You would think something named “Domain Name Registration” would be boring service that the overwhelming majority of Internet users need not think about. However, GoDaddy thinks that may not be good for business, and their latest media blitz has caused me to rethink how I spend my money. I must confess I tolerated their titillating super bowl ads, mostly because I was too lazy to switch, I thought the process would be tedious and cumbersome (boy was I wrong, more on that further down).
If you aren’t aware, when they aren’t planning the next “too hot for TV” ad for the super bowl, CEO Bob Parsons likes to hunt and kill elephants. I’m not a die-hard PETA supporter, another group famous for using sex and controversy to drum up publicity, and more importantly donations. But, upon reflection, I’d rather not have the money I spend on DNS go toward stuff like this.
I’d chosen GoDaddy back when they were a cheap option and others spoke well of the service. Over the years, the company started offering other services, I suppose JUST being a registrar doesn’t make it rain enough to pay women to bounce around, I mean spokes model, for you on TV. As they added more services, they pioneered the art of making the checkout page a confusing mess of addons to trick you into purchasing more stuff. Furthermore, adding the “private” registration option which hides your contact details from WHOIS searches, adds $10/year to the cost, in the end I was really paying $20 to $25 per year for each domain.
Looking for a new registrar, I found Hover (that’s my affiliate link now, save 10%), which is recommended by Leo Laporte of TWIT fame. Their website, from the outset, is the antithesis of godaddy – clean, spartan, and useful. That was enough for me to sign up, and 2 nights ago I began transferring my domains over to them. Their pricing, starting at $15 for the most common TLDs (.com, .net, .org) includes private registration, which makes them more affordable too!
The entire process was very straightforward, and took about 2 hours to do over two nights. Hover provides a thorough step-by-step guide for transferring from godaddy to hover. Each transfer costs $10, and completed in about an hour. It generates a lot of email and confirmations, and godaddy will also send you emails asking you to reconsider, so be prepared to check your inbox frequently. One pleasant surprise, if you are using a 3rd party for managing the actual DNS records (yes, confusing lingo), hover automatically picks up and uses the same name servers.
I’m glad I’ve switched, not only will I save money in the long run, but I know I sent the most powerful message a customer can send by taking my money elsewhere.
Update: Use my affiliate link below to save 10%
