Web Host » How To Transfer A Domain Name To Web Host

At the risk of making some web hosting companies angry, I am about to expose a misuse of terminology that has caused too much confusion over something that should be simple. So, you may ask, why would this upset hosting companies? Because, for the most part THEY are the culprits in making this issue confusing!

During the web hosting sign-up process, often the web host provider will ask its customer if he or she want to “transfer their domain”. What they MEAN is, “will you be using a domain for this hosting account that is already registered?” (which is an important question to have answered.)

The problem with the phrasing of their question is this: If you go to your favorite registrar’s site and you click on any of their links or instructions that say “transfer a domain”…you will most likely be given the opportunity to MOVE YOUR REGISTRATION from another registrar to them. But that has nothing to do with hosting a domain.

So when a host talks about TRANSFERS and a registrar talks about TRANSFERS – they are usually not the same thing. That’s a huge problem. The solution? Let’s define …

TRANSFERRING A DOMAIN

Transferring a domain (as you will learn at any REGISTRATION site), means to move your domain to a different registrar. I would venture to say that about 60% to 80% of domains that are transferred are done so unnecessarily, due to the confusion of what a domain transfer accomplishes.

At Teknon Media and Teknon Domains, we see hundreds of unnecessary transfers every month from one registrar to another because users are under the impression that since they are changing hosts, they have to TRANSFER. But they don’t. All they need to do is POINT their domain to their new host. This is accomplished by updating the DNS record (sometimes called changing the name servers).

The sad part is that some of these transfers are moving to more expensive registrars, which not only incurs extra annual cost, but delays the transition from one host to another. (Ignorance is expensive.) Since transferring a domain means MOVING it to another place to be registered, (which should have no bearing on where it is hosted), then most domain transfers never need to occur.

In fact, unless you are transferring your domain from an expensive registrar like Network Solutions to a less expensive one like GoDaddy, there is RARELY A NEED TO EVER TRANSFER YOUR DOMAIN.

When you transfer your domain to another registrar, you are changing NOTHING about your domain or it’s DNS record. The only change you are making is that your annual renewal fee will likely be different. But once your domain is registered, (no matter WHERE it is registered) - you can manage its DNS record no matter WHERE you HOST that domain.

The bottom line on the issue of domain transfers is this:

Where you HOST your domain should have no BEARING on where you REGISTER your domain….and vice-versa. In fact, if the host you are doing business with REQUIRES you to register your domain at a specific registrar, then change hosts quickly. That is a bad sign.

Greg Hughes / Teknon Media
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At Teknon Media, we believe you should register your domain at the registrar of your choice. If you don’t have one, we provide a sister site as an optional resource because it is convenient and inexpensive. But we NEVER REQUIRE ANY CUSTOMER TO REGISTER AT TEKNON DOMAINS in order to host at Teknon Media.

If a hosting customer at Teknon Media chooses to not register their own domain, but rather have TeknonMedia process the registration on their behalf, that domain is registered at TeknonDomains. We encourage self-registration whenever possible.

Source: www.isnare.com