At Dark Cherry Creative, we recommend our clients own their domains. Of course, this isn't always a requirement, but it means they are your property, and we don't have to raise invoices for fees such as domain renewal.
There are a few benefits to us having your domain, but ideally, you should look to own your own; this can also help whenever needing to move your domain or repoint the domain to another server.
A top tip for domain management is to attach a payment method for auto-renewals. This means your domains will never expire. This saves any potential downtime and loss of email access/deliverability.
Try to keep your domains in one place too. If you have domains spread across various suppliers, you can get lost. We would recommend moving them all to one provider.
Here is a list of points to consider when choosing your domain provider.
1 - Once you have chosen your domain, you will more than likely be looking to renew it; it's always worth looking at the renewal costs ahead of purchasing so there are no nasty surprises.
2 - Security! Have a look at your providers' security. Do they have any authentication and security protocols I keep your domains safe from domain hijacking etc
3 - Does the provider have a reliable and easy to use/contact customer support team. Buying a domain is the easy part; if any errors or issues occur, are they there to help? Look for live chat features and an FAQ section.
4 - Reminders! If you set a card payment instruction for auto-renewal, this isn't such a problem. BUT an email reminder will allow you to plan for the costs of your renewals or if any situation has changed, make sure you are ahead of any unease's renewals. Can you set reminders? It's well worth checking.
5 - Do your research! There are many additional features and services to a domain, and most providers will offer them. Are they all needed? Do they offer SSL?
Domain providers we recommend are IONOS and GoDaddy. There are many more out there which are just as good, but from experience, we like the fore mentioned.
If we can give any advice about domain management and web hosting, please don't hesitate to contact us, and we will be glad to assist.