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Domain Names
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.
(C) 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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