To transfer a GoDaddy.com domain name and/or hosting account to Tiger Technologies, just sign up for the account on our home page. You'll also want to check a few simple things at GoDaddy to make sure the transfer goes smoothly:

• Turn off "private registration" if it's enabled
• Make sure the domain name is unlocked
• Know your transfer authorization code
• Speed up the transfer at GoDaddy
• Be careful if GoDaddy is providing you with free DNS service

GoDaddy also has a page explaining the entire process from their end. If you have trouble with any of these steps, you can contact GoDaddy directly at (480) 505-8899.

Turn off "private registration" if it's enabled

GoDaddy offers an optional service they call “private registration” or “Domains by Proxy” that makes them the owner of a domain name instead of you. GoDaddy will reject the transfer of any domain name that has "private registration" enabled.

If you're not sure whether you have a private registration, view the WHOIS records for your domain name and see if the contact email addresses end with "domainsbyproxy.com". If so, you have a private registration, and you'll need to disable it to transfer your domain name.

This page on the GoDaddy site explains how to remove private registration.

(By the way, domain names transferred to Tiger Technologies automatically include privacy protection at no extra charge.)

Make sure the domain name is unlocked

Domain names that are "locked" with GoDaddy can't be transferred, so you’ll need to unlock it first. This page on the GoDaddy site explains how to unlock your domain name.

Know your transfer authorization code

After you sign up with us, we'll send the GoDaddy administrator contact a message asking him or her to enter the domain name's "transfer authorization code" on our Web pages. This page on the GoDaddy site explains how to get the code from the GoDaddy control panel.

Speed up the transfer at GoDaddy

After you approve the transfer on our Web pages, we'll tell you that we're waiting for GoDaddy to release the domain name to us. They normally take seven days to do so, but you can optionally speed up the process by following the instructions on the GoDaddy “Accepting or Declining a Transfer to Another Registrar” page.

After doing this, the transfer will usually finish within one hour.

Be careful if GoDaddy is providing you with free DNS service

If you’re signing up for our hosting service, and GoDaddy is currently providing you with hosting service, the transfer will go smoothly. GoDaddy will not disable their hosting and DNS service when you transfer the domain name, allowing a smooth “overlap”.

There’s also no problem if your GoDaddy domain name uses DNS nameservers that point outside of GoDaddy.

However, there’s one rare situation that can lead to problems. If you’re currently using GoDaddy’s DNS service (sometimes shown in the “nameservers” as something like “NS12.DOMAINCONTROL.COM”) but you’re not paying GoDaddy to host your website or email, they will stop providing the DNS service as soon as you transfer the domain name.

If you’re in this situation, you can avoid downtime by updating the DNS nameservers at GoDaddy before you approve the transfer of the domain name itself:

1. Sign up with us to transfer the domain name, but don’t approve the domain name transfer yet.
2. When you’re ready to “point” your site at our servers, go to the GoDaddy DNS nameserver management screen, choose custom nameservers, and replace the GoDaddy nameservers with our nameservers.
3. Wait 48 hours so that the change “propagates” across the entire Internet, meaning that every computer on the Internet knows only about the new nameservers. During this period, some DNS requests may still reach the old GoDaddy servers, but those requests will still be handled as long as you haven't yet transferred the domain name.
4. Complete the domain name transfer. GoDaddy will disable their nameservers the moment you do that, but it won’t matter: all DNS requests will be reaching our nameservers by then.