When Should You Transfer Your Domain Name To A Different Provider?

Many people have kept their domain names with the same old provider whom they first registered it with. We also had a couple of clients who kept their domain names running at the old domain name provider by renewing it every year. They finally realized that they were paying for literally nothing, when they wanted to develop a website and decided to get some hosting space. At that point of time they realized that their domain name had not been renewed since a couple of years and the domain registrar also never realized it. This and other such stories should prompt you into sitting up and realizing what you maybe missing out on, if you have a domain name. This article explains some of the red flags which should indicate that it's time to switch your domain name provider.

Price

When you purchase the domain name, many providers charge a lower price for the first year and then charge a higher price for renewals. Many people ignore the higher price and continue to renew the domain name or setup an auto debit on their credit card. This can sometimes mean paying upto 300% more than what an average domain name provider would give you. While the difference may not seem much, if you have taken the domain name for the long haul, then you might as well get the most out of your money. Switching to a different provider may give you monetary benefits along with all the cooler features.

Features

Domain Name providers often give free services along with the domain name. This may include free DNS, free domain name forwarding and free email forwarding. If you need these services or have been paying extra for these services then it's time that you switched over to a provider who will give you all these for free. Many domain registrar provide free premium DNS with all their products and services. This could save you a lot of money every year, if you want to have premium DNS for your website. If you planned to register the domain name without having a website, email forwarding or website forwarding options could also be useful for you.

No Control Panel

All Domain Registrars give you a control panel with which you can manage your domain name. If you have not got control of your domain name or are not even aware of how to login to your control panel, then you should be concerned. Wherever you may have bought your Domain Names from, you should have received details of your Domain Control Panel. Your Reseller or Web Designer or even Software Developer from whom you bought the domain name should be able to help you out with it.

Lack of Support

Every Domain Name is backed with the support of the Registrar that has registered the name for you. But before you approach the Registrar or the Registrar entertains your request, you will need to go through the reseller or the person whom you actually bought the domain name from. If this person does not give you support or refuses to give support, you can file a complaint with ICANN and get the Registrar to provide you the control of the domain name. After you get control of your domain name, you can move it out of that Registrar to a different Registrar. Lack of Support from the Registrar is a sure sign that you should move your domain to some other place where they will atleast care to respond about your issue.