Website noob with many questions
March 11, 2010 5:14 PM Subscribe
Total website noob with some questions on buying a domain name and choosing a web host. Also specific questions about Vistaprint web hosting.
I’m starting a service business, and I need a simple website. The domain name I want is not available on any of the standard sites (godaddy etc). When I did a whois search, I found out the owner is Vistaprint. I went to the Vistaprint site and began the process of “buying” a website from them. When I entered the domain name, it was – surprise! – available. I didn't complete the transaction. Now my questions:
1. If I am set on this domain name, then clearly I have to buy it from Vistaprint, correct? The problem is, they don’t appear to sell domain names. They sell websites/web hosting. Therefore:
2. If I buy my domain name and set up a website with Vistaprint, who owns the domain name? What happens if I want to leave them – will I lose ownership of the name? Nothing to this effect is addressed in their FAQ.
3. Does anyone have experience with Vistaprint websites? They seem to fit what I need for now, but I can see myself outgrowing them in a year or two. But I can’t find any recent reviews. I did find this comment on AskMe from last year, and it’s positive.
4. Can anyone point me to a concise, easy to understand guide to deciding on a web hosting service? There are so many options out there, and it’s confusing. I’ll need this if I decide to use a different domain name.
Thanks so much.
I’m starting a service business, and I need a simple website. The domain name I want is not available on any of the standard sites (godaddy etc). When I did a whois search, I found out the owner is Vistaprint. I went to the Vistaprint site and began the process of “buying” a website from them. When I entered the domain name, it was – surprise! – available. I didn't complete the transaction. Now my questions:
1. If I am set on this domain name, then clearly I have to buy it from Vistaprint, correct? The problem is, they don’t appear to sell domain names. They sell websites/web hosting. Therefore:
2. If I buy my domain name and set up a website with Vistaprint, who owns the domain name? What happens if I want to leave them – will I lose ownership of the name? Nothing to this effect is addressed in their FAQ.
3. Does anyone have experience with Vistaprint websites? They seem to fit what I need for now, but I can see myself outgrowing them in a year or two. But I can’t find any recent reviews. I did find this comment on AskMe from last year, and it’s positive.
4. Can anyone point me to a concise, easy to understand guide to deciding on a web hosting service? There are so many options out there, and it’s confusing. I’ll need this if I decide to use a different domain name.
Thanks so much.
Best answer: some interesting complaints about vistaprint here.
that aside, we're talking domain hosting, not business cards. you hit the nail on the head on this one--there's nothing that says they're transferring ownership of the domain. i'm guessing that it would be a totally different negotiating process to secure that transfer.
i'm also guessing that they also retain ownership of the code, too--so if, at a later date, you wanted to go with someone else, you'd have to redesign the entire site, as opposed as simply transferring files. i also thought it was odd that if i owned a domain, i could get one referral for free, but would have to pay for an upgraded package to get more then one. hence, you could get askme.com referred for the basic package, but have to get the upgraded package to get askme.org and askme.net also referred. i find that odd, because i control that in my godaddy account ... and if they're stopping it on their end, they've written code to do so--which is a really bad sign in my book.
overall, i'd recommend against doing business with these guys.
posted by lester at 6:28 PM on March 11, 2010
that aside, we're talking domain hosting, not business cards. you hit the nail on the head on this one--there's nothing that says they're transferring ownership of the domain. i'm guessing that it would be a totally different negotiating process to secure that transfer.
i'm also guessing that they also retain ownership of the code, too--so if, at a later date, you wanted to go with someone else, you'd have to redesign the entire site, as opposed as simply transferring files. i also thought it was odd that if i owned a domain, i could get one referral for free, but would have to pay for an upgraded package to get more then one. hence, you could get askme.com referred for the basic package, but have to get the upgraded package to get askme.org and askme.net also referred. i find that odd, because i control that in my godaddy account ... and if they're stopping it on their end, they've written code to do so--which is a really bad sign in my book.
overall, i'd recommend against doing business with these guys.
posted by lester at 6:28 PM on March 11, 2010
Best answer: The part where you jump from "I searched for a domain name and saw it was owned by VistaPrint" to "I decided to build my website with VistaPrint" is confusing to me. I mean, you're implying that VistaPrint is squatting on domain names and then offering to sell out those domain names along with some kind of website building service. I doubt this is the case. If it is, well, fuck them.
However, I'm assuming the reason you can't find VistaPrint selling domain names on its site is because that's not what they do. Perhaps they offer some kind of service where you "appear" to be buying a website "through" VistaPrint, but frankly, it would be weird that the site you inquired about was already owned by VistaPrint before you even tried to set it up through VistaPrint. So, I would say there is some ambiguity in your wording. I mean, that's understandable since you don't have any experience doing this.
Without the specific domain name (I'm not inviting you to share it publicly, btw) it's hard to tell if you're reading the WHOIS wrong, or maybe if this is a coincidence that VistaPrint owns it, or what's going.
So big picture. You need to register a domain that is available and find a webhost to build your site on. If you're talking simple website, if the domain name is taken - all things being equal - move on and play around with it until you find something that is available.
As for web hosts, I always feel like companies that try to package the domain registration along with the web hosting are trying to fuck me, either by charging me too much or by limiting services and then trying to upsell me on some premium package. When you buy (it's actually a lease) a domain name, you DONT have to accept any additional web or email hosting services. GoDaddy is really good at making it look like you HAVE to buy a package from them along with the domain name. I always buy my domain as cheaply as possible and link it to my reliable web hosting dudes that I've been using for years. If you need specific recommendations, mefimail me.
posted by phaedon at 6:55 PM on March 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
However, I'm assuming the reason you can't find VistaPrint selling domain names on its site is because that's not what they do. Perhaps they offer some kind of service where you "appear" to be buying a website "through" VistaPrint, but frankly, it would be weird that the site you inquired about was already owned by VistaPrint before you even tried to set it up through VistaPrint. So, I would say there is some ambiguity in your wording. I mean, that's understandable since you don't have any experience doing this.
Without the specific domain name (I'm not inviting you to share it publicly, btw) it's hard to tell if you're reading the WHOIS wrong, or maybe if this is a coincidence that VistaPrint owns it, or what's going.
So big picture. You need to register a domain that is available and find a webhost to build your site on. If you're talking simple website, if the domain name is taken - all things being equal - move on and play around with it until you find something that is available.
As for web hosts, I always feel like companies that try to package the domain registration along with the web hosting are trying to fuck me, either by charging me too much or by limiting services and then trying to upsell me on some premium package. When you buy (it's actually a lease) a domain name, you DONT have to accept any additional web or email hosting services. GoDaddy is really good at making it look like you HAVE to buy a package from them along with the domain name. I always buy my domain as cheaply as possible and link it to my reliable web hosting dudes that I've been using for years. If you need specific recommendations, mefimail me.
posted by phaedon at 6:55 PM on March 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
That seems strange that VistaPrint would be buying up domains, but maybe that's a busness model for them.
I worked on a site on VistaPrint and the domain was registered at GoDaddy I believe. If you want to use them, I would find a domain name that's available and register it on your own. It can be a major pain if you decide to move your website to another hosting provider and you don't have admin access.
You need to register the domain yourself or have someone you know do it in your name. I've transfered sites in the past and it's much easier when you have control.
posted by iscavenger at 8:25 PM on March 11, 2010
I worked on a site on VistaPrint and the domain was registered at GoDaddy I believe. If you want to use them, I would find a domain name that's available and register it on your own. It can be a major pain if you decide to move your website to another hosting provider and you don't have admin access.
You need to register the domain yourself or have someone you know do it in your name. I've transfered sites in the past and it's much easier when you have control.
posted by iscavenger at 8:25 PM on March 11, 2010
Best answer: If I was you I would settle on another domain name (seconding everyone above) and register it with GoDaddy.
And then use a site like squarespace to both make your website, and do the hosting. I haven't used them, but their pricing seems fair, and the websites you can make with their templates look well designed.
posted by extrabox at 8:37 PM on March 11, 2010
And then use a site like squarespace to both make your website, and do the hosting. I haven't used them, but their pricing seems fair, and the websites you can make with their templates look well designed.
posted by extrabox at 8:37 PM on March 11, 2010
I bought bruthenblues.org from Dotster, got DNS and WebHop redirection through DynDNS, and I moved all my personal web stuff to NearlyFreeSpeech when switching ISPs caused it to need a new home. I've had no trouble at all dealing with any of these organizations, and none of them want much money.
posted by flabdablet at 9:02 PM on March 11, 2010
posted by flabdablet at 9:02 PM on March 11, 2010
Response by poster: Phaedon: you're implying that VistaPrint is squatting on domain names and then offering to sell out those domain names along with some kind of website building service. I doubt this is the case.
I think that this is, in fact, exactly what they're doing. I went to tucowsdomains.com/whois, and got this info:
Registrant:
VistaPrint Technologies Ltd
The domain name I want is not available anywhere else (I tried other services like dotster, suggested above). VistaPrint is in the business of selling/hosting website templates, and when I go to their site and try to register that domain, it's available there. It can't be a coincidence, right?
Thank you all for your advice...I will definitely go with a variant of the name I want and buy it independently. Also thanks to extrabox for suggesting squarespace...that place looks great.
posted by yawper at 6:43 AM on March 12, 2010
I think that this is, in fact, exactly what they're doing. I went to tucowsdomains.com/whois, and got this info:
Registrant:
VistaPrint Technologies Ltd
The domain name I want is not available anywhere else (I tried other services like dotster, suggested above). VistaPrint is in the business of selling/hosting website templates, and when I go to their site and try to register that domain, it's available there. It can't be a coincidence, right?
Thank you all for your advice...I will definitely go with a variant of the name I want and buy it independently. Also thanks to extrabox for suggesting squarespace...that place looks great.
posted by yawper at 6:43 AM on March 12, 2010
I think that this is, in fact, exactly what they're doing.
Again, I'm surprised, I took VistaPrint to be a fairly innocuous, kinda hip card printing service, perhaps trying to hook their customers up with some cool websites.
But as per lester's post, and after reading about this marketing tactic, I would avoid any arrangement with them whatsoever.
posted by phaedon at 10:58 AM on March 12, 2010
Again, I'm surprised, I took VistaPrint to be a fairly innocuous, kinda hip card printing service, perhaps trying to hook their customers up with some cool websites.
But as per lester's post, and after reading about this marketing tactic, I would avoid any arrangement with them whatsoever.
posted by phaedon at 10:58 AM on March 12, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
These days the actual domain name is not really that important because most people just type things into google and go from there. A site with good googlejuice on an obscure domain name is much more valuable than a recognizable domain name that is not search engine friendly and doesn't show up on the first page of results.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:24 PM on March 11, 2010