A few days ago, in this blog, I wrote an entry: Ten Things Every Blogger Needs to Start a Blog. If you were a new Blogger, I strongly recommend you to read it and if you have already read the entry, then you must have noticed that one of the most important things that you have to decide is whether you want to buy a domain or blog in a sub domain of popular blogging websites like Blogger/Blogspot or WordPress. In this entry, I would like to discuss this simple question from different point of views.
Why your own Domain
Why Blogspot/Blogger
Why not Wordpress.com Sub Domain?
Own Domain with Blogger Hosting
This is the thing that I like most these days. I have two blogs with my own domains but hosted on Blogger. I just needed to buy the domain for only $7.5 per year and then the hosting is free. It needs some technical know how but it is very easy as both Google and Godaddy have put up enough help materials.
Self Hosted WordPress Blogs
I have talked about almost all the issues that a blogger may face about domain related matters. I hope that it has answered to most of your questions. Still, if you want to know anything more then leave a comment.
In our comparison of 1 & 1 vs. GoDaddy web hosting we found that both companies provide much more than just web hosting. Many web hosting companies offer one or more shared hosting packages and some offer shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting but both of 1&1 and GoDaddy offer a few web hosting package options for both Linux and Windows web hosting for their shared, VPS, and dedicated web hosting.
Besides web hosting both companies also offer many other services that compliment webhosting such as domains, email, eCommerce, and business solutions. Both companies also service several million customers. For some this may be a pro and for some this may be a con. 1&1 was started in 1988 and GoDaddy in 1997.
The main difference we found were that GoDaddy is an ICANN certified domain registrar, offers several SSL certificate and reseller services, and has auctions and a martketplace on their website. GoDaddy does not require any contracts but offers a discount to those willing to commit to 12, 24, or 36 months. GoDaddy does not offer toll free telephone support but has a ton of other customer support options for their customers not wanting to pay for telephone support such as email, FAQ, Knowledgebase, Help Guides, Tutorials, Glossary, and Forum. And although their telephone support is not free they do not outsource their customer service so when you call you get someone inhouse and not in another country. You may have seen GoDaddy's controversial Super Bowl commercials. GoDaddy participates in a number of charities.1&1 offers 24/7 toll free support as well as email customer support. 1&1 also provides green web hosting saving 30,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. They also offer a 90 day money back guarantee.
Because both companies have so many different web hosting services we are just comparing one of their shared web hosting packages 1&1's $4.99 plan to GoDaddy's $6.99 plan. Both packages have aTON of features so we are choosing to just highlight a few main features.
1&1:
1,200 Email Accounts
10 FTP Accounts
120 GB Disk Space
1,200 GB Monthly Transfer Volume
100 Subdomains
Host 50 External Domains
24/7 Toll-free Support
GoDaddy:
500 Email Accounts
50 FTP Users
150 GB Disk Space
1,500 GB Monthly Data Transfer
Unlimited Subdomains
Unlimited External Domains
Not a Toll-free 24/7 Inhouse Telephone Support
In comparing BlueHost versus GoDaddy web hosting companies we found some vast differences in a side by side comparison. However, both are very large and very successful hosting companies. Both companies started in the mid-1990's, so they have been around for quite a while and have continued to grow and change with the web hosting community. In our review we compared BlueHosts $6.95 plan against GoDaddy's web hosting $6.99 plan.
Here is a web hosting comparison of the features we found:BlueHost:
100 MySQL/100 Postgre SQL
2500 Pop3/2500 IMAP Email Accounts
1,000 FTP Accounts
Unlimited Disk Space
Unlimited Transfer
4 Shopping Carts
24/7 toll-free support (phone/email/chat)
Open ticket, knowledgebase, and FAQ
GoDaddy:
25 MySQL
500 Email Accounts
50 FTP Users
150 GB Disk Space
1,500 GB Monthly Data Transfer
2 Shopping Carts
24/7 NOT toll-free phone/email
FAQ, Knowledgebase, Help Guides
Tutorials, Glossary, Forum
BOTH: Unlimited external domains, subdomains, FrontPage, PHP, Python, Java, Ruby on Rails, andCGI.
BlueHost offers a live demo of their products prior to purchase.
GoDaddy also lets you test their products. Some benefits to GoDaddy is that they are an ICANNapproved domain registrar, there are no long term contracts, and they offer discounts for 12, 24, or 36 months. GoDaddy participates in more charities than we can mention.
25 MySQL
500 Email Accounts
50 FTP Users
150 GB Disk Space
1,500 GB Monthly Data Transfer
2 Shopping Carts
24/7 NOT toll-free phone/email
FAQ, Knowledgebase, Help Guides
Tutorials, Glossary, Forum
BOTH: Unlimited external domains, subdomains, FrontPage, PHP, Python, Java, Ruby on Rails, andCGI.
BlueHost offers a live demo of their products prior to purchase.
GoDaddy also lets you test their products. Some benefits to GoDaddy is that they are an ICANNapproved domain registrar, there are no long term contracts, and they offer discounts for 12, 24, or 36 months. GoDaddy participates in more charities than we can mention.
When asking advice or searching for information about obtaining or selling domain names you will often come across information suggesting to use an "accredited ICANN registrar".
So what or who is ICANN? ICANN is the acronym for the International Organization for Assigned Names and Numbers. They are a non-profit organization that oversees the purchase or sale of domain names and tries to make sure the domain name system maintains it's integrity. By becoming an accredited ICANN domain-name registrar you get access to the following top level domains (TLD's):
.aero (reserved for the global aviation community).asia (reserved for the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific region)
.biz (restricted to businesses)
.cat (reserved for the Catalan linguistic and cultural community)
.com.coop (reserved for cooperatives)
.info.jobs (reserved for the human resource management community)
.mobi (reserved for consumers and providers of mobile products and services)
.museum (restricted to museums and related persons)
.name (restricted to individuals)
.net
.org
.pro (restricted to licensed professionals)
.tel
.travel (reserved for entities whose primary area of activity is in the travel industry)
You can find ICANN accredited domain name registrars by going to icann.org and at the top of the page they have a "quick links" drop down menu where you can find "registrars-accredited" there you will find current information on every accredited registrar with a link connecting you to their site for more information.
