Frequently Asked Questions About Domain Registrations

I'd like to own a website, where do I start?
If you wish to start a website, registering a domain name is the first step.
Domain registration lets you own a unique name on the internet that you can direct to any IP address where your website or mailserver is hosted.

What exactly is domain registration?
Domain names are human readable names for IP addresses. A Domain registry is a lookup directory which maps ip addresses to human readable hostnames.

A Domain name has two parts. Say you'd like to start a site called StevesBlog.com, here, StevesBlog is the name you've chosen when you registered the domain and .com is the suffix you've chosen. The suffix list is a fixed list and cannot be any arbitrary string. The suffix tells you what kind of website the domain points to. Some examples are:

.com commercial (most popular suffix)
.gov goverment (reserved only for US government sites)
.edu (reserved for educational institutes)
.org (organization, usually non profit)
.net (next most popular suffix after .com)
.in (India site)
.us (US site)

Every country has a unique code. For example, for US it is .us, for India it is .in. For the average joe, some suffixes are out of bounds and cannot be registered like, .gov.

What if a domain name is already taken?
Most popular domain names are taken! No two people can own the same domain name. You'll have to come up with some unique combination of words

What suffix should I choose?
.com is the most popular. Stick with .com.

What about the www prefix I see in some sites?
This prefix is controlled by you when you set up your website and can be anything not jut www. www is the most commonly used though. This prefix can be anything you choose.

How expensive is a domain?
New domain names can be purchased for a minimum of 1 year and usually costs around $10.

How do I see who owns a domain?
Every domain registrar will provide this service free of charge. One good url is http://whois.domaintools.com. This will give you the contact information of the domain owner including an email id and physical address.

Can I resell my domain or purchase a domain from an existing owner?
Yes. Good domain names are a big business which has lead to domain name squatters. They'll register good domain names early and resell them to the highest bidder. Some domain names sell for millions of dollars.

How do I keep my contact information private?
When you register a domain, your contact information and email id becomes public information! You cannot falsify this info and doing so can result in your domain name being revoked. The solution is to signup for a proxy service. This will not show your address or email id, but will show the proxy service providers address and contact. If an email is sent to the proxy service, this is forwarded to you. If a postal mail is sent, this is usually shredded. Proxies keep spammers at bay and is a must when you signup for a new domain service.

Do I have to pay extra to hide my contact information?
Some domain registrars provide this service free of charge and some charge extra for this. Select a domain registrar that provides this service for free.

Can I transfer my domain registrar to another?
Yes. Usually after a period of 60 days.

What domain registrars should I avoid and what are some good domain registrars?
In my personal opinion, avoid godaddy.com. I've used Dreamhost. They are pretty decent. Google is another trusted domain registrar.

Why not godaddy?
First, they charge you extra for privacy services (proxy). Next, if you ever have to transfer your domain, you have to cancel their privacy service and a transfer takes about 1 week . And during this time, your information is available to everyone. One sleazy way goDaddy tries to lock you in. Godaddy doesn't mention this during signup. You learn the hard way.

Both Dreamhost and Google provide privacy service as an option at no extra charge.

How do I select a domain name?

• Choose an easy to remember domain name
• Pick .com as the suffix. This is the most common and most popular domain suffix
• Though you can have a hyphen in the domain, do not use hyphens.
• Domain names are case insensitive. Choose your domain name carefully. You don't want to end up with something like expertsexchange.com. That is actually ExpertsExchange.com!
• Make a list of domain names that you like. DO NOT search to see if they are available. Some domain registrars indulge in a practice where, based on domain name searches, they temporarily hold a searched domain. When you actually try to purchase the domain, you'll find that it has been taken and you have to pay a premium to get the domain. There are horror stories about this practice. I personally had a similar experience with GoDaddy.com. It is sad that domain registrars themselves indulge in this practice.
• If you do search for a domain name, be prepared to purchase the domain right away. Even a half hour delay could mean you might lose the domain to a domain squatter.
• Here's a safe way to see if a domain is available. Open a terminal (or cmd in windows). Ping for the domain name. If you are able to ping this domain, that would mean it is already taken. If not, it may be available. This is not a foolproof method. If you are not able to ping a domain name, that does not necessarily mean that the domain is available. A domain without a host pointer will also return a timeout. But this is a good way to do a preliminary search for a domain name without the fear of losing it to a domain squatter.
• Don't infringe on established sites unless you have a strong legal team to fight for you. Example: mikerowesoft.com. Bad idea!

Give careful thought before selecting a domain. Do not rush this crucial step. It is very difficult to change domain names once you have an established site. Good luck!

Truth in blogging: If you signup via Dreamhost, I will get free hosting in return for referrring them in this blog.