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> Something I learned the hard way when I first started out in business is to never make your business dependent on a single entity. Seems impossible. Assumin

by sbov 8y ago

> Something I learned the hard way when I first started out in business is to never make your business dependent on a single entity. Seems impossible. Assuming you're an internet business, how did you make your business not dependent upon your domain registrar?

quickthrower2 8y ago
Out of the myriad registrars, you can pick a good one, or at least one that lets you transfer out easily.
calabin 8y ago
I can't remember the exact details of the story I read here on HN, but there was a case of some SaaS company that had this exact issue. Fortunately they were able to spread the word to temporarily use a backup domain on a different registrar via social media until the issue was resolved. If anyone reading this remembers that story, I would very much appreciate a link.
- tomjohnneill 8y ago
  I don't have a link, but pretty sure it was Zoho
- lenomad 8y ago
  It was Zoho. Their registrar took down their main domain after a few phishing reports. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/zoho-pulled-offline-after-phishing-complaints-ceo-says/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/zoho-pulled-offline-after-...
- davchana 8y ago
  Jotform & Zoho had similar issues in the past.
reaperducer 8y ago
how did you make your business not dependent upon your domain registrar? It wasn't an internet business, so I didn't have to deal with those kinds of perils. But more to your point, I knew a guy who put one on .com, one on .info, one on a county tld. Advertising material rotated through the three. His logic was that it didn't really matter what address was advertised because people just hit a search engine for the brand name. I haven't spoken to him in years, so I don't know how it worked out.
- progval 8y ago
  > Advertising material rotated through the three. His logic was that it didn't really matter what address was advertised because people just hit a search engine for the brand name. This is a great idea, thanks for sharing
- emiliobumachar 8y ago
  Seems effective, but I assume he took a huge SEO penalty, possibly without being aware of it. The search relevance of the site got divided by all the domains.
  - londons_explore 8y ago
    Google at least is smart enough to identify alias domains, and you can even tell it how to behave in the search console
gregmac 8y ago
Typically, a registrar is not irreplaceable. They could terminate your account so you'd have to transfer to another registrar, but unless their TOS says they can seize your domain they shouldn't be able to completely block you. Even then you have the ability to sue then if they break the contract terms. This is in contrast to the app store gatekeepers, where there are effectively two, each serving a non-overlapping chuck of market, and you can't shop around for better terms or an alternative. Not an ideal situation if something happens with your registrar, of course, but at least there is some possible recourse. The risk of this leading to your business closing is significantly lower.

by sbov 8y ago

quickthrower2 8y ago

Out of the myriad registrars, you can pick a good one, or at least one that lets you transfer out easily.

calabin 8y ago

I can't remember the exact details of the story I read here on HN, but there was a case of some SaaS company that had this exact issue. Fortunately they were able to spread the word to temporarily use a backup domain on a different registrar via social media until the issue was resolved. If anyone reading this remembers that story, I would very much appreciate a link.

tomjohnneill 8y ago
I don't have a link, but pretty sure it was Zoho
lenomad 8y ago
It was Zoho. Their registrar took down their main domain after a few phishing reports. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/zoho-pulled-offline-after-phishing-complaints-ceo-says/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/zoho-pulled-offline-after-...
davchana 8y ago
Jotform & Zoho had similar issues in the past.

reaperducer 8y ago

how did you make your business not dependent upon your domain registrar? It wasn't an internet business, so I didn't have to deal with those kinds of perils. But more to your point, I knew a guy who put one on .com, one on .info, one on a county tld. Advertising material rotated through the three. His logic was that it didn't really matter what address was advertised because people just hit a search engine for the brand name. I haven't spoken to him in years, so I don't know how it worked out.

progval 8y ago
> Advertising material rotated through the three. His logic was that it didn't really matter what address was advertised because people just hit a search engine for the brand name. This is a great idea, thanks for sharing
emiliobumachar 8y ago
Seems effective, but I assume he took a huge SEO penalty, possibly without being aware of it. The search relevance of the site got divided by all the domains.
- londons_explore 8y ago
  Google at least is smart enough to identify alias domains, and you can even tell it how to behave in the search console

gregmac 8y ago

Typically, a registrar is not irreplaceable. They could terminate your account so you'd have to transfer to another registrar, but unless their TOS says they can seize your domain they shouldn't be able to completely block you. Even then you have the ability to sue then if they break the contract terms. This is in contrast to the app store gatekeepers, where there are effectively two, each serving a non-overlapping chuck of market, and you can't shop around for better terms or an alternative. Not an ideal situation if something happens with your registrar, of course, but at least there is some possible recourse. The risk of this leading to your business closing is significantly lower.