All of us who have a website, have gone through the process of booking the domain name and hosting space. While some of us got the name and space as a bundle, the more adventurous of us lot bought the name and space from separate providers. Many of us didn’t even know what the vendor options are when purchasing a domain name. Domain names can be bought directly from an ICANN authorized registrar or from a reseller of an authorized registrar. The reseller maybe your hosting company or hardware vendor or software vendor or just about anyone. This article lists out a couple of points why it maybe more beneficial to buy your domain names from a trusted reseller rather than buying it directly from the Registrar.
Pricing
Price is a paramount factor in determining from where you should buy the domain name. Usually Registrars offer the domain name for sale at very high prices compared to Resellers, as they would like to discourage people from buying from them due to the added support burden. Resellers commit a certain number of domain sales to the Registrar and hence can get the domain names at a cheaper rate, which they may pass on to the clients. Some Registrars charge between $29-$40 for a.com domain per year, while their own Resellers offer the domain name for $9-$15 per year. This could mean a huge saving for businesses with a large number of domain names, or businesses which have several group companies.
Support and DNS Management
Another important feature which only Domain Resellers can offer is personalized support. This means that if you have an issue with your domain name configuration or billing, you can reach out to your local reseller and get a quick resolution without having to go through a long drawn process. Some resellers may also offer phone based support and may provide remote assistance for configuration as well. Although there will rarely be any changes required to a domain name, when switching a hosting provider or setting up a new domain account you may need some configuration assistance. DNS changes and Name Server configuration can be considered critical support, because your entire website and related services depend on it. This means that if you misconfigure your domain name, your website may become inaccessible or may not be reachable from some parts of the world. This can be quite damaging if your business depends on online sales. This is one area where a Resellers support maybe crucial.
Freebies and Premium Features
Some Resellers provide Freebies and Premium Features with a domain name, which others may not be able to provide. They may offer Free WHOIS ID Protection or even a free hosting account. Others offer an email address or even a free one page website to advertise your business before you start planning for a real website. Bigger Domain Name Providers cannot afford to give these freebies, because their business model does not permit them to micro-manage their clients accounts. They are more into bulk selling and do not cater to the retail market per se.
Easy Integration
Another important feature which a reseller may offer, is easy integration. Domain Names are never used in isolation and always have a service or system attached to them. These services could be anything, ranging from website hosting to email addresses or even a vendor-hosted eCommerce portal. Many software and hardware vendors offer domain names as a bundle with their other services, so that the customer is not hassled in configuring the domain name with those services. The vendor himself integrates the domain or sets up a system to easily integrate the domain name with the service in a single click. An apt example would be a hosting company which bundles a domain name and automatically configures the domain name with the hosting account. This eases the burden from the client’s shoulder, of cross-linking the 2 services.
Readers must also note that buying a domain name from an unreliable or unscrupulous Reseller can also cause problems and may also lead to bad service. However, these cases are rare and have many legal remedies. Apart from that, an important thing to remember is to have full control of your domain name at all times.
