Return to the GilesTech Website

Domain Name Registration

Q. Is it portable?

YES! No matter where you host your Web site, your Web address will stay the same. When you register a domain name you will want to be sure that the domain name (yourcompany.com) is registered to you or your company... not to the company that registered your domain name for you. 

Q. Will it cost less to promote my own domain name? 
Yes.  If you don't have a domain name but use the one that your hosting provider gives you, when you change hosts your Web address will change.  For example, if you are hosting at abcnet, your address might be www.abcnet.com/yourcompany.  After a few years, you move your site to xyznet.  Your new address might be www.xzynet.com/yourcompany. You will now have to start all over with marketing your site.  The other thing to remember is the only thing harder than getting your site listed on a search engines is having the search engine change your link.  

Q. Will my own domain name help clients find me? 
Yes. When people want to see if you have a Web site the first thing they do is go to www.yourcompanyname.com. If they do not find your site, they will then try .net and .org.  If these also fail, they will then do a search.  If your company name is not available, then use your slogan or a catching phrase that is easy to remember and spell.  

Q. What is the cost to register a domain name?  
There are several companies that allow you to register a domain name.  But BE CAREFUL!  As in everything else, you do get what you pay for. Before you buy a name find out how easy it will be to update contact information and to transfer or redirect the domain name.  The average cost is between $10.00 and $35.00 per year.  

Q. What's up with the 67 character domain name?  
On December 4, 1999 Internet Domain Registrars (IDR) opened for business and started accepting registrations for domain names with up to 67 characters. Prior to this, Network Solutions had only allowed 22 characters. 

Q. Why would a long domain name be important?
  • Your domain name can now be more descriptive of who your company is.  Examples: 
    • giles-tech-website-design-and-promotion.com
    • fox-town-technical-college.com
    • american-heart-society.com
  • You can create a domain name that might help you achieve a higher position on some search engines. Putting key words in your domain name might help your site rank higher in some searches. Examples:
    • geometric-dimensioning-and-tolerancing.com
    • roller-coasters-water-slides-for-kids.com
    • stairways-curved-spiral-stairs.com
  • You can create a domain name around a trademark slogan or jingle: 
    • we-bring-good-things-to-life.com
    • better-pizza-better-ingredients.com
  • Can all 67 characters be used for my slogan or keywords?
    • The 67 characters include the "www." and the ".com", each of these are 4 characters in length, including the dots. So if you subtract these 8 from the 67, you have 59 characters to use for your keywords or slogan. 
  • Can I use something other then letters in my domain name?
    • Yes. You can use dashes or hyphens (-), underscores ( _ ), and numbers from 0 to 9. Zero is not a good one to use because it can be easily confused with the capital O.  
  • Is there any kind of limit to the number of domain names an individual or business can have?
    • No, you can register as many domain names as you want. 

Return to the GilesTech Website