Unlike retail domain registrars, corporate domain registrars offer essential services such as copyright protection, domain management, brand protection, and domain enforcement. An overarching online digital strategy consists of domain names and related services. Corporate domain name registrars are essential for mid-size businesses to enterprises, allowing them to do everything in one place. Enterprises should look for a partner to help them navigate the online landscape, rather than simply a place to register domains. When selecting a corporate domain name registrar, there are a few key criteria that should be considered. The reviews of a domain registrar should indicate that the company takes care of its clients. Domain names and related services are critical for businesses; if a domain name isn’t working properly, a business’s entire website could go down. It’s essential to choose a registrar that is responsive and professional. Reviews are an excellent indicator of a company’s customer support. Corporate domain registrars will typically charge more for a domain name than their retail domain registrar counterparts. This is due to the fact that domains roll up into a comprehensive strategy for a corporate domain registrar, rather than functioning as a commodity that you can buy from any domain registrar. Enterprises should expect to pay a bit more for the same domain, but not outlandishly so. For this reason, we took a closer look at the pricing of several corporate domain registrars to see which are overpriced and which are fairly priced. Corporate domain registrars are notorious for not being transparent, especially when it comes to pricing. Many will not show pricing anywhere on the site, requiring you to reach out to an account representative in order to see what things cost. For this reason, we looked for a corporate domain registrar that had pricing clearly shown on the website, with no hidden fees at checkout. It’s preferred to work with a domain registrar that is technologically robust, rather than one that is outdated. This includes the ability to easily and intuitively edit DNS records required for a successful website. A domain registrar with technologies such as private registration, web forwarding, domain locking, and IP tracking in-house makes it easier to manage one’s website. It’s preferred to work with a domain registrar that offers many extensions (often called “Top Level Domains (TLDs),” such as .com or .org). If you are a business with a domain portfolio, it can be difficult or downright annoying to have domains with multiple registrars, which can happen if one registrar offers certain domains you need and another registrar offers other domains you need. For this reason, we also evaluated corporate domain registrars based on the number of TLDs they offer. Finally, the overall depth of services provided by the domain registrar is arguably the most important quality of a corporate domain registrar. Common services provided by corporate domain registrars include: These services provide you with the company's rights to promote a unique and secure online experience for your customers. Based on all of the criteria above, 101domain emerged as our top pick. In fact, they were head and shoulders above the rest. Not only did 101domain offer more top level domains, better technology, and deeper services, they also had better average reviews across major review platforms and had cheaper and more transparent pricing on their website. Other corporate domain registrars did not have pricing clearly shown on their website, and their technology seemed to be outdated. This article will offer a breakdown of 101domain’s performance in each of the categories described above. 101domain offers three distinct ways to contact their support team: via LiveChat, support ticket, or by phone. The even offer an “Emergency Support Line” in the event something critical goes wrong during non-business hours:
LiveChat support lets you chat with one of their associates for immediate help during business operation hours. With this, you can query about general support, sales, hosting, transfer, and email migration in real-time with real people. The 101domain support ticket feature is for those queries or communication that involve sensitive information. If you are an existing customer, you can log in directly to create a support ticket. New customers are required to create an account. 101domain is also reachable by phone whether you are within the U.S or international. As mentioned above, they also have an emergency support line that can be used during non-business hours. 101domain also delivers an extensive knowledge base and blog. Their knowledge base answers your frequently asked questions with step-by-step instructions. Their blogs are also up-to-date on recent developments and inner workings of the domain and technology space. In terms of reviews, 101domain has consistently earned 4.5+ star review averages across each of the major review platforms. Reseller Ratings: 4.31 stars across 3,062 reviews Trustpilot Reviews: 4.6 stars across 354 reviews Google My Business: 4.6 stars across 110 reviews 101domain also has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau with no outstanding complaints. Most of the reviews for 101domain emphasize their professionalism, know-how, consistency, personability, friendliness, convenience, and speed. Among corporate domain registrars, 101domain is among the least expensive. Here are their prices for top-level and international domains. Other corporate domain registrars often charge $20+ for a .com domain, whereas 101domain offers a .com domain for $11.79 at this time of writing. Once again, this is compared to corporate domain registrars; there are retail domain registrars who focus solely on price and offer lower prices than 101domain. Domain registrars focusing on low pricing typically recoup the cost on higher renewals and do not offer an account rep to help you navigate the digital landscape. Nor do they provide easily-accessible support staff in the event something goes wrong. Among the corporate domain registrar options, 101domain was the least expensive. Other corporate domain registrars such as MarkMonitor and CSC lack transparency in their offering and pricing. After looking through each website, we were unable to find pricing on any of their pages. To find their pricing, we had to read 3rd-party reviews about each of the companies. 101domain has prices for each of their products and services clearly listed on each of their pages. Additionally, upon going through the checkout process, the same price listed was the same final price. By default, adding additional services such as their Secure Web Accelerator and keeping registration info from being shown on a WHOIS lookup was checked by default, but after unchecking those, the price of the domains was the same as what was shown on the product page. It’s common for domain registrars to add fees or require adjacent purchases in order to claim the price shown. With 101domain, what you see is what you get; we were very pleased with the 101domain website’s transparency. Many corporate domain registrars have a clunky platform, making it difficult to perform simple functions like updating DNS records. Because 101domain began as a more of a retail domain registrar, they’ve invested heavily in making their platform a smooth experience. Additionally, 101domain has many adjacent services integrated within the platform, such as Cloudflare, Google Workspace, SSL certificates, and website hosting. Having your email, hosting, cybersecurity, and other website needs all integrated into one platform makes things easier to manage. 101domain offers more domain extensions than any other domain registrar, especially when it comes to obscure country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) They currently have 3,169 total domain extensions available, with 1,523 generic domains and 1,646 country code top-level domains (source). As mentioned above, having a wide selection of domains is crucial for businesses who need to manage a domain portfolio that covers their trademark across multiple domains. It can be difficult or downright annoying to have domains with multiple registrars, which can happen if your domain registrar only offers certain domains that you need and a separate registrar offers other domains you need. Once again, 101domain scored highest in this category – not surprisingly since its specialty is in international domain names. Compared to its competition, 101domain offers a suite of enterprise solutions that is either on par or above its competitors. The Secure Web Accelerator powered by Cloudflare protects websites from attacks while simultaneously optimizing site speed and uptime. The privacy registration offered by 101domain hides your personal information: name, physical address, email address, and phone number from public view. It prevents unwanted domain-related spam from ending in your inbox and call log. 101domain offers 2 Factor Authentication, which provides additional protection for your digital assets. Without the code, your account cannot be accessed even in the case of a compromised password or other security breaches. With Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), 101domain ensures that internet users reach your organization online and have not been redirected to a fraudulent website. They also offer IP Lock and Logging services that allow you to limit your logins, restrict the number of IP addresses that can be used to log in, and monitor your account activity with detailed change logs in your 101domain account to significantly increase your security. 101domain also has multi-user account access security, monitoring, and enforcement features. Additionally, they have a registry lock that prevents unauthorized parties from updating domain settings and a domain blocking feature that disallows any party from purchasing a domain using your term in the covered TLDs across all domain providers. 101domain offers domain enforcement services, such as filing a UDRP or Cease and Desist in the event of a trademark infringement. 101domain also offers brand protection and trademark monitoring which monitors the registration of your trademark and services to take action when necessary. 101domain’s ONDMARC service configures several email authentication standards on your domain name to prevent bad actors from sending a spoofing email from your domain. With phishing and spoofing on the rise, configuring your domain correctly is essential for businesses of all sizes. 101domain Domain Concierge service helps you anonymously acquire domain names with their industry connections and years of experience in negotiating deals. Finally, 101domain offers domain blocking products and services that allow enterprises to take preventative measures against trademark infringement. Domain blocking services such as the domain marks protected list, or DPML, allows companies to “block” (essentially register) domains containing their trademark in bulk to disallow attackers from infringing on their domain. Overall, 101domain is an excellent choice for businesses looking for a domain registrar that can function as more of a partner rather than only a domain name provider. 101domain assigns an account executive to any large clients in need of the additional support and assistance in navigating the digital landscape. Across the criteria of reviews, price, transparency, technology, domain availability, and depth of services, 101domain is our recommendation for a corporate domain registrar. Their vast selection of domains, robust security features, and commitment to customer service make them our top choice for businesses in need of a corporate domain registrar.Overview
Customer Support & Reviews
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Technology
Domain Availability
Depth of Services
Our Top Pick: 101domain
Support & Reviews
Price
Transparency
Technology
Domain Availability
Depth of Services
Conclusion
True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.
True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.
To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.
