When we first started to put our own websites on the net, we always selected cheap hosting that included the domain name in the hosting charge because it was cheap and easy. We learned the hard way that this wasn't the best route for us to take. For the short term, it was cheaper but when it came time to renew, there were lots of other hosting companies with lower prices. The hosting companies also charged a premium for renewing the domain name and for addons like Whois Guard. We felt stuck because the hosting company not only had our files but they had our domain name as well. We wanted more control.
The solution for us was separate domain name registration from hosting. This is how we now buy all our domain names and the reason why we decided to not offer domain name registration as part of member services for AffiliatePlus. As a member of AffiliatePlus, your domain name assets are completely separate from your hosting account. You can easily point your domain at a different hosting company and you won't have to jump through hoops to do it. We highly recommend Namecheap.com but you can use any domain name registrar. The choice is up to you.
We also wanted to be able to register domain names without the extra upfront expence of hosting. We can now collect domain names and wait to put up a website until the time is right. This is why we don't limit the number of domains that can be hosted at AffiliatePlus.
