123-Reg

Overview

123-Reg.com has strong claims as one of the UK’s most popular domain provider with over 3 million domains registered and around 1.7 million websites hosted. Now, all this could be a matter of having the best pricing strategy, but is 123-Reg.com the biggest where it matters? First, a look in to the company’s origins. A central part of Host Europe GmbH’s (HEG) business, 123-Reg was launched in 2000, at a time when the internet is steadily rising as one of mankind’s greatest developments, prompting hosting companies to contribute to the fast rising industry. HEG, a privately-owned Europe-based hosting company founded in 1997, was right there when internet businesses were booming. They witnessed the growth and the changes. While it doesn’t promote itself as a green hosting company the way others do, 123-Reg is actually eco-friendly, with data centers powered by low-energy systems.

Usability

People and businesses in need of establishing a web presence would have different requirements in a domain registry/website hosting provider. More often than not, their first interaction would be with a domain name search. In this area, 123-Reg creates a good first impression with its straightforward domain name search function which a professional or an amateur web creator would find delightful to use. Search and register function is designed for convenience. Links to transfer domain is provided just below the main search bar and everything else can easily be found in this cleanly designed interface, and doesn’t require arduous searches.

Domain Privacy

No one who registers a domain relishes the thought of having his name, mailing address, email address, and phone number exposed to the public. Registering a domain and building a website, however, present the inevitable exposure to the dangers of spammers, online marketers and plain old thieves. WHOIS database, a public record of domain registrants’ details, is partly responsible for this even though its main purpose is to dispense information on domain name or an IP address owner. Since some or most people need their details protected, they avail of protection. 123-Reg charges for this service and it’s at a fair price of GBP 4.99 (USD 7.5) a year. The domain privacy is provided by a third party agency called Identity Protection Service, based on the UK.

Bulk Registrations and Management

Bulk registration is easy as 1, 2, 3 in 123-Reg.com. Bulk search and transfer are grouped under one section that also provides an option to select a default registration period. After entering the list of domains to be searched, a user clicks BULK SEARCH button. A list of available and unavailable domains in your search will then appear which the user can add all as a group or add individually. Those who already have a number of domains registered will have no trouble managing all of them as the 123-Reg control panel is one of the easiest to manage among thousands of domain registries.

Access Level and Delegating

Putting another person in charge of an account can be done by providing that person your 123-Reg log-ins, meaning, there is no feature that lets another user have access to a restricted number of features. This could be a slight concern for those who need to delegate access level for technical roles to other users.

Pricing and Coupons

For commonly used domains such as .com or a .uk, a user pays GBP 4.99 (USD 7.5) for a 1-year plan. With domain privacy, a user will be checking out a basket costing GBP 9.98 (USD 15) for a domain. Coupons are offered regularly through its Voucher Codes and Offers page. There are discounts for domain names, web hosting, email hosting, and VPS. At any given period, there isn’t much to choose from but the ones offered are usually attractive offers that those looking for better deals ought to avail.

Customer Service

Before submitting a technical issue or contacting a customer support personnel for any concern, 123-Reg’s Knowledge Base is a good way to find out if there is a need for assistance. If this comprehensive database of user guide does not resolve the concern, its contact form provides an organized system of addressing issues on account accessibility, 123-reg sales, and account and billing. A sub-topic for the issue will follow and then a user’s choice of contacting support: call, email or livechat. The support team is highly skilled knowledgeable. Livechatting in particular provides resolution in what is by far one of the fastest livechat response system of a domain registry. Quality of support varies, with more difficult queries proving a bit challenging to get resolved, but overall, getting support is easily obtained and in flexible times of the day.

Management Summary

123-Reg offers excellent management tools which will be a joy to handle for those managing several domains. When it comes to usability, it is one of the best, most intuitive domain registry available today. Customer support provides lightning-quick response and is often a reliable source of knowledge. Where it falters somehow is the lack of capability to provide access level to other, non-account owners. Also, its base plans might prove a bit limited, with none of the generous free features of most domain registries. While far from being a perfect registrar and web host, 123-Reg does a very competent job at providing domains and hosting services. A user going for quality domain services and web management tools, competent and responsive support, and clean, extremely user-friendly interface, 123-Reg.com is an excellent pick.