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Recently, I decided to stake out a piece of e- real estate by securing my very own dot com address. Vain? Perhaps. Practical? Eventually…I hope so.

As a newbie, I know quite little about the ins and outs of how to set up a website. However, I knew enough to realize that securing a domain name in a timely fashion is a crucial first step. For now, I’d be content with just parking my name on a plot of land in the ethereal pastures of the internet.

I stumbled across Dotster on the Epinions site while researching domain registries. After reading all the reviews, one thing was for certain: Network Solutions was to be avoided at all costs. Numerous reviews told of poor support or customer service at other companies. One company seemed to stand apart from the others, however, and that was Dotster (based in Longview, Washington).

For $15, Dotster will register your domain of choice (currently, with the following domain levels only: .com, .net, .org, .tv, and .ws; the latter two cost more) within 48 hours, for one full year. Dotster has priced their domain registration very competitively. No longer is there a need to shell out $35+ per year to secure a domain name, and while their prices are good, they don’t cut corners on service. Prior to registering with them, I ran Dotster through a test of sorts: I sent them a question using their website’s own inquiry-form. If they were slow to respond to me now as a potential customer, they would be slow later on if I were a real customer and they simply would not get my business. Dotster passed: I received a thorough reply within one day. Incidentally, MyDomain.com name was successfully registered within 36 hours.

The Dotster site itself is very easy to use. As others here have noted, making changes to the registrant, contact or billing info is as easy as filling out an online form. The FAQ is quite comprehensive and addressed all of my concerns. For nosy people like me, it would have been useful, however, to be able to look up the owner info for domain names which have already been registered, as is possible on sites such as www.yournamefree.com (doing business as NamesDirect.com).

I am happy with my experience with Dotster and would recommend them to anyone considering registering a domain name. Dotster is a relatively new player in the registry game…let’s hope they stay in the scene for a while.

And what am I going to do with my future website? I’ll figure that out later. I’m content just to be one of 6+ billion people on this planet with a good parking spot on the e-highway.

UPDATE:
It is now almost February of 2001 (4 months after the initial writing of this review) and Dotster is still in business and my domain name is still just parked and dormant. Since I first wrote this review, I have gone on to register 16 more domain names with Dotster (for both business and for a friend). As of *this* writing of this update, dot-com companies continue to drop left and right and this may mean that prices will also continue to drop for domain registrations…may only the better domain registries survive.

I have been a faithful Dotster user for quite some time now. I can’t remember which of my cyberfriends originally recommended it to me, but am I ever glad they did!

When I was first referred to Dotster, their going rate for registrations was $25/year, but they were running a special of $15/year for com/net/org. Having just paid $70 to the dotcommie people (Network Solutions for the uninitiated for two years of my first domain’s registration, I was looking forward to saving some $$$ for the second.

Interface. I love their interface. The main thing I remember about registering my first domain is how difficult and confusing the process was. Dotster made it simple. If you don’t have an ISP ready to host your site, you can plug in their DNS servers. It will serve up a page like the one at http://futurehome.Dotster.com/ until you switch to your own ISPs server (which is a quick and painless process).

Features:

An affiliate program - you earn commission on new registrations that come from a link on your site.

Bulk registration - register up to 300 domain names at a time.

Partner program - set up monthly billing if you’re going to register a bunch of domains.

Future Home Page - basically it’s domain name parking. However, given that they provide you with a parking page when you register, I really don’t see what the point is of using this service. It costs the same as registration, so you might as well just register.

.tv and .ws domain registration - can’t find your .com? Get a tv (television) or ws (website) domain instead. These cost more than com/net/org - tv is currently $50 per year (promotion ending soon) and ws is currently $70 for two years (for some reason they’re not offering single year registration on them).

Namespin - another alternative to help you if your .com isn’t available…this feature helps you put a spin on your name and find a suitable replacement.

Customer service. Their customer service is quick and courteous. My company has used Dotster to register numerous domains, and once we had a question about something (I don’t even remember what it was now) but it wasn’t addressed in the FAQ. The rep responded with the answer within two hours. I was impressed!

I have been very pleased with my Dotster experiences, and if you give them a try I think you will be too.

I personally own several domain names. In addition to Dotster, I have had experience with Network Solutions, Register.com, and a couple of small registrars. I must say that Dotster.com is by far and away the best of them. I have now transferred all my domain names to Dotster, as well as registering a new one.

Registering a domain name is actually a pretty simple process in general. You pick a name that is not owned by someone or some company, supply contact info, and then pay for it. I think there are several reasons that Dotster is well liked by so many people (including me), and they are:

1) Great Interface - As simple as the process is for registering a domain name, Dotster has certainly made the process a pleasant one with its well designed interface, bright, friendly color scheme, and well placed information at each step. I think this is a under developed area at other registrars. The fact Dotster has made obvious efforts to create a seemingly mature and user-friendly interface gives user a good first impression and confidence in this registrar. Note that I have both registered and transferred domains with Dotster, and the processes are equally well designed.

2) Good Value - At $14.95 per domain per year, it is well priced to compete with any of the low-cost registrars. Dotster has also been running frequent specials for domain transfers at $11.95/domain transfer, which also includes an additional one year registration on that domain. Even if Dotster stops running this special, $14.95 is still a very good value. Hurry now a special offer 5 Free Domains At Dotster With Any Hosting Package! Enter Coupon Code “5FORFREE”

3) Progress Status - Dotster provides status on the progress of domain registration/transfer. For a new domain registration, this is no big deal, since the process is so straightforward. Domain transfer is somewhat of a more lengthy process because the original registrar has to approve the transfer first. If you are transferring a domain name, you can check status of the domain transfer easily by simply logging onto your account at Dotster. The status is well explained and apparently updated regularly. Again, this makes a user so much more comfortable with both registering and transferring domain names.

The three things above are what count for me when I want to register a domain, and my experience has been very positive with Dotster. I have noticed, however, that Dotster’s phone number is nowhere to be found. This may prove to be disconcerting to some people. I have not had needed to contact Doster because all my dealings through its website have been smooth and problem-free. (As a side note, I have tried contact Register.com on one occasion and was on hold with Register.com for hours without talking to anybody. I just want to point out that just because a registrar lists a phone number for you to call does not mean you will be able to talk to someone.)

In any case, I find Dotster to be easy to use, well-priced, and efficient in transferring and registering domain names. I would highly recommend it. The only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is because I don’t see a contact phone number anywhere on the site.

I discovered Dotster while looking through a list of ICANN-accredited registrars not too long after the Network Solutions domain registration monopoly was broken. Dotster’s low prices and easily navigable site hooked me.

Good value
The main reason I chose Dotster was because of the good prices they offered for domain registration. Their current rate is $14.95/year to register a .com, .net, or .org domain. Discounts for longer registration periods are also available. After having paid $70 to Network Solutions for a two-year domain registration which I never ended up using, Dotster was a great deal.

Easy to use
When I signed up with Dotster, my contact information was stored in a database. Now when I want to register a domain, their “quickreg” option allows me to sign in, choose the domain I want, input my credit card information and confirm the registration details, which are all filled in automatically. The domain registration is processed and completed shortly thereafter. Easy!

Dotster also offers the use of their nameservers if the domain being registered doesn’t yet have a “home” on the Internet, which is convenient if you’d like to establish ownership of a domain but don’t have immediate plans to develop it.

Updates are easy, but not effortless
I recently needed to update the contact information for some of my domains. The update process was easy to follow and didn’t require me to jump through hoops, send email or make any calls. I was able to enter all the changes online and the updates were made quickly.

However, the changes to each contact for each domain needed to be made separately, so I ended up entering the same information again and again, which was very time-consuming. It would be convenient if Dotster offered a system which would automatically make updates to domain contact information, similar to their registration process.

Dotster and .tv domains
Shortly after Dotster announced the availabilty of .tv domain registration on their site, I took them up on the offer. I registered a .tv domain for one year, the only registration period available. Later I realized that Dotster does not offer renewal of .tv domains, so I’m now concerned about the future of the domain I registered with them.

What will happen after the year has expired? Will they offer renewal by that time or will I lose the claim to that domain? My email messages to Dotster customer support have received responses which don’t answer my questions directly, so I’m left to wonder. I’ve registered subsequent .tv domains with www.tv, the main .tv domain registrar.

I continue to use Dotster for all my other domains and I’ve been very happy with their services. I recently renewed a pair of domains with no problems after receiving a notice from Dotster that they were due to expire in a few weeks.

My registration volume is one or two domains a month at the most, but the Dotster system will work well for anyone wanting to register one domain or hundreds. For the “big three” TLD’s (.com, .net and .org) I recommend it!

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