Understanding Registrars and Transferring Domains - Go Daddy and Bluehost

At first thought I wanted to get a friend to setup my domain and server, but then it was brought to my attention that I would have to be working with these tools on my own quite regularly, and so now I’m on a mission to understand what they are and what they do. Hopefully this entry will help you to click-through and understand too.

I'm using Go Daddy as my registrar (where I registered my domain: makingjgb.com) and Bluehost as my domain server (where I want to host my files and information for makingjgb.com). I could have just bought Go Daddy’s server service, but they charge a lot more money and I’ve heard bad reviews. I am now trying to get my domain name (makingjgb.com) to  be hosted on my Bluehost server.

Registries, Registrars, and You
This bit of information reveals that Go Daddy is a registrar, which means that they act like leasing agents – they work between the registries (those who control and set the rules for .com and .net domain names) and the customer service client to assist with details of domain registration.

Transferring a Domain Away from Go Daddy
Transferring to a different registrant means moving your settings to a different registrant (current domain settings like nameservers, email, blog, hosting etc. are likely to be lost). Go Daddy doesn’t want you to move to another registrant, because they want your business, so they suggest you point your other domain to Go Daddy, but we want to move everything over to Bluehost.

Here are the steps to follow within Go Daddy:

- Log in to your Go Daddy Domain Manager.
- Click on the domain you would like to manage (makingjgb.com, in my case).
- In the Domain Information column, next to ‘Locked’ click ‘Manage’. Follow the instruction to unlock.
- In the Domain Information column, next to ‘Authorization Code’ click ‘Send by Email’. An email with the verification code (EPP code) will be sent to your email.

And now here are the steps to follow within BlueHost: Transferring Domain To Us

- Log into your Bluehost cPanel and click the Domain Manager tab at top of the screen.
- Select the domain you wish to transfer from the list.
- To the right of the domain, under the "Main" sub-tab, click on the link "Transfer this domain to your account".
- Read the information presented and provide the EPP code then click continue.
- We will now send an email containing a second verification code to the administrator email address.
- Enter the second verification code and click continue.
- Select the options you require for nameservers, Autorenewal, Contact Information, Privacy and agree to the Terms of Service. Click "Add transfer to shoppingcart". (You don’t have to pay, there are free options).
- Complete the checkout process.

Here is a video tutorial, if the above isn’t enough!

The approval process is said to take 5-7 days. If you’re lucky, you should be done now!

If you’re unlucky, you might find yourself in the following situation:

Once I had completed all of the above, I received an email from Bluehost stating that the transfer was in process, pending Go Daddy’s approval. I then received an email from Go Daddy entitled: REGISTRANT TRANSFER DENIED, informing me that the transfer of my domain was denied because I had updated my address (registrant information) recently, and thus wouldn’t be able to transfer my domain for SIXTY DAYS!

Apparently Go Daddy does this for security reasons, and to hold onto domains (i.e. make money off them), and there is pretty much nothing you can do about this! The ‘transfer denied’ email should provide you with a specific date your domain will be transferrable on.

In the meantime, all you can do is update your nameservers and point your domain name to BlueHost. Here is how you can do this:

- Log in to your Go Daddy Domain Manager.
- Click on the domain you would like to manage.
- In the Nameservers column, click Set Nameservers’.
- Opt for ‘I Have a Specific Domain Server’ and add ‘NS1.BLUEHOST.COM’ to the first field and ‘NS2.BLUEHOST.COM’ to the second field.
- You will be prompted with a notice stating that the process will take 2 hours.

Questions? I’d be happy to help you figure it out! Comment below.