Having registered my first domain in early 1997, I took a minute to recall what has changed in the domain registrar industry since then.
Network Solutions remained the only registrar during the first few years of the commercial Internet, but that changed quickly.
As with every industry, once monopolies end and alternate options are introduced, consumer loyalty is easy to be lost. Consumers gauge their options on a number of parameters: price, features, ease of use, and customer support.
So what has been my domain registrar journey through these two plus decades?
In the beginning, there was NetSol. I registered less than 10 domains with them. Once new registrars began to operate, I started using GoDaddy in the late 90’s. The GoDaddy interface was not complicated at the time, but it did have issues, and I assisted with the plugging of an important security hole at the time.
Once I had accumulated a small number of domains, cheaper registrars made that lower cost appealing enough for me to move, and I moved to Stargate. Operating on one of the first 100 .com domains ever registered, Stargate.com, it provided low prices and good support; as a small registrar it seemed to depend on the personal communication between its techs and the customers. I knew their techs by their first names!
In the early 2000s I moved on to eNom, under a reseller account, that at the time was a smart choice. I could even make money from moving others under my account, pricing their domain registrations competitively.
In mid 2000s, GoDaddy had grown enough to move back to and enjoy a number of perks, and reliable – but impersonal – support. Once prices started to creep up again, I moved en masse to Fabulous, and stayed there for several years, enjoying the great relationship with an Australian registrar and Mike Robertson’s superb personality. They even sent me a fob a full decade before GoDaddy ever considered that option!
Times change, and in the 2010s I moved the majority of my domains to Uniregistry, taking advantage of the discounted prices, quick customer service, and integration with Domain Name Sales, that eventually became the Uniregistry Market. Having domain registrations, PPC parking and domain brokerage under the same umbrella, I’ve been enjoying 8 years of a quality service, and I recommend Uniregistry to others for exactly these features, and more.
Do I still have domains in other registrars?
Only eNom, and my now obsolete reseller account has that honor. I’ve moved away from GoDaddy and Fabulous, and I make sure that all domains that end up in Network Solutions or NameBright are moved to Uniregistry once the obligatory 60 day lockdown period ends.
Everyone has their own domain registrar journey in life, and this is mine.
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