Domain Registration Services

The job of a domain registration company is to provide your Internet address (yourname.com, yourchurch.org, yourbusiness.com, etc.)

Registering your own domain name means that the address of your home page can be http://www.your-company.com/ instead of http://193.68.2.8/unknown-company/ or http://free-web-pages.kz/cheap-company/ Having your own domain name commands respect, even when you only use it in your email address. Which email address sounds more professional: president@yourcompany.com or joe461213@hotmail.com?

And having your own Internet domain doesn't cost much. A domain is a commodity, like a postage stamp. When it comes to domains, it usually isn't true that "you get what you pay for." Pay as much or little as you want: you'll end up with a domain name. That's why domain registrars try to increase their revenues by adding on services that you may not need, or that may be offered free by other companies.

Tips for Choosing a Domain Name

1. Choose your brand name: your company or organization name. It must be memorable - preferably short, with fool-proof spelling. People are going to be typing the whole thing into their web browser. If mistakes or misspellings are likely, you may want to register the misspelled version too (reedflags.com as well as reidflags.com).
2. Avoid hyphenated keywords such as best-basket-balls.com. However, if your company name really is Best Basketballs, Inc., a good domain name might be bestbasketballs.com, if it's available. That's better than bestbasketballs.net and much better than bestbasketballs.org (unless you run a non-profit organization for basketball collectors). Your own country domain (such as bestbasketballs.us or bestbasketballs.co.uk) is another possibility. If bestbasketballs.com is not available, and you're located in Texas, you might consider txbestbasketballs.com. Or you might try thebestbasketballs.com or bestbasketball.com (singular). But if you settle for a less-than-perfect domain name, you must market it more aggressively ("BestBasketballs.NET - where your ball is in the net!") to make it memorable.

Checklist for Choosing a Domain Registration Service

• Price: between $6 and $10 a year. If a company wants to charge you more to register or transfer a domain, just say no. They don't have a monopoly. You don't need to pay any other fees (to park your domain, forward it, host it elsewhere, or to update your records). You can register or renew a domain name for up to ten years at a time.
• Ownership: in your name, not the domain registrar's. When you use WHOIS to look up your website, you should see your own name and contact information listed under registrant, administrative contact and billing contact (as in our WHOIS example). You need to be in control of your own Internet address so you can renew your domain before it expires, and freely change your web hosting company. Otherwise you may find your domain has been hijacked by an unscrupulous registrar.
• Ease of use: simple and quick. If you have trouble figuring out how to buy a domain on their website, maybe you should buy it from another website. You'll use their website interface again if you renew your domain name or change your web hosting company, so you need to feel comfortable with it.
• Reputation: choose an accredited ICANN registrar, if possible, not a reseller. Customer service will probably be better, since they connect directly to the registry. Find a company that specializes in domain registration, not a hosting company that also handles domains. Sometimes hosts are tempted to hold onto domains in a way that registrars don't. Find a company that offers telephone support.

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