Domain Names

by: admin | Total views: 67 | Word Count: 508 | View PDF | Print View

Domain names are relatively straightforward! Or at least that’s the theory!!

The domain name is also, but technically not quiet correct, known as the website address.

Using an ISP’s domain name can look amateurish in an
e-mail addresses, it is much more so with websites, giving the
impression of hanging on another’s coat tails. The only exception being
when a firm wants to re-inforce a local or professional affiliation by
appearing as part of an existing site dedicated to a region or
association. Even in such cases autonomy and continuity are better
assured by having one’s own domain and merely using a page on the third
party’s site to point users toward it.

Domains are classified according to their endings or
“suffixes”. As a commercial organisation a company will almost
certainly want a domain ending in .com or .co.uk. Other endings such as
.biz and .ltd.uk are at least to date, insufficiently familiar to
users, meaning the name can be too readily misremembered. Of the two
desirable suffixes, .com is preferable for business with international
activities, and arguably gives the impression of a bigger organisation,
whilst .co.uk helps reassure users on the largely American-dominated
web that they are indeed dealing with a UK firm.

The part of the domain name before the suffix will
usually by the firms trading name, provided of course that the domain
name has not already been registered, (which is increasingly likely
these days). If the name is very long an abbreviation may be
considered. Domain names are not case sensitive.

The actual registration of a domain name is a
straightforward process that can be done online, either through your
ISP or better still through a dedicated registration service company
such as Discount Domains Ltd (http://www.discountdomainsuk.com). Renewal fees must be paid, typically every two years.

Checking if a domain name is freely available is very
straightforward as most domain registration services provide a WHOIS
service, as the name suggest, this checks the ownership details of a
domain, note however that such services normally run 48 hours behind
actual registrations.

Moving ISP’s can save money, however it may take time
and incur extra charges. Pricing in the domain name registration
industry have fallen considerably over recent years and a domain name
typically now costs from $15 for two years registration.

Once your domain name is registered, you can either
leave the domain name “parked” awaiting future use, or point it at a
website, this is usually achieved by changing the Domain Name Server,
or DNS settings on the domain to point at hosting company where your
website is located. Almost all registration services offer a free user
control panel to change these settings.

Web hosting is the provision of space on a web server
to publish a web site. There are numerous hosting companies in the
market, and most domain registration services also offer a hosting
solution. Prices vary but $100 per annum should be sufficient for most
business needs.

By Clare Lawrence 11th May 2004

About the Author

Clare Lawrence is CEO of Discount Domains Ltd – A leading UK provider of Domain name registration and Web Hosting services. Please feel free to re-publish this article provided this reference box remains together with a hyperlink to http://www.discountdomainsuk.com Clare can also be contacted on clare@discountdomainsuk.com.

Rating: Not yet rated

Comments

Add Comment

Copy and Paste Article Code.

Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.

More articles in this Category

1: The Best Way To Make Profit Is The Real Estate Investing
2: Seven things to know before buying memory foam mattress
3: Important Tips for SEO
4: Internet Marketing Strategy - Ultimate Link Building Secret
5: Web Traffic Secret - How to Acquire Massive Web Site Traffic