You have just completed the building of your website. You’re now ready to launch it and put it on the internet. But before you do there is one important step you must complete to legitimize your website and give it an address so users can find you. Before actually launching your website you must secure a website domain. This is done by completing the domain registration process.
Before you actually start the domain registration process you should check to make sure no one else is using the name you plan to use. This easily done by going to a WHOIS database and entering the IP address you intend on using. If the IP address you intend on using is not available you will need to modify your IP address in some way to make it unique.
IP Addresses
The IP, or Internet Protocol, address is what tells a user’s computer where to find a website on the internet. Each IP address must be unique as ICANN, the international manager of the DNS, or Domain Name Server database, will not be able to register and map that IP address into the internet web. If you find that the IP address you want to use is not available there is a way to modify the last portion of your address to make it unique to complete your domain registration.
Every IP address has an extension after the dot that follows the name. When choosing an IP address the name can often remain the same without causing replication if the extension is not the same as another IP address. For example, www.jaybeejourno.com and www.jaybeejourno.org are not the same IP address and therefore there’s no conflict for domain registration purposes. The most commonly used extensions are .com, .org, .net, .biz, .name, and .info.
Selecting A Domain Registration Service
There are many domain registration services available on the internet and selecting the right one to accommodate your needs is vitally important. Most domain registration services charge a nominal fee, generally not exceeding ten dollars for their service. But there are also less expensive ones you can take advantage of, even free services. For example, you can purchase domain registration services from Yahoo.com for fewer than two dollars for the first year of a subscription and they will provide support twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Some domain registration services will want to have ownership over the domain address they register. What this means is that, for whatever reasons, you stop using that IP address the registration service can sell it to any buyer they choose.
Private Information
Most often in the registration application process you will be required to provide the registering agency with personal and private information. If you are not comfortable with this idea then you might want to consider registering with an agency that will use their own information in your behalf. Generally, you will be charged extra for this service, but if you don’t want your personal information out on the internet then the slight fee might be well worth it.
It’s no secret that the Internet is largely a place where the English language is used, and that’s to be expected. Air travel is in English, most technology is; virtually everything to do with computers is in English. So, why not all aspects of the Internet? Well, that may be fine for most websites, but as the Internet truly becomes global, domain names have to shift into non-English names. This is what is known as IDN (an Internationalized Domain Name).
Most domain names make use of ASCII characters; what are known as American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Essentially, this is the English alphabet, numbers and symbols. For most languages, this is fine. But, if you are trying to do a domain name in Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Hindi or Russian, ASCII does not support their alphabets. To allow for these types of domain names, the IDN system was proposed back in 1996, and finally implemented two years later using what came to be known as IDNA: Internationalizing Domain Names in Applications. This thus allows domain names to contain non-ASCII characters. Yet, there was still a problem: email and web browsers; both of them were still unable to support such characters. It wasn’t until a few years after 2000 – into ’04, 05’ and ’07 that browsers were developed to handle these other languages.
The actual mechanism for the handling of these non-ASCII letters and symbols are complex computer algorithms, but the steps they take are quite straightforward. A domain name is divided into labels, and then each is translated. As an example, look at the website Bucher.ch (with two little dots over the “u”; in German this is what is known as an umlaut). Now, the “.ch” is the country code for Switzerland, and it is straight ASCII; so it does not get changed. But, the German word, as it contains that single non-ASCII character has to be converted. It gets changed to xn-bcher-kva! Not the most appealing domain name, but it works.
A problem with this type of conversion is that it leaves the domain owner wide open to someone “squatting” on their original name. If someone simply registers the domain name Bucher.ch – without the umlaut over the “u”, they can snag the website, and it is all perfectly legal. As a result, if you are looking to set up a non-English domain name, you would be well advised to get the name translated to English and then also register that domain name as well. Also, if you domain name makes use of a word (or words) like the example, you should also register it that form. Even though “Bucher” without the umlaut is not a valid German word, non-German speakers might still type it in. Unfortunately, many Americans are woefully ignorant of other languages, and they know next to nothing of the proper letters and grammar of non-English alphabets.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN, http://www.icann.org) is the non-profit organization, which was chosen to take charge of the privatization of the administration of the Internet. Their role would be to implement policy to help transition the domain name system into the private sector. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was still debating a means of protecting non-English domain names. Each generation of the web browsers and the conversion algorithms improve the domain names, but the same problems still remain. Your organization activates two-factor authentication and IP validation in your domain registrars security setting. An online attacker attempts to gain access to your domain control panel by contacting your domain name registrar and impersonating your business.
To protect a non-English domain name (also known as an Internationalized Domain Name, or IDN), you need to be particularly vigilant against typosquatting and homograph attacks, ensuring proper registration across different top-level domains (TLDs), and utilizing domain name protection features offered by your registrar, including domain locking and two-factor authentication.
Sounds like some sort of snack or something, doesn’t it? In fact, what it really refers to is when a company will register a domain name, but not truly want the name; at least not when they initially register it. Instead, they are sort of “testing the waters” on the name. Once they have it registered, they will do a market analysis to see if the name can truly work for their company. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) allows people and companies to register a domain name, and then they have what is known as the AGP (the Add Grace Period), a five-day time period within which they can change their mind about keeping the name. If it turns out that the name does not work for them, they can cancel it, and they do not owe any money.
Now, if this happens on a small scale, it is not a problem. However, some firms will register hundreds (if not thousands) of domain names, and then end up only making use of a handful of them; those that they deem as being viable domain names that hold good potential for making money. The ICANN has received numerous complaints about this practice over the last several years, and some changes to the system have been proposed. According to the Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB), as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, there were approximately 362.4 million domain names registered across all top-level domains (TLDs) Yet, the total number that had initially been registered over that month was around thirty-five million! And, this was not an isolated incident.
This represents a decline of 0.1 million compared to the previous quarter and an increase of less than 1% from a year ago.
There’s also another practice that’s very similar to domain tasting, known as domain kiting. In this case, a firm will register a domain name and then delete it during the five-day grace period, and then register it again right away; thus they get another five-day grace period. By continuously doing this, a person or company can effectively get a domain name, and yet never paying for it. Domain kiting is illegal, and can result in real trouble for any firm attempting to do it.
In terms of the domain tasting, no official decision has been made by the governing board of the ICANN, but they continue to debate a solution. It remains to be seen as to what they may – or will – do.
Your website is now built, just the way you want it. It’s now time to launch it and get it out there, on the internet so people can see the products and services you want to offer them. But first you need to register that website through a domain registration service.
There are many domain registration services available on the internet. Selecting the right one will be very important as each can offer different options and services, any of which can affect anything concerning your website. For example, if your website concerns business transactions selecting the right domain registration service will be invaluable.
Free Domain Registration Services
There are many free domain registration services available to those companies or individuals seeking domain registration. The services from these free domain registration providers are limited, but if you are a new company these providers will be able to help you launch your website at no charge. The advantage with obtaining a free domain registration service is that you will be able to register your site at no cost and with minimal risk as you explore the opportunities for your website. This is a great way for a new business to start out in launching their website because there is no financial investment.
Paid Domain Registration Services
Most companies and individuals use paid domain registration services when they want to register their websites. With paid domain registration services the client doesn’t have to do any domain research work, as that is usually part of the service that the customer is paying for. The fees are generally small for the services provided, none exceeding fifteen dollars per year.
The advantage of the paid domain registration services is that these agencies provide support services within the contract. Yes, by the way there is a contract with the paid domain registration service. If you choose to go with a paid domain registration service be sure to read and understand the contract before you make an agreement with any domain registration service company.
Domain Ownership
When shopping around for a domain registration service find out who will own the domain once it’s registered. Some domain registration services will want to maintain the ownership of a domain. If you should decide to move your domain you won’t be able to if the domain is owned by the registration service. Also, if you fail to pay the annual subscription fees on a domain that is owned by the registration service, for example, they can actually sell that domain to another person.
It’s always best to own the domain yourself because you can do with it what you want after it’s registered. If you decide to move your website and domain to another location you can more easily do so without having to go through the registration process again.
Completed Registration
Once you have completed the domain registration process it can sometimes take a couple of days before you will see your website on line. Most registration services can “park” your domain at the spot where your site will be located, kind of as a placeholder. Frequently, you have to pay a small fee for this placeholder service.
According to the latest studies more than 60 different domains are registered over the net every second. So it is very important to choose your domain name carefully. You have to be accurate and logical in order to find a memorable and catchy domain name.
If you are registering a domain name for your new enterprise or business then you must contact a registrar of that particular domain. The process of registration of a domain name is very simple. The foremost step is to evaluate the kind of domain you are in need of. Some of the most common domain names are .net and .com or if you want you can also use a domain name as .info or.biz for your website. The second step is to determine for how long you want to register your domain. The charges that you will be paying depend upon the time period of your domain registration. Most of the registrars have different plans that may vary for a period of 1 to 10 years. You may also come across new contracts as soon as your previous contract with the previous domain company expires.
One of the significant aspects of registering your domain is the cost that is involved according to the length of your contract. It is wise to search and snoop around different registration referrals before finalizing a domain registrar. Choose the one whose plan suits your requirement the most in terms of necessity and budget.
How to choose an appropriate domain name?
Choosing the appropriate domain name is tricky but with the help of the following tips you will certainly be able to decide a good domain for your company. These tips can help you decide how to go about choosing the right domain name to ensure a quick and smooth registration process.
Be short - It is very important that you keep the domain name short and concise so that it reduces the spelling errors while a person is typing the domain name in the web browser. It is a myth that lengthy names are more descriptive but the fact is that a catchy domain name is the best way to attract good traffic towards your website.
Be logical - When you are registering the name of your domain it is essential to register something that matches logically to the actual theme of your website. For instance, if your website is about laptops and computers then you must register it under a name like bestlaptops.com. You can also register the name of your enterprise as your domain name. For example, if your company name is ABC then you can register it as ABC.com.
Be accurate: Accuracy is very crucial while registering your domain name as your domain name registrar holds a minimum time for refund. Also you must check spellings of your domain name before registering it. Most of the registrars provide you a refund period of five days if there is some error in your domain name.