I’m building a list of recommended services that I’ve used and can recommend or that I’ve had recommended to me. If you can recommend a good service or like to see recommendations for a type of service, please contact me.

Affiliate Policy: To support the theme’s development, I do use some affiliate links – however, I will never ever ever recommend something purely because it has an affiliate link (and a number of these recommendations don’t have affiliate links). As a win win, I’ll include discounts where possible.

Hosting

I recommend keeping hosting and domain registration companies separate if you can.

Dreamhost: I having been using them for a number of years (Notification Lister is hosting with them) and because they allow unlimited domains and databases as well as a simple Wordpress install, they are really good for domain parking with Notification Lister theme. They are really cheap, they have a funny monthly newsletter that I actually look forward to getting, they donate money to charity and they seem like decent folk. It’s not a host I would use for a mission critical venture as they do have the occasional downtime though I’ve found support pretty responsive. Like I said, they are really cheap and it’s a good place to develop domains until they require more intensive hosting needs. DISCOUNT: Use the promo code NOTELIST0809 for $51 off.

AN Hosting and Midphase: Both these companies are owned by the same company but the packages offered can differ so it is worth comparing. I’ve heard good things about them but I haven’t used them extensively. One thing that annoys me is that their specials advertising is a little deceptive – you need to read the fine print. When I last checked, they were running a special for 75% off their hosting starting from $2.95/month which sounds really good but in smaller print, it’s only valid for for the first three months and the $2.95 plan is only if you pay for 24 months in advance (and then it’s only for the first 3 months so you end up forking out quite a bit more).

MediaTemple: A lot of big names use these guys. They are supposed to make things really scalable. I used them for work a year ago and I didn’t love the interface but it may well have changed since then.

Domain Registration

I have a few domains with GoDaddy.com but I don’t recommend them at all. I don’t think they act ethically and even more than your hosting company (which you can easily change if you keep good backups), you really really need to trust your domain registrar. While you may save a few dollars on the inital registration period, they charge a ridiculous amount for renewing privacy options, their renewal prices can vary wildly (especially with non-dotcom domains like .tv). But the worse thing is they only have an 18 day grace period if you forget to renew your domain name on time and charge you $80 if you miss it – it is industry standard practice to offer 30 days.

Enom: These guys are good and ethical from what I’ve heard. But it really is set up for resellers and the set up options can be a little confusing. It’s simpler and cheaper to go with an Enom reseller like Namecheap below if you only have a few domains to register.

Namecheap: Namecheap are an Enom reseller and highly recommended. I really really like these guys! There interface is simple and their customer support is good. If you have more than 50 domains, you get a discounted rate – just email them.