Don’t let that happen to you!

Through “my own personal experience” I have come to realize that for someone who has never owned a domain name before, then our topic today about “domain name renewal” is not information you probably are aware of even if you have vast computer knowledge because it isn’t something you need to know until you actually own your own domain name.

For a complete newbie you are likely to have completely different worries right now associated to domain name registration. It’s for that reason that I have assembled two very useful resources to guide you thorough the whole domain name cycle.

1. Sure fire how to, domain names tips and articles
2. All about domain names, revealed like never before

For those of us who are pretty much at ease and comfortable with this topic, you soon discover that no matter how long you have your domain name registered for, it is very easy to forget to renew your domain when that domain name comes up for renewal.

That is especially so if for some reason you fail to get a reminder mail that your domain name is up for renewal from your registrar. It sure happens. That mail might never arrive due to various reasons.

Therefore you should have a system in place that reminds you when your domain will expire or simply log into your account on a set day each year, like your birthday, and add more time to your domain. If you let it expire, you will lose your domain to someone else and there is no way you can get it back. Let us look at how you can prevent that from happening.

What is domain name renewal

Domain name renewal is simply the process of buying additional time to use your domain name. When you originally purchase your domain name, you don’t buy it outright, you simply lease it for a set amount of time, usually one year.

If you want to keep your domain name after the year is up, you have to renew it. You can renew it at any time, but it is usually done close to the time the current registration is about to expire.

You can renew your domain name for a one year duration or you can renew it for longer periods.

Currently, the maximum length of time you can register a domain name for is ten years. When the ten years is close to being up, you can renew for another ten and in that way hold onto your domain name for as long as you want to.

However, it is important to keep in mind, the only way you will hold onto a domain is if you renew it before it expires. Otherwise if you wait too long beyond the stipulated period, you will surely lose your domain name. That can be a major set back for you especially if you have been making use of that domain name and have achieved some form of page rank and traffic levels.

Be aware of domain name renewal scams

You may run across a company that offers extended domain name registrations like for one hundred years. You should know that such claims are either scams or they simply renew your name for you every ten years instead of you doing it yourself.

In other words what you are essentially doing is trusting them to be in business for that long and that they will be there for you to make sure that your domain name gets renewed on time. That might be a very risky thing to do.

Of course, you don’t ever want to lose an important domain name and that is why people like to have them registered as far in advance as possible. However, ten years is the limit. You can renew your domain at any time you like, but you will always just have a maximum of ten years at any given time.

Bear in mind also that the benefit of registering your domain name for longer periods is that the price per year drops when you register for several years at a time. When you register for one year you may pay nine dollars per year and when you register for five years the price may drop to eight dollars per year.

Domain names are a vital part of doing business online. There is a lot of on-going discussion about finding good domain names and the benefits of holding onto them. Unfortunately because of that, just like with any other aspects of business, conflict eventually arise over domain names ownership.

Now, if you are new to online business and internet marketing, you may not be familiar with all of the problems of owning a domain name and might not even know that such problems exists.

Luckily for you though, below are two important aspects you need to know:

Cybersquatting – main cause of domain name disputes

Cybersquatting was widely practiced at one time and still is today by unscrupulous sorts. For the most part, domain name registration happens on a first come first served basis. So if someone buys a domain name before you get to it, you are out of luck. If you really want the name you can negotiate with them and try to buy it. Of course, if it is a valuable name, they are not going to part with it for a cheap price.

Cybersquatters are particularly interested in domain names that would be of interest to big businesses or celebrities that have deep pockets. They buy domains with product names, celebrity names, or trademark names in them and hold onto them in hopes the rightful owner is desperate to buy.

Since domain names are fairly cheap to buy, under ten dollars in a lot of cases, cybersquatters can buy them by the hundreds and hope for just one or two big sales. However, cybersquatting can lead to domain name disputes.

For one thing, it is illegal to buy domain names with trademarked names in them if you are not the owner of the trademark. In those cases, the rightful owner does not have to pay to get the domain from a cybersquatter.

• The rightful owner can demand through a court of law that it be handed over

Another reason cybersquatting can result in domain name disputes is when they are put up for auction for large amounts of money simply because they have the name of a famous person. That is tantamount to making a bundle of money off of that person and the person has a legal right to a domain name dispute resolution.

Since there is so much money to be made when it comes to the buying and selling of domain names, it is very difficult to control the problem of cybersquatting.

When it comes to using trademarks and company names, the companies with big budgets can squash cybersquatters with domain name disputes. However, hundreds of other domains that cybersquatters do buy and profit from aren’t so clear cut and end up in disputes.

The way the domain registration process works today makes it easy for problems with domain names to arise and the problems don’t seem to get any better. That’s why it is always a good idea to protect your domain names.

It’s important also to understand and know that sometimes when there is a clear cut case of illegal use of your domain name by third parties, you might be able to gain control of your domain name by taking advantage of the “domain name dispute” resolution.

The reason why you will want to have that information is because when you register a domain name your personal contact information is publicly available to anyone for any purpose.

It’s for that reason that you may want to protect yourself from spammers and identity thieves by using private Whois, a service that is offered by most accredited registrars.

• Why not do a quick Whois Lookup to see exactly what we are talking about here!

“Private Whois” lets you decide what others know about you and dictates how others can use or exploit your personal information. In other words Private Whois lets you control your own personal information.

privacy laws and Private Domain Name Registration

Today, there are various privacy laws and policies in place with the primary aim of minimizing the collection of personally identifiable information. In other words, the basic principal of privacy is anonymity wherein none of your personally identifiable information is collected.

When it comes to domain name registration, you can lose your rights to privacy due to the compulsory disclosure of your personal information that you must provide when registering a domain name as this information is then clearly displayed to the public if one carries a Whois Lookup to discover who owns domain names that they are interested in.

When it comes to free speech, privacy can be critical. If people must disclose their identities then they may fear fully expressing themselves because of retribution or persecution.

Privacy and anonymity on the internet allows the one-to-many unique form of communication wherein an individual’s voice can reach a global audience.

In some cases, privacy and data protection can apply to domain registrars, especially in the European Union. In other cases, privacy is not afforded when registering a domain name.

For example, in the United States, ICANN regulations state that the private contact details, also known as the Whois information, must be included in a publicly available database.

This Whois database is a collection of private data compiled by domain name registrars that is gathered from all of their customers who buy domain names from them.

Why Dig Out Information on Who Owns Domain Names?

The reasons why someone would access this WHOIS database include:

1. To find out if a particular domain name is already registered or available to buy
2. To identify the owner of a particular domain name or website
3. To aid the technical operations of various internet service providers in cases like tracing sources of spam or denial of service attacks
4. To gather contact information for the purposes of marketing
5. To assist law enforcement when they need to determine who owns a domain

Anyone with an internet connection can perform a Whois lookup search in order to discover certain given information and details about who owns domain names that they have an interested in. When they carry out such a search on a particular domain, they are provided with information that includes the name and address of the person that registered the domain.

In addition to the name and address, other personal information can also be accessed like a telephone number and email address. This information is freely displayed to anyone who searches for it.

A disturbing fact is that a domain name owner who has personal details available for public viewing has no knowledge when someone performs a search and gathers his private information. He does not know who accesses his information or for what purpose.

When you register a domain name, you need to realize that your private contact information will be made available to anyone who wants to find it, any time they want to.

That is why many people are opting for private WHOIS protection today. You can do this by selecting a private domain registration instead of a public registration when you pay for your domain name.

Private WHOIS usually costs extra, but the peace of mind it affords makes the cost worthwhile. Private WHOIS registration can protect your private details and prevent their misuse.

It will help shield you from:

1. Identity Theft
2. Spam
3. Name Hijackers
4. Data Mining

A private WHOIS works in a way that is similar to having an unlisted phone number. The public at large cannot access your private data but the registrar holds your data so that it is accessible to law enforcement and other official bodies. Private WHOIS works to:

• Protect your private information
• Give you greater control over your domain
• Block spam but relay important information
• Protect Your Private Information

Instead of having your private details publicly displayed to anyone who carry’s out a Whois lookup in order to find out information on who owns domain names that they want, the registrar’s information is displayed.

That is important because by so doing, that protects your email address from spam and your identity from theft. Your personal details are still required when you pay for your domain name and this data is held in a private secure database and only used for official and not public reasons.

When your email address is publicly displayed, spammers can easily collect it and take advantage of it. They can sell it to other spammers and essentially ruin your email address over time.

A private Whois uses a rotating email address provided by the registrar so that spam emails never reaches you but important emails concerning your domain name only.

It’s for that reasons that today, we are going to go over seven important strategies for choosing a good domain name that can help you choose the right name for your business, blog or website.

I used to have a lot of domains, but of late I only have own just a few. As my business has developed and changed, I’ve also sharpened my focus. How do I go about picking effective domain names, though? Let me tell you how I do it.

1.) Figure out the purpose for owning a given domain name

If you’re just getting started, you need to choose both your business name and your domain name carefully. I started as a virtual assistant, unfortunately I did not chose my name carefully. That simple mistake had far reaching implications that kept dragging me down.

The name I choose had the acronym SOHO in it, which I thought most people knew stands for “small office, home office”. Unfortunately, I was wrong about that. If I had to do it over again, I would choose something with “virtual assistant” included in the description or title, like YourVirtualAssistant.com. Some of the questions you need to ask yourself include:

• What’s going to be the purpose of your domain name?
• Are you planning on using this name as the name of your company?
• Is it going to be a one-page site?
• or is it going to be a “squeeze page” site?

If you answer yes to any one of the above questions then your domain name should be as close as possible to your company’s name as you can get to have it registered.

If you’re just going to use your domain for a one-page sales letter or a squeeze page, think about how you’ll promote it. Today, content is king in Internet marketing, so you’re not going to be picked up on keywords alone. You will have to come up with other promotional ideas.

For instance, it’s a good idea to use “pay per click,” or PPC, as your promotion strategy. But you see that is why it’s important to get your domain name right to lower your cost if you’re going to buy keywords to be placed in search engines. One of the places you can buy these keywords from, for example, is Google.

Your paid listings are going to appear at the top of search engine page results or down the right-hand side of the screen. To make sure someone will be interested enough to click through and visit your site, then that information is going to have to be compelling and also your domain name must be compelling as well.

For instance I’ve set up my site so that my squeeze page addresses a common problem — and provides a solution — that my clients have. They are then led on through to my (main) coaching site. All that starts by choosing a good domain name that will serves the purpose for my site is primarily intended for.

2.) Choosing a good domain name by brainstorming

When you’re trying to solve a problem, the best way to go about solving that particular problem is often to “brainstorm.” A good domain name is going to clearly indicate what you do, or show a problem that you will solve, or provides a solution that you give. In a nutshell you want to brainstorm and come up with a domain name so that someone who sees your domain name is going to know firsthand what they’ll find on your website.

Now, most people do it the wrong way.

Here is how ordinary folks go about brainstorming for a good domain name; they usually go to a given registrar and put in three or four names that they’ve been brainstorming. They then come up with three or four that are available, and then go from there. (Normally when the exact domain name you want isn’t available, the registrar you are using automatically provide you with alternatives that are close to your search)

The right way to go about choosing a good domain name when brainstorming

3.) Put keywords in your domain name

We know that search engines check for keywords when ranking a given page or site. The best things you can do to please the search engines is to put keywords in your domain name. So, for example, if you’re running a cleaning business, your domain name might be something like SqueakyCleanHome.com. Two keywords in that name that are likely to be typed into search engines by prospective customers are “clean” and “home.” Doing so may help add some weight when it comes to ranking your site in the eye of the search engines.

Before you buy your domain, list the keywords that are likely to be used when people are trying to find your products or services. You can focus on your target market or niche, a problem you can solve, a solution you can offer, or keywords specific to your industry.

4.) “Short is king” when it comes to choosing a good domain name

Primary domains are almost always better if they’re short. You can’t always achieve that, of course, but it’s a lot easier to have shorter domain names, because they’re a lot easier to type.

A lot of times, when you buy your domain name, your email extension will be your domain name.

Going by our previous example the email address will look like: admin@squeakycleanhome.com, with “squeakycleanhome.com” the extension.

A shorter domain names yields forth – easier to read email addresses. It’s for this reason that you may want not to put any special characters in it other than hyphens.


5.) Buy your own name if it’s still available

Especially if your name is not a common one, it’s a good idea to buy your own name as a domain name. For example, were Walt Whitman alive today, he’d probably have a website simply named “WaltWhitman.com.” People would sure know how to find him, wouldn’t they?

If your name is a common one, it’s a little bit trickier.

Why, because somebody has already probably bought your exact name as their domain name, but you can do something unique with it, such as explaining what you do, as in: “JohnSmithWordsmith.com.” You don’t have to use that domain name on your primary site if you’d rather not use your own name. Instead you can simply redirect to your primary site automatically.

6.) “.com” is almost always better

It’s true that .net or .biz extensions are becoming more common on websites, but it’s almost always true as well that when people hear a domain name, they automatically put the .com extension on the end of it, whether that’s really there or not. So try to buy the .com version of your website if at all possible. If you can’t get the exact name you want, try hyphenating between words and using that version instead.

If you really, really want a particular domain name and someone else has it, you can go to the WhoIs Registry at Internic, http://www.internic.net/whois.html, to find out if that person would be willing to sell it to you. Often, they are.

7.) If you can afford it, own other versions of your primary domain name

As I said elsewhere, if you are one of the lucky ones to own your “.com version” of your primary domain name, congratulations! However, you may also want to buy other extensions like .biz, .net, and so on, as well as any common misspellings people might be prone to typing.

You can then use your other domain extensions to quickly redirect these domain names to your main site if people erroneously type something in. (It’s also true that you can go broke fast by trying to purchase EVERY possible domain name in this way, so be prudent.)

The domain name you choose is going to be one of the first impressions people have of you and your presence online. Put some time and effort into the process of purchasing your domain name. “Choosing a good domain name will serve you well for years to come”. Done right, it can certainly help you get more clients. More clients mean more revenue and most likely more profits will be added to your bottom line.

1.) Buy a variety of your domain name – dot com, biz, org, Asia, Mobi…

It’s important to set yourself in the right mind framework; if you want to succeed, think, eat, sleep and wake up promising yourself you are going to succeed. Why I’m I saying that? It’s because I know most articles will tell you to buy only dot com of your domain name in order to cut down your expenses just in case – you fail.

Considering that buying a variation of your dot com name is going to cost you, (most of the variation of your domain name will cost you less than $10 dollars to register, some like dot TV or dor MOBI tend to be more expensive.)

Most people will balk away from buying a variation of the dot com name by listening and following such negative thoughts like – what if I FAIL? But the question to you today is, what if you SUCCEED?

And that brings me to my second point.

2.) Buy your own personal name. You will be thankful five years down the line

Think success. Five years down the line, let’s say you have succeeded, what better way will there be for your customers, business clients or partners to be able to remember you or find you than through your own personal domain name.

“Google” your last name or full name and see what comes up.

As the internet business becomes more competitive and unfortunately due to the fact that more internet scams and hackers are destroying online trust; more and more people are putting more weight to websites or blogs that they are able to create and cultivate trust and credibility.

By buying your own domain name you will be able to put your name to work for you. Naturally we all want to be good. When you know your name is at stake, there are high chances that you will give your best so as to maintain a a good domain name with a good reputation in front of your customers. That “best” is what is going to differentiate you from your competition.

3.) Be careful to check if your domain name has any unintentional or odd meanings

Recently I wrote a free traffic report, innocently I named it 69 ways to attract traffic. Nobody was downloading the report. Later a colleague pointed out the “69″ to me. Funny enough when I changed that to – 67, I started having positive results.

It can be the opposite. You might choose a name that sends the wrong traffic to your site. Of course it will be good that you are having free traffic, but is it the kind of targeted traffic that you really need?

Getting traffic that you don’t need will only clogs up your system, increases your bandwidth usage or might even put pressure on you or your customer service with unnecessary inquiries.

4.) Buy spelling mistakes of your domain names

This is just a human error; some of your site or blog visitors will mistype or misspell your domain name. Log in to your statistics and check some of the keywords that brought visitors to your site.

Be on the alert to note those common misspelling and typos that recur over time. You know what to do, don’t you? Making use of those typos and misspelling may help increase your traffic levels.

5.) Qualities of a good domain name

Last but not least, there is no such thing as a “good domain name”

But, there are qualities that a good domain name is almost always likely to have in common with other similar successful domain names.

In other words it costs you nothing! However, there are two big difference.

1.) Visitors just won’t get it.

When you use a free web hosting company, the domain names that they offer to you are in the form of third level domain names. There is a problem with that. It makes the domain name long and somewhat difficult to remember.

That problem is even compounded when someone tries to access the third level domain by typing in the full URL. Chances are, there will be typos and where there are typos – chances are that there will be missed traffic. Guess where it goes, most likely back to the main site.

There are three main levels for Internet domain names.

• Top level such as .com
• Second level. The name that comes after the .com, such as livinginternetl.com
• Third level domain names such as rareorchids.livinginternet.com

Third level Internet domain names have been created by those people who own second level domains. It’s that “third level domain name” that one is likely to get for free for signing up with those “cheapest domain name deals” that you see floating around.

2.) Marketing nightmare

Wait until you start your link marketing campaign. At that moment you start to realize how really a long awkward looking sub domain name is hard to market. Don’t forget your marketing endeavors will also be creating value for the main domain (remember you don’t own it). Talk of working for someone else without pay.

For those two reason:

A person should really think thrice before signing up with any of the cheapest domain name deals that they come across. Instead one should consider buying his or her own domain name.

Cheap domain names are available today, it is very possible to get a really affordable domain name. Cheap domain names range anywhere from being $0 to about $9.95.

Before beginning the process of picking out a domain name, it would be a good idea to have a few choices ready in case your primary choice is taken. Read how not to lose your domain name.

What are the downsides to using cheap domain names?

If a cheap domain name company is unscrupulous, a person may not receive a domain name at all. The company may tell the customer to wait for a few days until the domain name becomes active.

However, the domain name will not work even at the end of the waiting period. Since the company doesn’t really care anyway, e-mailing customer service won’t work either.

• How will you know that you are not using a fraudulent cheap domain name company?

First of all, you need to check and see if the company is an accredited registrar registered with the Better Business Bureau. This is an organization that makes sure that businesses are operating above board.

Second, you need to see if the company has normal contact information such as an address and a telephone number. Sometimes that does not even make a difference as the phone can ring and ring and ring and no one ever answers. If that happens, then tread carefully that might be a warning sign not to buy web domain names from them.

Third, they should see if the company has a bad reputation on message boards dedicated to webmasters. Of course, a person may not always get an opinion about a certain company, but if they do, they will know to steer clear of it.

Conclusion.

Next time you see an ad titled “cheapest domain names deals” tread carefully, much better stay away. Just in case you go ahead and click on the ad, find out for sure if their cheap domain name is actually a third level domain. If that is the case, best thing to do…run!

Because of the somehow inherent behavior that most webmasters develop, most people often scrambles to get just the right .com domain names extension.

Stories are abound of some webmasters who may not even register a potential goldmine of a domain name with a different extension because a less popular .com extension grabs his fancy.

A quick fact check though reveals a different story. There are dozens of domain names that are available, some of which have become very popular despite them not being a .com.

Is the .Com domain extension Overrated?

The question under discussion today is how will a webmaster be able to determine if his or her site is going to hit the jackpot, so to speak, without the traditional .com?

This article will tell you how.

• First, the webmaster has to evaluate his or her website’s purpose.

If the website is there, created solely for the simply purpose of being there as a directional entity to guide people to an affiliate page, then it doesn’t really matter what extension the domain name has, since it will only be visited once anyway.

In the same line of thinking, if people are going to continually visit a website, people may not care whether or not the website has a .com.

Websites that contain games, updated information and message boards tend to get a lot of repeat visitors. The “bookmark”option is a great tool to have strategically placed on a website to encourage visitors to bookmark that site on their computer.

All a person has to do is click on the domain name and enter it in the box on the bookmark scroll down page. Heck, there are even web 2.0 sites developed solely for that purpose.

Then, whenever a person wants to go back to a certain site, all he or she has to do is to scroll down the list of bookmarks and click on the one he or she wants. It is that simple!

• Secondly, it is wise to into consideration the memorable nature of your domain name.

If you as a webmaster is able to come up with a witty domain name hack, such as del.icio.us, and the content is excellent, it may make no difference whether of not it is followed by a .com domain names extension.

For instance a good site that is able to allow a webmaster to register unconventional domain name extensions is New.net. It offers such extension such as .free and .love.

By contemplating some of the available domain name extensions, webmaster will be able to think about ideas for their own domain name hacks. If he or she needs help with this, the word or letters used in the extension can always be typed in a keyword analyzer or search engine.

• Thirdly, take into consideration other players in the market.

A webmaster has to make the determination as to whether or not a domain name with an unconventional extension will receive a higher rank in the search engines as opposed to one that has a traditional extension.

For example, consider del.icio.us again.

To be honest, how many people are really typing such a domain name into their browser? Not me! While it is memorable enough, all of the periods associated with that name are annoying. I hope I’m not alone here!

However, this website still has a high search engine ranking, which is probably how it is getting so much traffic. Web surfers visit this site from the search engine, bookmark it, and they never again have to be associated with its unique URL.

A webmaster truly wants to emulate that kind of success.

If a domain name is memorable and keyword-rich, webmasters must go for whatever extension is available for it. This is not to say that someone must be limited to just a domain name. If they still want to use .com domain names extension after using other extensions, they still have the option of doing so.

In fact, the more domain names that lead one to a site, the more likely a search engine bot will index it higher. With this strategy, webmasters will have two domain names that they will be able to work with.

They can use the unconventional domain name in search engine marketing in the hopes of getting indexed high, and the other domain name can be used in printed media where people will more likely be concerned with the type of URL they are entering in their browser. In these cases, the more simple the URL is, the better.

So then are .com domain name extensions overrated?

Some say yes, some think not.

Depending on your stand and your argument, one thing we can all agree in is that “quality” is the key. If a website has quality content, a quality product, quality service and quality…{fill in the blanks} What really is in a name that makes it so popular?

Despite the domain name extension in use, visitors like, remember and are willing to buy from a site that they has something good to offer in return or solve their problem.

The truth; they don’t.

Wait until you see the nature and kind of URL, they are promoting.

The ugly truth is that at one point or another, we all need and benefit from some of the useful knowledge and content out there. That is why “101 and for dummies” products and services are such a favorite.

Alright here is my three cents paying forward – domain names guide 101 for dummies

If your website does not have a domain name, it is then specified by an IP address. Exactly what is an IP address? In order to determine the location of a website or a server, an identifier is used by humans or computers.

You see, the IP address is expressed in a numerical format. It consists of four numbers which are separated by periods, which is also known as a “dotted-quad” An IP address looks something like this 127.0.0.1.

However, when it comes to humans, it is quite difficult to remember an IP address.

It is because of this numerical nature of an IP address that is one of the reasons for domain names being invented. With the use of a domain name, a human can locate a website through user-friendly phrases or words. It is true that a domain name may consist partly of numbers, but they do not make up all of it, like what is seen common with an IP address.

• When it comes to formatting, domain names have several parts.

1.) The first part is called the Uniform Resource Locator or URL for short.

This tells the browser what the domain name is going to point to. This will usually be http meaning that the browser can expect to locate a hypertext document.

A hypertext document is nothing more than a webpage. In some rare cases the URL may be ftp meaning file transfer protocol. A webmaster may use this URL if he or she would like visitors to download files from their server.

2.) WWW is the second part of the domain name and it stands for “World Wide Web.”

This phrase lets humans and computers know the site the domain name is pointing to is from the Internet. It is followed by the actual domain name, which may be a combination of numbers, letters or phrases.

• Good domain names will be memorable, short and search-engine friendly.

A webmaster would be happier if the domain name is effective with SEO rather than just having a creative name. To accomplish that objective , the webmaster makes sure that he or she chooses a domain name that has widely searched and sought for keyword.

The ending of the domain name has a top level domain names extension.

This will tell a person a little more concerning a website’s origins. For example, the most common domain name extension is .com. This stands for commercial and was originally intended for organizations in that vein. However, this extension is used by just about every Tom, Dick and Harry looking to create a website.

The extensive use of dotcom is all for a good reason. Most people who surf the web will think about .com before .biz, .org or .org pops into their head. That does not mean that the other extensions cannot become memorable. Just think of Wikipedia.org which is a vastly popular website in spite of its .org extension.

Domain name extension can also specifically point things out on a geographical level. Examples of this are .jp which stands for Japan or .fr which stands for France. The domain name can also be state-based such as .ca which stands for California. Both serve well as tools for localized Internet marketing.

• How does a person get a good domain name?

They can get one from their own web hosting company provided that the hosting company offers domain name registration. They may opt to also get one from a separate domain name company. Prices will vary with both options. The typical cost will be somewhere between $6.50 and $35. I would tend to go somewhere with the middle of the road pricing.

You know the saying you only get what you pay for. Sometimes the low price is correlated with the word cheap. If you want good service or a good domain name, then you are going to have to pay the price.

When it comes to registering and hosting domain names most folks get confused. Most people tend to equate the two to be the same thing and the same product.

This is further compounded by web hosting companies that tend to offer the two products together in bundles. You must be familiar with web hosting promotional offers that promotes free domain name registration when one signs up for a given hosting package.

Let us put that confusion to rest on this page. Domain name and web hosting are two completely different products.

Web hosting: Is simply the act of renting or leasing space on a web server that is connected to the internet. In return to the web hosting service, you agree to pay a given set fee either on a monthly or annual basis to the web hosting company.

Domain names: On the other hand is a distinct IP address that makes it easy for both computers and humans to identify and differentiate one computer machine from the other. Read more all about domain name here.

Putting it all together: When it comes to:

• Registering and hosting domain names;

Here is a simple Illustration that will help us understand the relationship between domain name and web hosting so that you won’t be confused any more.

A domain name can be equated to be the same as your home or office telephone/cellphone number. Your friends, family members or visitors are able to find and communicate with you by calling that number.

Just like a phone/cellphone number, it’s through a domain name that computers are able to identify and therefore communicate with each other.

Now web hosting can be equated to the physical structure or building that is associated with a given phone number. The building enables you to store your furniture, personal belongings, work related tools and all that you’d want to store as long as it can be accommodated in the space available.

You notice that it’s possible to transfer and move your phone from one building to another and still be able to keep the same number. Unfortunately the best you can do when moving from one building to another is to move with you your personal belonging.

The physical structure remain.

With web hosting, you can only be able to transfer your contents to a new host provider. I hope the comparison above has helped you grasp the concept of registering and hosting domain names and how the two are related. Read more about registering and hosting domain names here

Thousands still search for the term “Free domain names” and “free web hosting” each single day. In fact now that you are on this page, I won’t be surprised that you too are doing the same! Are you?

Let me be straight on, at the end of this page you might be a little bit disappointed. The good news though, is that you are going to be more empowered and at the same time relieved by what I’m about to share with you.

Here we go…

A domain name may be equated to a physical address. Find out more about what a domain name is here. You know, when you move into a new apartment or new home, your tenant will always provide you with the physical address associated to your new place.

• You secure that address by renting, leasing or buying that property.

As you very well know that address is very important to you. Why? Because there are a lot of things that you can not do without it. You will need your address when applying for a new job, to secure a line of credit, to receive mail, for direction and much more.

It is your address and non other!

There is also another mean of securing a given address. With a Catch!

For the homeless and the less disadvantaged, they can seek federal or local government assistance to help them secure a place. But this time round with some conditions attached therein before one can receive such assistance.

Of course, they too receive an address. But there are certain conditions and criterion to be met for their continued stay and use of their newly found address.

In the same line of thinking,

That is where the catch is – with free domain names. Your freedom!

A lot of web hosting companies offers free domain names to new customers. But, pay attention to the following three areas because that is where the catch might be:

1. Will you receive a full domain name or sub domain
2. Is the name registered in your name? Put the other way round, do you own the domain name?
3. What are the benefit and features of the hosting package that comes with the free domain names? Do they meet your web site needs?

Having said so,

We all know there are times that we have to do what has to be done.

If yours is just a hobby:

Then no harm will be done by signing up for any of the free domain names and web hosting packages. The package is also great if all you want to do is to test a business idea online but lack the resources to host your web site. You know kind of want to test the water first before committing yourself fully.

The best place to start your search is to open any of your favorite search engine like Bing.com, Google or yahoo and type in the term “free domain names” and bingo! or you can try searching for free web hosting or a combination of both, you know like free domain names and web hosting and vice versa