Written by Last year, I learned that the $12 bargain price for Google Domains to handle my website’s domain registration is a deal for a reason. You need to know what you’re doing or have someone running your website that knows what they’re doing. I didn’t have either.
After saying adios to GoDaddy as my domain registrar and initially switching to Google Domains, I didn’t notice any immediate problem because it takes a little time for a domain registration transfer to kick in. So, I believed I’d made a smart move and everything was hunky dory. In fact, I was actually basking in the glow of my website management brilliance. Until —
The most embarrassing part aspect of having my website go missing was how long it took me to notice it. A couple of friends asked me “Where’s TerryTravels?” within days of it first disappearing. But I was busy and thought they must have just mistyped the web address. But then within a week, PR people started asking me why website was offline. Still, I was busy. So it took me another week to finally type in my own website address and ask: “Where is TerryTravels.com?”
I immediately tried to contact Google Domains. I quickly discovered that Google Domains offered no phone or email to support. In fact, the only way to contact them appeared to be via a Google Workspace account. So I opened one of those. But then I discovered that a Google Workspace email account – which I purchased before understanding that I could not use a Google Workspace account (another Catch 22), because one must have an official business email account to verify a google workspace email. So then I was out another $12. So I’ve spent $24 to save money on my website. And TerryTravels.com is still missing.
Ultimately, I learned that the reason my website went missing, which was and is hosted on Bluehost.com, is that when GoDaddy was my domain registrar terrytravels.com was pointed to bluehost.com. When I transferred the domain registration to Google Domains, it was no longer pointed to Bluest, and Bluehost tech support was unable to tell me how to get my website correctly pointed to Bluehost. I ultimately realized that the only service that seemed like it knew what to do and could clearly communicate with a novice website manager like me was my original registrar, GoDaddy. Yes, GoDaddy may charge a bit more. But there’s a reason so many people rely on it. GoDaddy knows what they are doing, and it’s ideal for beginners like me.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who experienced problems with Google Domains or perhaps too many folks wound up wanting their $12 back. In any event, as I wrote this post, I discovered that on September 27, 2023, Squarespace acquired all of Google’s domain registrations, which is hopefully good news for anyone who previously had a domain registered through Google. To explore domain transfers or registrations with Squarespace, you may want to go directly to Squarespace’s domain landing page. It looks like Squarespace can also help you build a website, and I have always heard decent reports about Squarespace.
