Have you received a notice in the mail to renew your domain? I did.

Domain names are such an important part of my brand and business. Accordingly, I checked the pay date, noticed I had a few months, and put the letter in my pay bills folder.

When I looked at the “bill”, I realized the price was way higher than I usually pay and I figured I would register through my registrar instead of through this Canadian registry. I thought it was a case of going through a third party to get the same product for cheaper. I then went to my registrar, www.domainsatcost.ca, and renewed my domain at 1/3 the price of the “bill”.

If I had even taken a minute to carefully look at the letter at the start I would have realized it was a solicitation letter by another domain name registrar, Domain Registry of Canada, suggesting that I switch to using them.

Domain Name Expiration Notice from droc.ca

I’m versed enough with the online world that I didn’t come close to paying the “bill”.

However, if one were not Internet savvy, I could see someone unknowingly falling for this type of letter. The registrar who writes these solicitation letters has already gotten into trouble for this.

If you look again at the letter above, at first glance I’m sure many people would assume it is a renewal bill to pay.

Some domain name registration tips

  1. If you’re paying over $15 a month for a .ca or .com address, you’re probably paying too much**.
  2. Make sure that you renew with your registrar and nowhere else, unless you want to switch.
  3. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the official .ca authority. You don’t actually use them to register your domain name, but it is the the registrar companies you use that send your information to the CIRA. A quote from the CIRA website.

    Registrars provide the registration information to CIRA. Once a domain has been approved and registered by CIRA, CIRA adds this information to what is called a “zone file,” which allows computers to route Internet traffic to and from domains around the world.

  4. The registrar companies pay the CIRA a flat rate every year for the registration, there is no difference in names, a .ca is a .ca. It is not like municipal business licenses where the price varies depending on location, size, and type of business.
  5. The CIRA has a list of approved registrars. I went through a random sample of 7 and found that prices ranged from $12.95 to $80 a year. As far as I know, there is no advantage/reason to pay more for your domain**. In the event that your registrar were to ever go out of business, your name is still safe with the CIRA.
  6. I use domainsatcost.ca and have done so for the past 4 years without a single problem. There is also godaddy.com $11.90 for .com and $13.51 for .ca in comparison to $14.95 for a .com and $12.95 for a .ca from domainsatcost.ca.
  7. The CIRA has a fantastic FAQ on registering your domain in Canada. It is not necessary to read this FAQ in order to register a domain, but if you want to know more about how it works, this is straight from the horse’s mouth.
  8. At http://www.domainwarning.com/ you will find a good list of things to look for in a domain registrar. If you scroll to the bottom you’ll realize it is made by a registrar. They are more expensive than the two registrar’s I listed above, but they also have their reasoning and seem pretty legit.

** My Internet savvy doesn’t go so far as to know why I’d pay more for a registrar and after looking at http://www.domainwarning.com I believe that my registrar is giving me everything I need. As a small business with a site that is currently not heavily trafficked,I don’t know why I’d pay the more $$ at this point. If anyone can tell me the benefits as to why, I’d be willing to switch my position.