Last night I took the first major step towards moving all the sites I own or manage to Blue Host. Having learned from my first attempt at signing up, that the account name would be composed of characters from the initial domain name, I was faced with a bit of an issue. Of the three domains I wanted to move or create at Blue Host, none decomposed into an account name I was happy with.
So I created a new domain. I am now the proud owner of markhnichols.com.
When I first registered zanshin.net, nearly twelve years ago, I had toyed with the idea of a domain using my name. Now, I have a true vanity site. For now that site will be an online copy of my professional resume.
Now that I have an account at Blue Host it is time to start migrating the sites from Pair.com to their new home. The hidden advantage to creating a new site as the first under the account is that moving existing ones can be done leisurely. I can copy the contents and set everything up well before transferring the domain and updating the name server records. As a result, there shouldn’t be any down time as the sites move.
NB: There is nothing wrong with Pair in my view. I have been very happy with their services for a long time. My site has never been down, and on those few occasions that I needed help, they were prompt and courteous. My reasons for moving are purely monetary. I can host four sites (and more) at Blue Host for a year, for roughly what 6 month’s hosting at Pair cost.