Quick question, which site is best to use to buy domains? I know GoDaddy is one of the biggest but I heard there were a lot of problems with domains being stolen from it.
Thanks!
Hi @TobyHall2000 -
Most of the popular registrars offer very similar services, so shop around and keep doing your homework on what features matter to you most. If you’re just after a few .com’s you’ll have a few choices compared to if you also need country codes or new gTLD extensions.
I would stick with one of the popular registrars and avoid resellers if possible.
I have read about the problems you’re referring to and had a friend who had it happen to them. They ended up getting their name back which was a good result, but it was stressful (read the whole thing here - some language slightly NSFW).
A feature some registrars offer, that I’d recommend you take advantage of, is two-factor authentication. GoDaddy has two-factor authentication, but currently only if you’re in the US.
Personally, I use a few different services so none of my eggs are in the one basket. From my experience, none of them have been better or worse than the other.
All the best!
I have read several articles now which have some horror story of domains being stolen from GoDaddy, and as they don’t have two-factor authentication in the UK I think I will be avoiding them.
I have heard 123reg and register are the best, do you have any experience with them?
Thanks!
123reg are certainly a big company. I had hosting years ago with a sister company which was later merged with them, and I disliked their hosting. They have (or had) their own control panel, which I found limiting and difficult to use. I also found their support service a bit lacking. But this was a number of years ago and they may have improved.
As a registrar, they’re probably fine.
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Yes, similar experiences to @TechnoBear
You’re doing the right thing researching your options. Remember you can always transfer domain names at a later stage, so you’re never locked into any one provider. Both of your suggestions are well known, so you will be fine with either 
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I do want to host a website at a later date on the domain aswell though.
I guess I could buy the domain from one now and transfer it (if needed) when I decide on where to host it.
You don’t need to host the domain with the company where it’s registered. Indeed, some people argue that it’s better not to, in case of problems. (Most of my domains are .co.uk, and in case of difficulty, can generally be managed directly through Nominet, so I’ve never worried too much about that.)
NameCheap all the way. They are one of the bigger companies out there, so it’s not hard to find tutorials to set something up you’re unfamiliar with. I love their services and have never had a problem. Their management console is probably one of the easiest I’ve ever used. (but they are upgrading soon, I don’t know how that’s going to look)
I’m one of those people. If your account gets locked, hacked, deleted, etc. and it has all your services, then it’s going to be a lot harder to manage than if your domain alone or hosting alone were locked and the other was on an entirely separate service/account.
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