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11-26-2021 at 03:16 PM
Important features and functions of domain name registration services
All domain name registration services, also known as domain name registrars, provide the same essential service- they allow you to purchase (rent is probably a more appropriate term) an individual or group of domain names for a certain time period at a certain price (this can be renewed once the original term has expired). Since the fixed wholesale cost for an individual domain is negligible, domain name registrars merely have to cover overhead and marketing.
Domain name registrars differ as to their respective marketing strategies; some charge a higher monthly rate and are less concerned about volume, while other domain name registrars compete on price and try to earn more profits on volume. Because their main product is identical across the board, domain name registrars differ along with a fairly narrow range of features. Price is probably the single biggest determinant of how people and companies choose a domain name registration service. Beyond that, it mostly comes down to the look, feel and functionality of their respective websites, and the ancillary services that they offer in addition to the main domain name registration:
* Domain Transfers- you can transfer an existing domain from one domain name registrar to another; you simply pay the new registrar the domain fees.
* Hosting- will offer to host your domain; this means that you will upload web pages to their servers to be viewed by Internet users. You will need to host your domain somewhere, and there are thousands of hosting companies that can do this for you as well.
* Hosting with E-Commerce- will host your website and give you the ability to conduct business (place orders, take credit card payments, etc.) from your website.
* Whois Coordination- all good domain name registrars should have a link to Whois, which is the common public database that includes information on whether or not a particular domain is available or taken. If the domain is taken, Whois will show what person or organization owns the domain and provide contact information to that person or group.
* Domain Protection- will automatically notify you when your domain term is over so that you can renew your domain without risk of losing it.
* Backorder Domains- will put you on a waiting list so that if a domain that you want does not get renewed, you have the option to purchase it.
* Private Domains- will enter a third party's information in the Whois database, so that you are not seen by the public as the contact person for that domain (the source of a lot of spam).
* Bulk Registration- will register a group of domains, which can be very handy and save a lot of time if you need to register several domains.
* Domain Email- allows you to create email accounts based on your new domain- i.e., [email protected].
* Web Site Design- will help you build a website based on the customization of pre-made website templates. Can be handy if you don't have web design resources or experience.
* Search Engine Submission- submits your web site to various search engines so that they can be viewed by people doing searches on topics related to your website.
* Search Engine Advertising- helps set up and coordinate accounts where you can pay to be listed in various search engines.
* Email Marketing- helps you manage email marketing campaigns.
* Web Site Forwarding- allows multiple domains to be pointed, or directed, to other sites.
* Other Features- there might be other features that domain name registrars offer that you would find useful.
How to find the best domain name for you
Shopping for a domain name registrar online is a great way to research and compare several domain name registrars to make sure you find what will work for you based on your desired price range and other features. Apart from comparing price and the above features and functions, pay attention to what kind of customer support is available. The newer you are to domain names, hosting and related services, the more important support will be for you. Domain name registrars should provide you with all
the information you need to make an informed purchase decision, and should give you access to their customer support resources should you have additional questions. Customer support comes in a variety of forms; it might be an extensive FAQ section with a searchable knowledge base, a support form that you fill out and submit, an email address or toll-free number, a live chat session, or other tools, such as the ability to manage your account online.
To go a step further in finding the right domain name for you, it might pay to ask your friends, family and colleagues if they have had any experience- either good or bad- with specific domain name registrars. In addition, you should find out if any of the domain name registrars has earned the endorsement of any legitimate, third party rating entity. Finally, you may consider the brand name as a criterion. Generally, the best-known and most successful businesses are those that do a good job, earn repeat business, and build a good reputation over the course of time.
Background on domain names and how they work
Domain names are your identity, as well as your unique address, on the Internet. Simply put, a domain name is the plain language address of a given website. The domain name of this site is www.domain-name-registration-guide.com, and you can type this domain name into any browser to visit this site. However, the REAL Internet address of this site is a numerical address known as an IP address, and the IP address of this site is 66.198.192.56. The early innovators of the Internet realized that it would become problematic if everyone had entered a long string of numbers to surf the Internet and that words and letters would be much easier to use. As a result, they configured domain name translation services within the Internet, so that when you type in a domain name in your browser, the domain name servers will find the domain name in its database, translate that to the respective IP address, and then send you to that web site.
The early innovators of the Internet realized that there would be multiple purposes and general user groups that would use the Internet in different ways, so they created what are known as top-level domains to help distinguish the nature of a site. Most Internet users are familiar with most top-level domains:
· com - for commercial endeavors
· org - for non-profit organizations
· net - for network providers
· mil - for military organizations
· gov - for government organizations
· edu - for educational organizations
There are also a number of top-level domain names for individual countries, although there is no enforcement body that makes sure that the top-level domain of a given website matches the content of the website. For example, you could have a commercial
site with a .org top-level domain, and so on. The Internet Assigned Numbers Association, or IANA, provides worldwide management of the top-level domain names. Domain names are distributed through various for-profit companies known collectively as 'domain name registration services' or 'domain name registrars'.
We recognize that this guide was in no way exhaustive and that there is much more to domain names than what is included here.