Looking at the internet as a whole, one part of it's infrastructure that I think could be improved, at least from a webmasters perspective, is the major domain registrars. Many of them leave something to be desired. They are all similiar but have different details which differentiate them from one another. Moniker, for example, is radically different than any other domain registrar I have used (and I have used about ten). On the plus side, they are one of the most secure registrars out there. But unfortunately they are not very intuitive, although they are new and this may change soon. Finding the link to change my name servers was harder than finding a needle in a haystack. There really should be more standardization where these domain registrars are concerned. I have noticed that they are open to feedback on webmaster forums so I predict that they may streamline their process in the near future. Speaking of process, I recently renewed a domain at Godaddy, which is one of the largest (if not the largest) regitrars out there. Thank goodness I had a whole morning to do it. Instead of just clicking it and paying,
which should have been the case, it brought me (actually forced me kicking and screaming) through page after page of options. it seems like I clicked
'continue with order' ten times before brought to the 'checkout now' link which was a tiny, termite sized hyperlink at the bottom of seemingly eighty or ninety
gaudy advertisements. I mean blinking this, flash that. My eyes hurt after all that. I was looking for a bottle of carrot juice at this point. Was I registering a domain or playing the flashiest pinball machine of all time? But they were not done with me. It then gave me the option of
what payment type and I chose Paypal. Instead of me just putting my password in a slot and finishing the process on the site, instead Godaddy mercilessly
yanked me out of their site to some paypal site, not just to pay, but to "set up a Billing Agreement for Preapproved Payments with Go Daddy Software, Inc.". After I navigated that rather lengthy process
I finally saw a button that said 'return to merchant'. I had almost left at this point thinking that I a had already paid. Nope, I then had to complete the payment on go daddy's site, finally I saw the renewal amount, which they never bothered to show me untill step 99 out of 100 (note quite that many, but you get the point). I clicked it and I believe I finally finished the process although I never saw what you might call a clear cut 'submission complete' or 'order complete' type of confirmation page. it was a little more vague than that and I was further bombarded with extensive additional offers that filled the page, obscuring everything else. I was impressed with just how many advertisements these guys could imagine, create and fit on one page.
I think I saw it all. In all fairness to them, most people pay by credit card, a faster and easier process. I had logged into their site in panic after they sent me an email headlined 'Domain _ _ _ _ about to Expire at Godaddy!! After logging I discovered that the domain was still several months from expiring. In any case, they are one of many online domain registrars that could benefit from the old adage 'Less is More'. On the positive side, when I had to call Godaddy's customer service on a different occasion, they were effective and very friendly on the phone. In fact I would give them an A for telephone customer service. Namecheap and Idotz are a little bit easier to navigate online, although no registrars I have used so far have been perfect.
which should have been the case, it brought me (actually forced me kicking and screaming) through page after page of options. it seems like I clicked
'continue with order' ten times before brought to the 'checkout now' link which was a tiny, termite sized hyperlink at the bottom of seemingly eighty or ninety
gaudy advertisements. I mean blinking this, flash that. My eyes hurt after all that. I was looking for a bottle of carrot juice at this point. Was I registering a domain or playing the flashiest pinball machine of all time? But they were not done with me. It then gave me the option of
what payment type and I chose Paypal. Instead of me just putting my password in a slot and finishing the process on the site, instead Godaddy mercilessly
yanked me out of their site to some paypal site, not just to pay, but to "set up a Billing Agreement for Preapproved Payments with Go Daddy Software, Inc.". After I navigated that rather lengthy process
I finally saw a button that said 'return to merchant'. I had almost left at this point thinking that I a had already paid. Nope, I then had to complete the payment on go daddy's site, finally I saw the renewal amount, which they never bothered to show me untill step 99 out of 100 (note quite that many, but you get the point). I clicked it and I believe I finally finished the process although I never saw what you might call a clear cut 'submission complete' or 'order complete' type of confirmation page. it was a little more vague than that and I was further bombarded with extensive additional offers that filled the page, obscuring everything else. I was impressed with just how many advertisements these guys could imagine, create and fit on one page.
I think I saw it all. In all fairness to them, most people pay by credit card, a faster and easier process. I had logged into their site in panic after they sent me an email headlined 'Domain _ _ _ _ about to Expire at Godaddy!! After logging I discovered that the domain was still several months from expiring. In any case, they are one of many online domain registrars that could benefit from the old adage 'Less is More'. On the positive side, when I had to call Godaddy's customer service on a different occasion, they were effective and very friendly on the phone. In fact I would give them an A for telephone customer service. Namecheap and Idotz are a little bit easier to navigate online, although no registrars I have used so far have been perfect.
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