The Market Place

What's a Domain Name?

Sooner or later, you'll probably want to get your very own domain name. Domain names are like vanity license plates - they are easier to remember than a long generic URL (http://members.aol.com/screenname), but beyond that there isn't much value beyond the vanity factor. If you have a very useful web site, and you've publicized it correctly, people will find your web site regardless of what your URL is. However, about the time you start thinking about getting your own domain is also the time you'll begin to think about adding more advanced services to your web site. You may be considering a database, or a set of daily statistics of your web site visitors, or custom CGI. At this point you've most likely outgrown your current service provider's offering.

First, see if the domain name you want is available. Type in the name you're looking for (ie: sillyme.com). If the domain is not taken, your query will come back as "no match" - that means you can register the name.

Before you can register a domain, you'll need to find an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to sign up with. Internic requires the information about your ISP before you can register. To find an ISP, you can start by searching TheList for an ISP. What you'll want to look for in an ISP:

  • Support for domain names
  • A local access number
  • The services you'll need: CGI, statistics of web visitors, etc.

We would strongly suggest calling the tech support number for the ISP you are considering, to see if anyone answers and how long it takes, and how useful the advice. You might also consider contacting clients of the ISP to see how happy they are with the service they receive. A cheap ISP is expensive if your web site is never available because of technical problems. What you want is stability and reliability.

True Story:
The first ISP we used for our web site was reputed to be the best ISP at the time. We were happy for several months, until the service provider started adding more clients than it could handle. Pretty soon, only one tech support person was answering email or the phone (we can only assume that the other folks had either left or had breakdowns). Then we started getting a lot of email from people trying to get into our web sites telling us that our web sites weren't available. The ISP had created a policy, without telling its members, that web sites would be shut down after a certain amount of bandwidth was used up every day. Pretty soon, anyone trying to get into our site after 5PM couldn't. We could have increased the bandwidth amount, but that would have cost several hundred more a month for service that was spotty at best. We found another ISP, but it took our former ISP several weeks to take care of the technical details to turn our sites over to the new ISP. Moral of this story: choose your ISP wisely.

Once you've set up your account with your ISP, you can register your domain name. The cost for registering a domain name is $100 for the first two years, and $50 a year thereafter.

Once your domain name is set up, and you've moved your web site, you'll want to be sure to republicize the site, and get that URL on your stationary, advertising, you name it!

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