Client Domain Management Usually Becomes a Problem Slowly, Then All at Once

[nicenic]

What I’ve noticed with smaller agencies is that domain management rarely starts out as a system. It usually starts as a few client names registered wherever it felt convenient at the time. Then the client count grows, renewal dates pile up, ownership details aren’t always consistent, and suddenly what used to be a small admin task becomes something people have to actively clean up. The frustrating part is that none of it looks serious early on, which is probably why so many teams leave it too late.
Would be good to hear how others here handle this. Do you centralize early, or only once the mess becomes obvious?

 

[Eric Lyon]

Over the years (20+) I've been pretty loyal to @GoDaddy as my primary registrar of choice. I've used several others from time to time, but learned that working smarter not harder, also applies to domain management. You have to consider if promotional savings is worth multiple logins, multiple list locations to sort, remembering which registrar specific domains are at or even remember to renew some you forgot to set auto-renew on.

I'm narrowed down to 2 registrars now days based on my personal experiences with them.

• Godaddy - gTLDs (Classic Legacy) - @GoDaddy
• Netim - ccTLDs and gTLDs (Novelty) - @Sebastien - Netim

It's much easier to manage at 2 places than 5, 10 or 15+ at my age and with a much smaller portfolio than back in the days

 

[nicenic]

Thanks for sharing with us Eric. The “2 registrars instead of 5, 10 or 15” point is probably where a lot of people eventually end up.

At some stage the small promo savings stop being worth the extra logins, renewal tracking, scattered domain lists, and different registrar workflows.

 

[TonnyDomains]

Thanks to Eric Lyon for the comments about registrars.
I used Goddaddy for years. But a couple of years ago I stopped.
I do not know anything about Netim, but I will investigate it.