Should You Opt for Free Domain from Hosting Companies?

Many hosting companies offer a free domain when you sign-up with them and the domain remains free as long as you are hosted with them. The hosting company will renew the domain on your behalf and continue to do so as long as your hosting account is active with them. While this may sound like a good offer to gladly accept, it mostly depends on which hosting company is offering it and under what conditions. Check for the following points before you sign-up with any hosting provider for an hosting account that offers a free domain:

• Domain Ownership – Will the domain be registered on your name or hosting company’s name. Most often the domain is registered on your name but the technical and billing contacts are your hosting provider’s. This is alright in most cases and should not pose any problems.
• Domain Control – Who has the complete control over domain administration related activities? In case of any changes that you might want to make, such as adding a sub domain at the DNS level, will you have enough control over your domain to make such changes or will you be required to wait until your hosting provider does it for you? If later is true, it may result in unnecessary delays and loss of your valuable time.
• Domain Transfer – If you wish to leave the hosting company and move to another provider, will you be able to take your domain along with you? You should have absolute clarity on this one at least. Afterall, it takes years of hard work and a lot of money to build your brand on Internet and if you can not take ownership of the domain, it could result in a very big loss!

Most of the hosting providers offering a free domain along with the hosting account make it a point to make their terms & conditions clear to you but there are some companies that do not. Either way it’s your responsibility to know the policies and conditions before accepting such offers.

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