The Roadmap through the Maze of Domain Transfer

One who is fanatically looking up pages on how to successfully transfer a domain without much hassle, surely needs no introduction to what domains or domain hosting is, or the very basic of a domain transfer. However, the very fact that you are looking up ways to successfully conduct your domain transfer is suggestive of the fact that there is some information which is unknown or maybe unclear to you , that brings you here in the very first place. So, I’d make an attempt to put down the fundamentals of domain transfer and the easier ways to go about it.

Domain Name Transfer

As a start-up, procuring a domain name could be a very tedious and confusing process, especially at the step to transfer a domain. The small bit of problem is in the fact that, even though technology has evolved at light speed almost, the procedure of Domain transfer hasn’t undergone much, so to state, since the inception of the internet which basically translates to domain transfer yet being a confusing and fastidious process which with a little effort and proper understanding could be simplified to a great deal.

If the transfer process is bothering you, there’s nothing to sulk, most people are equally confused like you, if not more! I hope that by the end of this article you’ll be all guns blazing, set to conquer domain transferring with confidence.

So, basically there are two broad ways of domain transfer:

• ·         A push ( also referred to as an account change)
• ·         A transfer

Although people often have a tendency to clump them up under the same veil, they are distinctively different from one another, each with their own share of pros and cons. Most importantly, one of them being way easier than the other.

What is a ‘push’?

This is like changing rooms within the same hotel, where the hotel acts as the Domain. It is simply transferring a domain from account to another, the registrar being the same. This is by far the simplest known way of transferring a domain and happens instantly. There are no additional worries or burdens to be concerned about like authorisation codes etc., the only requirement is to keep the account under the same registrar, and they’d be more than happy to serve you! For example, you purchase a domain name from an agent and find out they have the domain registered with the same host where you too have a per-existing account. Thus, once the purchase is made, you just have to provide your account number and mail id of the same domain host and the seller will transfer or ‘push’ the domain to your account. This is confirmed by the domain hosting agency via an email, the confirmation to which completes the process.

 What is a standard transfer?

This is the Universal domain transfer that everyone generally talks about and is unfortunately not one of the easier ways to get a domain recently purchased. The standard transfer thus involves changing of the domain registrar and shouldn’t be attempted unless it’s the only option left. For example, if the domain is registered with some random company or seems suspicious for various reasons suddenly, while all your other accounts are registered with a premium domain hosting company like Go Daddy, you could maybe want to secure this solitary account and bring all of it under Go Daddy that is when the need for Standard transfer arises.

The procedure of Standard transfer is a little tricky and there are certain facts which must be considered and kept in mind before proceeding with it. The domain owner has to unlock the domain and give you (the buyer), access to the authorization code or domain secret, in order to transfer from registrars. The procurement of the authorization code is the pre-requisite in the initiation of the transfer proceedings. The authorization part, as easy as it seems, is not always so. Many domain registrars (Go daddy) send the domain owner with two transfer authorization codes. These two codes along with the original authorization code are required to accept the transfer. It is here that many get stuck up and is probably another reason why one should actually adhere to the push method unless absolutely necessary, however, here’s the simplified deal to further proceedings.

After securing the payment for the domain, you ask this new domain registrar to disclose their authorisation code. The transfer is then initiated with your initial registrar and the seller receives the email with the two transfer authorisation codes that you need to enter along with the newly procured authorisation code from the seller. This is the final step, to input all the three codes, the two codes from your seller (that your previous registrar provides the seller with) and the new authoritative code from the seller, to complete the transfer.

The transfer is not immediate and is one of the drawbacks as compared to the ‘push’ method, and takes some time. Different registrars function as per their clauses and the time of transfer could range from anything between a days to a week. Don’t freak out! If you have secured your transfer and done a thorough checking before switching registrars, there’s no discrepancy and the transfer would be completed within the stipulated time!