through them when signing up for hosting, which is a bonus in my opinion as it eliminates me having to do that with a separate domain registrar on my own. Anything that saves me time and work is always good!

They use cPanel as the control panel for hosting accounts. It’s the most common control panel out there and is super easy to use. There’s tons of single-click-install software and scripts for setting up things like a blog or forum on your site–and you can even use these free video tutorials to learn how to do everything in cPanel at your own pace.

I think that about covers finding the and pretty well. You want stability and reliability from each, and you don’t want to be burned with paying too much for either. If you still have questions about domain registrars or web hosting please feel free to ask them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them as fast and best as I can for you.


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