I am often asked why some people say that you should not not register your domain name from the same company that you purchase your hosting package from. Here are the reasons why this is a bad idea?

First of all, it is a personal preference. Some people find it far more convenient to have their domain name and hosting with one company, because that means they only have to deal with a single company for all technical/billing issues.

However, others (such as me) consider it safer to split domains and hosting – for me it is a method of “not putting all my eggs in one basket”. For example, if your hosting provider has issues, you can re-point your domain without your host interfering, or those domains being held as assets of the provider during some takeover etc.

At one time there were a few companies that caused problems for people who tried to move their domain names from one registrar to another. GoDaddy was notorious. These problems, however, have pretty much been ironed out.

I have dozens of domain names, and I deal with a number of hosting companies, so for me it is also a matter of convenience in managing the domains in one place. If you are interested in getting into internet marketing, you are likely to end up with many, many domains, and it is worth considering having one registrar for all your domains. I recommend NameCheap – they are cheap and reliable.

This strategy partly depends on the domain that you’re registering, or more precisely, the domain registry involved: for example for .uk and .com.au domains are perfectly safe to register with any provider as long as your name is on the registrant details (and registrars are obliged to do this, unless obtaining your explicit consent otherwise).

Also worth noting that even if you split your domains/hosting, you can still experience BIG trouble if your domain registrar has issues, as former RegisterFly customers will be very familiar with! RegisterFly were ICANN-accredited as of 2005, and were responsible for a large number of domains, but these facts didn’t stop customers from losing their domains or having them offline/suspended for extended periods where they were unable to renew or transfer them, or even change name servers.

If your registrar goes under, another registrar will take your domain names. If you are not notified of the change, you can “whois” your domain to find out whom the new registrar is. Use the domain contact information to prove you own the domain, and get access to your domain manager again.

So, should you separate your domain registrations from your hosting? This assessment is something which each customer must make for themselves, and of course it very much depends on the hosting and domain registrar companies in question: sometimes it’s safer (and easier!) to have them together, other times it may be advisable to have them separate – mainly if you don’t trust your hosting provider or you have a large number of domains to manage.

As stated before, I always use a separate registrar, but that is a choice that suits me.