What The Domain Registrars & Hosting Companies
Really Don't Want You To Know!
- Buying A Domain And Hosting It With The Same Registrar
- Paying Hosting On A Month To Month Basis
- Paying A Fee To Host More Than 1 Website
- Auto Renewing Your Domain Names Without Knowing The Cost
- Paying For SSL Certificates.
- Paying For Each Email Address You Have
This Cost Me Thousands Of Dollars!
Are You Making The Same Mistakes?
Dear Fellow Entrepreneur,
If you’re like me, you hate wasting money. And boy I’ve wasted my share since starting my first website in 2001. I’m almost too embarrassed to admit how long it took to catch on. It wasn’t until Google did this one thing that I had my light bulb moment. Only then did learn what domain registrars and hosting companies don’t want you to know. This blog is dedicated to sharing that information with you.
Granted, when I started online, things were much different than today. Back then, there weren’t websites like this one to learn from and owning a site was relatively new. AOL and Yahoo were the dominant platforms. In fact to get customers to your site, you told them to type the whole http://www.myverylongdomainname.com to find it. Notice I didn’t say https:, I’ll get back to that in a minute. There were just a few companies to buy domains from and I was stuck paying whatever they charged.
Domain registration was about $35 per year and I paid a $25 dollars a month for hosting. That’s a total of $335. Year after year, I paid it like clockwork. Because I was making money, it didn’t seem so bad.
But then I started scaling my business and buying domains as long-term investments to sell later on. Those renewal fees and hosting fees just kept on piling up! It kept getting worse and worse.
The Lightbulb Moment
If that wasn’t bad enough, Google sent a shock wave throughout the internet by “requiring” every site to have what is called an SSL certificate. And by the way, the Registrars started charging for them. They’ve raked in no telling how many millions of dollars since then. SSL’s have been around for a long time but there were limited in their use.
For example, banks almost from the beginning had https: in the front of their domain name like this. https://bankname.com. In simple terms, it means that the data you enter, such as your personal information, is “secure”. But why does Bill’s fishing site or Suzie’s golfing blog need to have an SSL certificate just like the big banks?
Well, if you don’t have one, your almost invisible online. Google won’t rank your site very high, and if a customer stumbles onto your website They put a big ole warning up saying, Your connection is not secure and that attacker may be trying to steal your information! That clicking sound you heard is your business losing money as your customer flees your site.
The Breaking Point!
Paying for a SSL certificate, that was the last straw! After years of just taking it, I decided to take my business elsewhere. It took hours of research but I finally found the key to keeping my cost low and keeping my business lean. Now I’m in a position to be more profitable than ever. You don’t have to wait years to start saving money. All you have to do is your own due diligence and learn from the mistakes I made.
Mistake #1 Buying A Domain And Hosting It At the Same Registrar
This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make with your website. On the surface, this makes perfect sense. It’s a one-stop shop and takes little to no technical skill to get started. Heck, most companies have a step-by-step process to walk you through it.
First let’s talk about the cost. Registrars offer you a too good to be true 1st year domain registration fee just so they can hook you into their monthly hosting service and up-sells.
When you go to renew the domain, it can be as much as double the initial price. Just like what happened to me in 2001, you’re be stuck paying whatever they charge to keep your website going.
Down Time Costs You Money!
Secondly, what happens if your hosting service gets a DDOS attack? That’s where hackers flood millions and millions of visitors per second to their servers and takes it down. Legitimate visitors won’t be able to get to your website. You’re at the mercy of the hackers and how quickly your provider fixes the problem.
The Simple Solution
Registering your domain with one provider and hosting it with another allows you to switch hosting providers on the fly if something happens. It may not be instant but it’s the only way to minimize your loses. Do you really want to take a chance?
Registrars and hosting companies are great at advertising their pricing and ease of use. What they’re not so good at is letting you know you have better options. I’ll explain why and where to purchase your domain in the mistake #4 section.
Mistake #2 Paying Hosting On A Month To Month Basis.
Simply put, it’s the most expensive way to purchase hosting. Like me, you may not have known better, or you’re on a tight budget. But why is it more expensive? They don’t give you a discount on a month to month plan. On top of that you could be subject to price increases whenever they want. Instead, you should buy at a minimum 1 year of hosting at a time. You’ll get a steep discount and lock in a fixed price for that year.
Save More When You Pay For Multiple Years!
I recommend buying the max number of years you can. For example, I like Hostinger. I paid for 4 years of hosting. It was about $170. That works out to be around $3.55 per month! There are several reasons why I went with their 4 year Business plan. The first is I got the maximum discount they offered, and it’s locked in with no price increases.
Secondly it frees up my cash flow to run other parts of my business. Lastly is it gives me flexibility to always get the best price for hosting. When the 4 years is up, I’ll get another hosting account with them or shop around for a better deal. Still concerned about your tight budget?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! In the next few sections I spell out a risk free way of paying for your hosting, SSL certificates and email! Believe me when I say, these are the things they really don’t want you to know!
Mistake #3 Paying A Fee To Host More Than 1 Website.
You may only have 1 website now, so why would it matter? The beauty of using a hosting service like Hostinger is that I can host up to 100 sites for one price. That means every time I buy a new domain I’m only out the price of the registration and nothing more.
If you remember, I told you not to worry about a tight budget. Well, here’s why. Not only can you use your hosting for your own sites, but you can offer to host other people’s sites too. You can do it as a business and make a profit or just charge them enough to cover your expenses.
Risk Free Hosting
Think about it. I’m sure you have at least one friend that needs a website. Could they possibly say no to $4 a month? It’s a no-brainer. Whether you host 1 site or 100, it’s the same price.
Mistake #4 Auto Renewing Your Domain Names Without Knowing The Cost.
No one wants to accidently let their domain expire. That’s where registrars have you over a barrel. It’s the fear of missing out! Because you have your credit card on file, the registrar will automatically charge you what ever their current price is. You have no say you just pay. Most registrars give you a huge discount to register the domain the first year, but most if not all charge significantly more to renew it.
What If I Forget To Renew My Domain?
Registrars will email you prior to the domain expiring. Typically, 30 days ahead and several times before the actual expiration date. This is helpful but also a way to guarantee them more revenue. The fact of the matter is, there’s a whole series of things that have to happen before you completely lose your website.
After your domain expires, there is a grace period where you can just pay the renewal fee and no harm, no foul. Some will charge you during this time, others don’t. My point is don’t auto renew without knowing what they are going to charge you to renew it. Just set up a reminder 45 days prior to your domains expiration date on your phone if need be.
What About Multiple Year Registration?
No matter what registrar you use, only register domains for multiple years if the price per year is less than a single year registration. This is another little gotcha to look out for. It’s easy to transfer the domain to another registrar and there are plenty of YouTube videos to explain it.
Get Wholesale Domain Pricing!
One place you can buy domain names at a wholesale price and never a markup is Cloudflare.com. The last time I checked it was only $9.15 This is just one of many registrars that don’t overcharge you. Domain registration is not their primary business so there is no motivation to charge you more than what they pay. You’re actually getting their wholesale pricing!
| Top Level Domain | .com | .net | .info | .org |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale registry fee | $8.97 | $9.77 | $14.60 | $9.93 |
| ICANN fee | $0.18 | $0.18 | $0.18 | $0.18 |
| Cloudflare fee | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Your annual cost | $9.15 | $9.95 | $14.78 | $10.11 |
Source: cloudflare.com
Mistake #5 Paying For SSL Certificates
Earlier I told you, without an SSL , you’re basically invisible online and your customers will will be scared away. This has been a boon for the registrars and another pitfall for website owners to fall into. You should never ever have to pay for a SSL Certificate. Hosting services like Hostinger include SSLs for free on every site you own or host.
Take a look below. If you bought from NameCheap it would cost you $11.00 the first year and $13.20 when it renews. GoDaddy is $69 the first year but that requires you by a 3-yr plan. I’d think you’d be pretty upset if you had auto renew on and woke up to $300 charge on your card.
Why pay for it at all? That’s right just go with a hosting company that has SSL Certificates included. Which leads me to not having to pay for each email you have.
| SSL Certificate Type | Provider | Sale Price /yr | Original Price /yr | Discount | Term Length | Total Due Today | Renewal Price /yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain Validation (DV) | Namecheap (PositiveSSL) | $11.00 | $13.20 | 17% off | 1-Yr | $11.00 | $13.20 |
| GoDaddy (Domain Validation SSL) | $69.99 | $99.99 | 30% off | 3-yr term | $209.97 | $299.97 |
Mistake #6 Paying For Each Email Address You Have.
Hosting services like to charge you a monthly fee for each email address you have. That adds up fast. What a lot of people do starting out is use a free account like Gmail , Yahoo, Hotmail etc. You might think it’s free but the problem is, in some cases your important emails land in the in the spam filter and your customers never see them.
Is that A Risk Your Willing To Take?
As your team grows, you’ll want each person to have their own personal email address like this.
bobsmith@mydomainame.com
sjohnson@mydomainname.com
sales@mydomainname.com
accounting@mydomaniname.com
I think you’d agree, you shouldn’t have to pay for each email you need. Besides who can keep up with all those “Pricing Options”
| Plan | Provider | Discounted Price /mo | Regular Price /mo | Discount | Mailboxes Included | Storage for Emails | Total Due Today | Renewal Price /yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate | Namecheap | $4.00 | $5.99 | 33% | 5 | 75GB | $47.98 | $71.88 |
| Pro | Namecheap | $2.50 | $3.49 | 28% | 3 | 30GB | $29.98 | $41.88 |
| Starter | Namecheap | $0.99 | $1.24 | 20% | 1 | 5GB | $11.88 | $14.88 |
| Microsoft 365 Email Essentials | GoDaddy | $2.99 | $7.99 | 62% | Not specified | 10GB | $35.88 | $95.88 |
| Microsoft 365 Email Plus with Security | GoDaddy | $5.99 | $9.99 | 40% | Not specified |
How Many Of the 6 Mistakes I Made Are You Making Too?
As someone who has been online since 2001, those mistakes have literally cost me thousands of dollar in wasted money.
Want to stop wasting money too, Click Here to learn more about using Hostinger as your next hosting provider.
Be sure to select the Business Plan. You’ll even get 3 months Free
You Won’t Pay For:
- Multiple Website Hosting Fees: Host multiple websites with one hosting plan at no additional cost.
- Individual SSL Certificates: SSL certificates included for free, securing your websites without extra charges.
- Per-Email Address Charges: Create email addresses without worrying about additional fees.
Don’t worry about moving your website to them. No technical skills are needed. You can contact support, they’ll help you do so seamlessly.
BTW when you buy through that link, I get a little referral fee.
The good news is that it doesn’t cost anything more.
Who knows with a some luck I’ll get back a few bucks of what I lost over the years.
Thanks.
| Hostinger Business Plan | |
|---|---|
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