Question about having to transfer a domain to get a hosting account

5 replies
I have been researching some hosting companies and found one that looks promising. However, the first step in the sign-up process is to type in the domain name you want to transfer. Is this legitimate?

I don't want to transfer my domain away from the current registrar - I just want to host it with this company. I've never encountered this before and wondered why they need to transfer the domain. Or maybe I'm missing something here?

I think I will shop around a bit more, but am still curious about this feature and why the company has that requirement.
#account #domain #hosting #question #transfer
  • Profile picture of the author LynnM
    No, you don't have to have the domain registered and hosted with the same company - in fact most here would tell you that's it's far better to have them separate. Have you thought about hosting with one of the biggies such as Hostgator?


    Lynn
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Most will ask for your domain name that you are going to use for the hosting. I do not think it is asking for your to transfer the domain name but they are asking for the domain name so they can setup the hosting...

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author Mattk
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      Most will ask for your domain name that you are going to use for the hosting. I do not think it is asking for your to transfer the domain name but they are asking for the domain name so they can setup the hosting...

      James
      James is right, they would loose a lot of potential customers if that was a requirement.
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  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    Hi Val

    Your new hosting company needs to setup their Nameservers with an account for your domain. This is the reason they require your domain name. It is perfectly legitimate.

    The complete procedure works like this:

    1 - A new account is setup on your new hosting company.

    2 - The new hosting company provides you with their Primary and Secondary Nameserver URL's.

    3 - Your registrar (or you, using the registrars control panel) change the Primary and Secondary Nameserver addresses to the ones supplied by the new hosting company.

    At this point your domain now points to the new host.

    Of course at some point before ste p 3 (and after step 1) you need to move your site to the new host!

    Hope this clarifies things a bit!

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author I.M.Retired
    Usually when you sign up for hosting you have the choice to register a new domain, transfer a domain or change the nameservers. However, the hosting company I was considering was hostmonster (dot com.) They only give two choices - register a free domain or transfer an existing domain.

    Help me transfer my domain HostMonster will provide you the information you'll need for transferring your domain.
    I have decided to go elsewhere for hosting.

    Thanks everyone for your replies.
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