Some Blog Site

You don’t need to use GoDaddy for a website.  In my experience, moniker.com is

• cheaper,
• faster loading, and
• much less morally objectionable

than GoDaddy. Why would you not transfer your domains to Moniker?

Back when I started setting up websites, I went with GoDaddy because that’s what everyone else was using.  It is by far the most popular registrar, so all the how-do-I-get-started helpful websites referenced it.  I kept it because I had everything automatically renew and so I never really thought about it.  Plus I wasn’t really aware that switching registrars was an option.

After the 2009 Super Bowl, people started complaining about the GoDaddy ads, and I realized that I was contributing to the problem.  I decided to contribute to the solution (or at least stop giving money to help fund the offending ads) by switching registrars.  Switching registrars, by the way, is easy to do.

I first looked at a list of the most popular registrars.  I thought about Tucows, because they started in Flint, MI.  But they are now located in Canada.  I know that the Canadian government frowns, and sometimes yells, at people or publishers who might offend someone else.  I didn’t want Canada to take legal action against me and have Tucows shut down my websites just because someone didn’t like what I said.  So I decided to use a registrar based here in the USA, where the concept and practice of free speech is still respected.

So I decided to look at register.com.  But their prices were at least triple what GoDaddy’s prices were.  I began to see why GoDaddy was the most popular registrar.  I then looked at enom.com, but you had to pay a steep setup fee in order to get comparable prices.

I noticed that some hosting companies offer to register domains for you.  I transferred one domain to Host Gator, which goes through Registry Rocket, which is a service of enom.com.  That was $15 per year instead of $10 at GoDaddy – a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Then I tried to transfer a second domain, and the user interface was horrible.  The Registry Rocket account is for the domain name, not for the user.  So I would have had to transfer each of my 20 or so domains separately, typing in my contact information each time.  And paying separately each time.  And maintaining each one separately each year.  I quickly saw that would be a nightmare and decided to try another registrar.

Somehow, I found moniker.com.  I also tried to use dotster.com, but the pages would never load.  Being on dial-up, I have an appreciation for fast-loading websites.  GoDaddy is not one of them.  It has too much overhead for what you need to do.  The last time I logged out of GoDaddy, it took about 30 seconds for the log-out.  And the log-in is even worse.  In comparison, Moniker takes about 5 seconds for the log-out.  Anyway, Moniker loaded and Dotster did not, so I went with Moniker.

I looked at Moniker, and I could have one account and manage multiple domains.  I could transfer multiple domains in one shot.  Being a little hesitant from the last transfer, I transferred just one domain to make sure it worked and I was happy with the service before I did the rest.  After a couple of days (Moniker and GoDaddy had to send information back and forth and I had to approve a couple of things on each side), the first transfer was successful.  Ahh, I could then transfer the rest of my sites.  As an added bonus, the domains were $10 to renew at GoDaddy or $8 to transfer to Moniker.

You can transfer registrars just like you can transfer your car insurance – at any time.  At first I was worried that I wouldn’t get credited for time remaining on the domain name.  Domains expire (and therefore must be renewed) annually.  I had some domains that were not near their renewal time.  But the domain name and its expiration date both transfer, so nothing is wasted and you lose none of your money by transferring.

Now I am 100% GoDaddy-free.  Well, I suppose that since I mention them a few times in this post, I am not 100% free.  But at least now my money does not go toward supporting their ad campaigns.  I do find it interesting that GoDaddy will terminate your service if you are found to be doing anything “morally objectionable”, yet they have no problems sending out “morally objectionable” content themselves.  See http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/agreements.asp?ci=8924 for their Terms Of Service.

I’m not planning on starting a boycott, but if you don’t have a website yourself and want to do something, then you could bug people who do have websites.  If you know someone with a website, or you have some favorite websites or blogs, just use the Whois service to see who the registrar is.  If it is GoDaddy, then call, email, or write that person and tell him your objections.  When using a Whois service, type in the domain name and TLD (e.g. someblogsite.com, not www.someblogsite.com or http://www.someblogsite.com).