2017 Domain.com Web Hosting Reviews: Expert Rating (4+ Stars)
Since 2000, Washington-based Domain.com has kept its state as a leader not just in domain hosting but web hosting as well. One of their biggest highlights has been the creation of innovative products as well as services. Anyone looking for a balanced combination of top qualities, affordability and reliability need not look any further than Domain.com.
As a web hosting service provider, they offer you among other things storage, emails, a choice between Windows or Linux-based hosting plus a ton of other tools to get your website up and running smoothly. And as much they offer a variety of hosting plans and other niche services, affordable shared hosting remains their prime focus.
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As their customer, you're a top priority which perhaps explains why over the years they have attracted raving reviews for their excellent customer support. All their services come with a money-back guarantee and so you have a chance to try out their offerings before buying.
So here’s your great chance to find out more about this company in this Domain.com review.
Ratings
- Features 4.5/5.0
- Reliability 4.2/5.0
- Ease of Use 4.0/5.0
- Pricing 4.3/5.0
- Customer Support 4.5/5.0
Domain.com Hosting Review
Feature-wise, Domain.com has plenty to offer both in domain registration and web hosting. You are guaranteed free services and extra features on top of your domain/web hosting package and if you wish, you can as well pay for their web design, marketing, and SimpleScripts services. More about each of these later in our review.
No major complaints have so far been put forth by users in the majority of the domain.com reviews in relation to their uptime. But much remains to be done to make that (uptime) and other services such as backups and data centers easily accessible to users.
Shared hosting users have access to their in-house control panel known as DomainCentral which is pretty easy to use while VPS users can request for the cPanel and WHM. Prices start from as low as $9.99 (domain registration), $3.75 (Linux-hosting) and $4.75 (Windows-hosting) and for that little amount, you get quality features plus free and extra services/features to refine your experience.
As for customer support, no doubt they are among the leaders in this industry because they offer you multiple channels to use in raising your concerns and best of all, they are available 24/7.
Pros
Excellent Customer Support
Domain.com is among the very few hosting companies that offer their customers a complete set of customer support channels. Any queries or concerns you have can be addressed to them via live chat, phone (toll-free for U.S users) or email. What’s so good about this is that as a customer, you have the option to choose what channels works best for you based on several factors including location. Best of all, you can get in touch with them anytime of the day or night.
Customer Support Tools
Besides being able to speak to their customer support, you also have the option to access their knowledge base which is basically a help system that highlights the basics of all its hosting accounts, passwords, access, and so much more. On top of that, they have basic user guides and a set of tutorials you can use to educate yourself on different web hosting aspects.
Scripts Installation
When it comes to scripts installation, as a shared hosting user, you will be able to install WordPress, phpBB, Drupal, CubeCart, and a couple of other well-known scripts plus tools. However, if you wish to scale your ability to use multiple applications, you will be required to subscribe to their SimpleScripts service (a huge collection of applications that require simple installation). This will cost you a few extra dollars.
Eco-Friendly
Web hosting has been touted as one of the areas contributing to environmental degradation in various ways and so Domain.com has put in the effort to be environmentally conscious by opting to power their systems (up to 150%) with wind energy. This includes their office operations as well. Amazingly, for each hosting customer, they plant a tree. So to them, more hosting customers translates means more good for the environment.
Top Security
Regardless of the hosting package you choose, you are guaranteed a set of security features such as SSL support and a password-protected directory. These two are important especially if you intend to try out e-commerce.
Cons
Expensive Private Domain Registration
Most domain registrars offer WHOIS privacy services at no fee and in many domain name hosting reviews users have always insisted on that first. We all are aware private registration is an absolute must these days. Your personal information should be hidden so as to keep off spammers or other people that might use your details to do bad things. Domain.com charges $8.99/year for such services which can be pretty much expensive especially if you have multiple domains.
Hidden Uptime/Downtime Data
Unfortunately, Domain.com doesn’t put their uptime guarantee in the open and even as we speak, you will hardly find data about performance/uptime history on their website. On top of that, they haven’t yet specified the exact location of their data center(S). Same also applies to backups (the company doesn’t specify when they are taken or whether clients can access them) except that VPS hosting users have a chance to request restoration of their backup should their VPS be corrupted as a result of a botched change in the operating systems.
Top Features Of Domain.com
Free Services & Extra Features
This applies to domain registration too. When you register your domain with Domain.com, you will get a couple of free features on top including URL forwarding, total DNS management, transfer lock and email forwarding. Some domain registrars will charge you extra fees to enjoy these services.
As for web hosting, they have a standard package of freebies that include marketing credits for Facebook advertising, Yahoo!/Bing ads, and Google AdWords. Most web hosts at this level rarely offer that. And if you buy their shared hosting plan, they will offer you free Yellow Pages listing, Google Webmaster Tools integration as well as a toll-free number.
Marketing & Professional Web Design Services
Web design is no doubt one of the influential factors that determine the credibility of a business. So it makes a lot of sense leaving the work to a professional who understands what needs to be done. Domain.com has an in-house talented design team ready to design your website to your satisfaction. Here’s what to expect:
- Professional branding
- Complete website functionality
- A 5-page website
- A Drag and drop site builder to enhance your future website experience
On top of all that, they will assist to bring visitors to your site through search engine optimization, monthly content marketing, managed local lift, and trough routine consultations with experts. These services are offered at a cost of $ 249.95/month.
E-Marketing & E-commerce
If you would love to spread out your message without needing their marketing services, you can as well opt for EmailBrain, their e-marketing tool that lets you come up with email lists, send out email newsletters and even track the results plus a lot more.
For e-commerce, they utilize an easy to use e-commerce application called ShopSite. With this application, you will be able to create a decent store in no time since it makes use of the drag-and-drop function. Still, there are advanced versions of ShopSite for the person who wants to enjoy more features. Want to know how to set up ShopSite? Here’s a video to help you out:
Conclusion
Overall, Domain.com has remained steadfast in their provision of domain registration and web hosting services and if our Domain.com review is anything to go buy, then you are better off having them as your web and domain host. Unfortunately, they only offer shared and VPS hosting and so they may not be the best option for the person who wants dedicated or managed or reseller hosting. A better alternative, in this case, would be HostGator as they offer almost everything Domain.com offers plus a lot more to suit your hosting needs.
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