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What is a domain name?
Why buy a domain name?
Why buy more than one domain name?
How much do domain names cost?
How do I choose an effective domain name?
What can I do if my first choice is not available?
What characters can be used in a domain name?
Can I choose anything as my domain name?
Can I buy my family name?
What are international domain names?
How do I use my domain name as my e-mail address?
Do I need a domain name to have a web site?
What is web forwarding?
What is web hosting?
What is a domain name?
A domain is your address on the Internet e.g. www.toasting.co.uk
Why buy a domain name?
Whether you are a business or individual there are several important reasons for buying a domain name, such as:
So that others can find you.
Your domain name means anyone in the world can find information about you, your business, your products or your services - 24 hours a day.
So that you are protected.
Securing a domain name ensures protection of your name, your company name or even product names on the Internet.
If your planning on having your own web site then it's advisable to secure your domain name.
Why buy more than one domain name?
There are 3 main reasons why you should secure the same domain name in all the available domains.
Awareness - If you register your brand or company as a domain name you will increase worldwide brand name recall and brand loyalty. By registering more domains awareness is increased.
Protection - Anyone can register any name in many different domains, including the US (.com). It's first come, first served - so someone else could register your company name. By registering more domains protection is increased.
Presence - Target US customers and international customers with your .com site. It makes good marketing sense to tailor your Internet presence to your customers. By registering more domains your presence is increased.
How much do domain names cost?
.co.uk @ £25.00, .com @ £45.00, .uk.com @ £60.00
All domains are registered for 2 years.
For a complete listings see prices.
How do I choose an effective domain name?
There are a variety of things to consider when choosing a domain name such as....
Recall How easy is it to recall the name? Try testing your preferred choice of friends and colleagues before purchasing the name.
Aesthetics How does the name look, how will it look on business cards and company literature?
Impressions We all know that first impressions can be crucial so choose your domain name carefully.
Length In general when picking a name, less is more. In other words; a short name is preferable to a long one.
What can I do if my first choice is not available?
If your first choice is not available, secure a variation of it, or buy your first choice in an international domain. Alternatively apply some creativity...
If your company name is Brad Brown Autos but your first choice bradbrownautos.com has already been bought, then the following variations are still relevant to your business.
bbrownautos.com
bradbrown-autos.com
bbrown-autos.com
bbautos.com
Or instead of abbreviating, add the word 'online':
bradbrownautos-online.com
By applying some creativity, you may think of an alternative that is better than your original first choice
What characters can be used in a domain name?
Choose from all the letters of the 'English' alphabet, any numbers, the dash (-) and the dot (.).
And remember:
A domain name address must begin and end with a letter or a number.
Punctuation characters may not be placed together.
Domain names are NOT case sensitive, so most just use lower case letters.
Domain names must be less than 63 characters in length. This limit of 63 includes characters such as .com.
No spaces or other characters are allowed
Two character domain names can only be registered if they are the registered trademark of that company.
Advice to remember:
We recommend you use a domain name that is a maximum of around 20 characters
Using a naught is obviously allowed although it may get confused with the letter O.
As the use of spaces is not allowed, if you really want to separate words, use the dash (-).
Can I choose anything as my domain name?
Yes and no.
Theoretically you can register anything, but in practice there are restrictions. Unlike company names, domain names are unique and cannot be duplicated. Words of fewer than three letters are also normally refused.
Can I buy my family name?
Yes, if the domain name is still available! It's becoming increasingly popular to do this. Many people register their own name in order to set up e-mail addresses for themselves and other family members.
What are international domain names?
There are over 250 different international domains, each with their own extension. Though some large corporations protect themselves by securing their names in every domain in the world, you will probably find that if your first choice domain name has been claimed in the generic domains (.com, .net, .org), it is still available in one of the international domains. A variety of rules and regulations are applicable for registering a domain name in certain countries and it is often best to consult us if you have a specific requirement, please visit our rules page for more information.
How do I use my domain name as my e-mail address?
E-mail forwarding allows you to use your domain name as your e-mail address.
Any e-mail messages to your 'new' address (i.e. one that incorporates your new domain name) would then be automatically and seamlessly redirected to your existing address, just like traditional postal forwarding. This is free of charge.
Once you have bought your chosen domain name(s) an e-mail will be sent to you so you can request e-mail forwarding or to set up your web mail account.
Do I need a domain name to have a web site?
No, because some Internet Service Providers offer web space as part of your agreement with them.
But the Internet address you receive will undoubtedly be their choice, not yours.
It makes far more sense to have your choice of domain name; one that is easy to remember one that you own and crucially one that represents you or your business.
What is web forwarding?
If you would like your new domain name to 'point' to your existing web site, register FREE for our web forwarding service. Web forwarding allows us to 'point' your domain name to a particular index page of a site hosted within our network.
Example:
http://www.yournewdomainname.com
points to:
http://www.yourexistingwebsite.co.uk/index.htm
Simply contact us by e-mail with the relevant details.
What is web hosting?
For more information on web site hosting visit our Hosting Pages.
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