Domain Names
by: Clare Lawrence
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.
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