If you have a web site, you should seriously consider registering your own domain name. A domain name is a name like "thesitewizard.com" or "thefreecountry.com", which you can use to refer to your website. Note that you do not have to be a company or organisation to register a domain name. Any individual can do it too.
There are a number of good reasons for having a domain name:
Getting a domain name involves registering the name you want with an organisation called InterNIC through a domain name registrar. For example, if you choose a name like "mycompanyname.com", you will have to go to a registrar, pay a registration fee that ranges between US$10 to US$35 for that name. That will give you the right to the name for a year, and you will have to renew it annually for (usually) the same amount per annum.
Some web hosts will register it and pay for the name for free (usually only the commercial web hosts), while others will do it for you but you'll have to foot the InterNIC fees.
My personal preference is to register the name myself, so that I can be sure that I am registered as the owner, the administrative and technical contacts. Being the owner is vital - if someone else places himself as the owner (such as your web host), he can always decide to charge you for the use of the name later, and there is little you can do. The various contacts are less vital, but still play important roles. For example, the administrative contact's approval is required before a domain name is transferred out of a web host. If he/she cannot be contacted, the technical contact is used.
Although many web hosts suggest that you put them as the technical contact, you may prefer to keep yourself as one, so that when you want to transfer your name to a new web host, you don't have to wait for your old host to approve the transfer (apparently some have been known to take some time to do this, while unscrupulous ones have actually refused to do it).
Domain names disappear extremely fast. Many people claim that all the good domain names are gone. I doubt that - but it is probably true that most good domain names that are descriptive of products and services have been taken. If you want a domain name for your site, I suggest you act now, or face the anguish of having lost that name later. After all, US$35 (the price charged by the most expensive registrars) for a year's ownership of the name is pretty cheap when you realise that you're cornering a good name for your website.
If you want to register a domain name, here's what you need to do. Please read it all before acting.
Think of a few good domain names that you'd like to use. It won't do to think of only one - it might already be taken (it probably is!). You can find some tips on choosing a good domain name from my article, Tips on Choosing a Domain Name, at http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/domainname.shtml
There's more to it than meets the eye.
Obtain from your web host the DNS IP addresses and names of their primary and secondary nameservers. Don't worry if you don't understand what these things mean. Just save the information somewhere. The information can usually be obtained from their FAQs or other documentation on their site, usually under a category like "domain name" or "DNS" or "domain name transfer" and the like. If you can't find it, email their webmaster. If you don't have a web host yet, all is not lost. Read on.
Get your credit card ready. This is a requirement of most if not all registrars. It will allow you to claim and get the domain name immediately on application. This is not an option (unfortunately).
If you already have a web host, you can just go to one of the registrars listed below and apply for the domain name. Be sure you have the information mentioned earlier.
If you do not have a web host, you can always use one of the registrars listed below that allow you to park your domain name at a temporary website specially set up for you. This way you can quickly secure your domain name before it's too late and still take your time to set up the other aspects of your site. Some of those registrars also provide you with a free email address at your own domain name, like sales@yourdomain.com.
There are numerous domain name registrars. Listed below are just a few, along with my comments, if I know anything about them.
World's Largest Registrar - GoDaddy.com
- This extremely popular registrar offers .com domain names for $9.99 (plus 20 cents) per year ($6.99 plus 20 cents
if you transfer from another registrar). They have a web interface to manage your domains, free web redirection
(where people who visit your domain will get transferred to another URL of your choice), free starter web page,
free parked page or free "for sale" page, and an optional private domain registration where your domain is
registered in the name of a proxy company. They offer .com, .us, .biz, .info, .net, .org, .ws, .name, .tv,
.co.uk, .me.uk and .org.uk. Note that (as with all registrars) the exact price varies depending on which domain
you are registering (for example some domain extensions are more expensive than others).
Dotster.com
- This fairly popular registrar provides fairly cheap domain prices (US$15.25 plus 20 cents per domain), a convenient web interface
to manage your domains, an optional privacy facility where your domain name is registered in the name of
a proxy company, etc. They offer .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .ca, .tv, .name, .cc, .de,
.sr, .md, .co.uk, .us.com domains, etc. If you're transferring a domain here from other registrars, the price
is even cheaper ($8.95).
Register.com
- This domain name registrar has been in business for a very long time: they were one of the biggest around when I started my first websites.
They are currently running an offer (only via the above link) where they charge $9.99 per year for a domain name with a free business email
account. Although the offer will expire eventually, you can apparently continue to use the $9.99 price for the life of the domain
as long as you stay with them. Domains qualifying for this offer include .com, .net, .org, .biz, .us and .info. If you need country-specific domains,
which have different prices, you will have to go to their
regular domain registration page
instead.
Moniker - This domain name registrar allows domain name registrations for a plethora of top level domains (TLD), including .com, .org, .net, .info, .mobi, .biz, .us, .co.uk, and so on (the full list is too long to include here). Prices for domain names differ, depending on the extension. For example, they charge $10.49 for .com, $6.04 for .net, $10.95 for .org, $5.49 for .info, etc. Their web interface allows you to manage matters pertaining to your domain, such as DNS, web forwarding (where you forward visitors to your domain to another URL of your choice), etc. You also have the option to add "Whois privacy", where your domain is registered in the name of a proxy company.
In addition, as mentioned earlier, a number of commercial web hosts will give you a free domain name if you are hosting with them.
Once you've decided, you should not procrastinate. I've lost more than one domain name by procrastinating (I lost the latest one by only one day). After all, at the price you're paying, it works out to be less than $1 a month.
Copyright 2000-2008 by Christopher Heng. All rights reserved.
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