Buying Domains for Someone Else

[Pound]

I'm looking to buy 3/4 domains for a family member as part of a Christmas present. Have any of you done this before and what is the best method of doing it so that they can continue to manage it themselves?

Thanks in advance!

 

[-REECE-]

I did that once before -- helped them setup an account at Godaddy and helped explain how it works so they can manage their own domain. The free shared hosting with a domain purchase at GoDaddy is good for a small website/blog and fairly easy to use.

I'd stick with a registrar which offers hosting unless they're tech savvy. I have my own server which I can let them use should they decide to build a site in the future which outgrows what the registrar allows (which is a lot less than they all pretend to allow).

 

[Keynes]

Godaddy is fairly user-friendly and has 24/7 phone support. You'll probably want to walk them through the procedure and might even want to buy their name in .com as a side gift. Ron has a good beginner's guide here:
http://namenewbie.com/

 

[Pound]

Thanks Reece and Brad - looks like setting up an account for them and then registering that way is the best plan.

Thanks once again!

 

[Domagon]

Ditto. GoDaddy or other well known registrar with telephone support.

I'd suggest regging them for 5 years minimum so the gift recipients don't get renewal fee surprises next year around holiday time.

Going with 5 years is long enough that when they do finally get a renewal notice they likely won't mind and/or will have chosen they don't want it anymore.

Lastly, I'd suggest monitoring the domains on their behalf, such via DomainTools automated monitoring service in case they forget about them or run into a snag sometime in the future.

Ron

 

[Corey]

you could also buy a name in the After market that is parked with existing traffic and let the other person decide what to do with it.

Cheers
Corey

 

[Pound]

Excellent. A good point about regging for more than 1 year as well. I think I might also throw up a simple Wordpress blog and make an account on my hosting as they've talked about wanting a blog for a while.

Thanks once again!

 

[coolguythampy]

You can go to www.doteasy.com which provides you an option to gift domain easily. The also provide free hosting if you buy domain from them. So its a bonus you can give to your family or friends. Hope your query is fulfilled

More than 1 year yes i would recommend if the person whom you are gifting to will be serious about using the website. It would be a good point from SEO prospective for hiring a domain for a longer period of time since it will give the search engines a clue that you really mean business and no spam

However if your family or friends prefer a personal website i dont recommend going for more than 1 year registration. Y? because they will seldom continue with the domain after 1 year

 

[Greg]

I bought all 6 (yes 6) of my kids a domain as a gift. I bought all of their names hyphenated, example: c-o-d-y, c-a-i-t-y, etc. All of them are in the process of setting up their own websites and are racing each other to see who gets online first.

I will manage the registration for a few years then when they turn 18 they can can choose to keep the names or let them drop. It has been a very nice way to educate them about domain names, registrations and the drop process and in return they are teaching me a bit about building a website.
:D

 

[Fka200]

I did something like this for one of my friends. I spent a good week setting up the blog and redesigned it and then handed over the account information. He had to have been the happiest person in the world when I told him I did it for him (he chose a domain name, but didn't know I bought it for him).

All I did was setup the blog on my shared hosting > created a Dynadot account > pushed the domain (renewed for 2 years) and it was all done. Of course, the only drawback is having to help with updating wordpress + adding plugins + minor redesign work. :: friends ::

 

[TheBulldog]

Two ways I do this:

I reg them for people as part of a hosting package with design. (They are free to have the domain moved to their account at any time as long as they pay any fees, or if it is up for renewal, the fees for that)

I reg them for relatives and I just eat the cost every year. (If I still like them)