Domain Name purchase and registrations are often confused with hosting fees and other expenses related to starting a web site. Hosting refers to the service provided by companies which have several specialized computers called "servers" which are always on in order to keep a web site. up and running 24/7. On the other hand, domain name registration is the action of researching, choosing and locking up a web site. name' which is also referred to as a 'dot com' address for your web site.

In order to launch a web site., these are two indispensable things a webmaster must have as one can not work without the other. Ever since the web became popular 'dot com or domain names' have revolutionized the industry as many users would like to lock highly effective-one word terms as their web site. names, a few examples are: buy, men, sell, business, cardiology, seniors, text, local, spices, etc.

Most the one word domain names mentioned above are being auctioned at incredibly high prices (in some cases millions of dollars) because many users will bypass search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) by typing the site name directly into their browsers, thus having a greater deal of highly targeted traffic without having to pay for advertising or pay-per-click ads.

What is even more amazing is the amount of money these domain names were originally purchased for! As many webmasters and savvy web users know domain names are very cheap nowadays. Depending on the hosting company used (GoDaddy, Netfirms, Gator, etc) to purchase the domain, users can own a domain name for a period of one up to 5 years for just a few dollars a year (usually between 1.99-9.99 USD)

Choosing the right domain name can certainly the the best investment a webmaster can ever do, that is why domains are called 'online real estate'. A very important aspect to have in mind when purchasing a domain name is to understand the copyright infringement laws, patents, trademarks, do's and don'ts in your country. If a webmaster registers a domain name such as "AOLcomplaints, yourFicoCreditScore, eBayPrograms and such" the domain owner may have to deal with a great deal of 'undesired email' from these companies as those specific names can not be used without their written authorization, so choose carefully and wisely.

Domain name prices usually vary according to their top level domain (TLD) which are coded according to the web site. type for instance, government sites will have a TLD of .gov, commercial sites a .com TLD, educational sites will have an .edu TLD and specific countries will have their special TLD as well. The trick to choose a good domain name is : KISS (Keep it simple stup...!) and choose words which can be easy to remember without using too many hyphens.

by IC

Choosing an effective domain name is a crucial first step to setting up an affiliate business. To be taken seriously, you need to purchase a domain name of your own. It is also an important factor when it comes to branding yourself and your online presence that your affiliate business creates. Therefore, it is important that you take note of the 5 important points listed below when you have decided upon an affiliate program to promote as an affiliate business.
1. Avoid “free” domains
Your domain name will be your business’s “address” on the Internet, so it’s important that you choose the right one. That is why you MUST get your own unique name, as opposed to one you can get from a web hosting company that includes their name (eg. /YourWebHost/yoursite). With your own domain name, you can easily move your site to another host while keeping your domain name if you are unhappy with the current host’s range of services.

2. Always register a “.com” name first.
Everyone remembers a “.com” before “.net”. Even most web browswers, if the extension is not entered, will default to “.com”.

3. Consider registering other top-level domains like “.net” and “.org”
No, this is not a contradiction to the previous point. Rather, it’s always a good idea to protect your business and your domain names by registering the less popular top level domains as well.

4. Protect Your Business by Registering Product Names and Plurals
You should also go beyond the basic top level domains and register some variations on your domain as well, including plurals and even misspellings. Now, you may ask why misspellings? Because believe it or now, there are “typo-squatters” out there who make a point of registering misspellings of popular domain names just to scoop up the traffic of people who made an innocent typo error.

5. You can create your own sub-domains
If you cannot find a domain name that has the keywords you want to focus on, there is another solution. You can take advantage of a sub-domain, which is anything that comes before the main domain. Search engines love keyword-rich domains. Well, by using your keywords in your sub-domain, you can have the same effect.

by Tim Ng

A domain registrar affiliate program can be the perfect addition to your web hosting company site or if you are an Internet Service Provider who is looking for additional ways to monetize your business. Thousands of domain names are being registered every day and new people are signing on to the Internet for the first time ever looking for web hosting solutions and domain names for their business or personal use.

Not only can you make money from the registration of a domain, but you can also generate affiliate income from different products and services offered by various domain registrar affiliate programs like web hosting and web site building tools. Many people will register domains and keep renewing them for years to come which will generate you lots of residual income from the domain name renewals.

There are many places that you can go to advertise domain registration services and make money. If you have a web hosting company, you can put a form on your site that will sign up new clients with a domain registered through you. You can place an ad in the local paper and offer your services to local businesses that are looking into getting a website and need a domain name.

The great thing about domain names is that it is a product that will always be in demand and will continue to be for many years to come. The value of domains is increasing because of the demand for a good quality domains. Most of the great .com's are already gone, but their is still many other extensions that are available for you to register that will grow in value.

Some companies have expanded their domain business quickly by implementing a multi-tier affiliate program which compensates up to five levels deep in commissions like Global Domains International which is responsible for the boom of .ws extensions which is the country code for Western Samoa. This makes it possible for earning both leveraged and residual income. With the decline in the number of available .com's, many people are turning to alternative extensions like the .ws or now commonly referred to as the "website" domain.

One of the benefits of getting involved with being an affiliate is being able to offer competitive prices in the domain world. Many of the larger registrars charge high prices which can be cut in half when purchasing a domain through a third-party affiliate like your hosting company or ISP.

Domains name registration is very popular and sees no signs of slowing down in the near future. Now is the time to make money with domain registrar affiliate programs and profit from the coming virtual real estate boom.

guest post by Daniel Cassidy

To obtain a domain name, you have to pay an annual fee to a registrar for the right to use that name. Take into consideration that you cannot buy a domain for life. You get it for a period of one to ten years. If you fail to renew the domain name at the end of its term, the registration of the domain will be revoked and the domain name may be acquired by another party.

Buying a domain name is one of the easiest tasks. To purchase a domain name, take the following steps:

1- Refer to the website of an authorized registrar.

2- Use the registrar's online search function to search to see if your desired domain name is taken.

3- If your domain name is available, you can then proceed to the next step to complete the registration form and pay by credit card.

******************

Important Tips:

1- As you're registering your name, you will be presented with the option of adding Privacy to your domain registration. A private domain registration will keep your information (name, email address, etc.) out of the global Internet database, and will prevent a lot of spam from reaching your email box. It is highly recommended you select this option.

2- Avoid web hosts offering free domain. Try to register the name yourself, so that you can be sure that you are registered as the owner. If your web host places itself as the owner, they can always decide to not let you change your web hosting service. Especially if you are not happy with their hosting service it can be catastrophic! So don't accept any free domain name and pay for it.

3- Don't trust any cheap service. Some registrars are cheating and misleading their customers. For example if the price of a domain name is $10 /year, they offer it $2 for first year. But next years they charge $35 to renew the domain name! On the other hand, many of cheap services don't allow you to have full control on your domain name.

If you are looking for a safe and cheap service that works for you, GoldPuma.com is a reliable website to register your desired domain name. Their service is one of the lowest cost services on the web which is really full-featured and easy-to-use. They offer free extras with every domain name and you can check out their hot prices by going there.

goldpuma.com/domain

Tips for Choosing the Right Web Domain and Hosting Company by Dts Web Solutions

There are so many companies to choose from when it comes to acquiring web domain registrations and hosting.

However, there are certain key elements that should be considered before committing to a particular company.

The first tip is to think about your budget. What can you afford? Do not be carried away with sales pitches and slick marketing tactics. Do not over extend yourself.

If you are about to host a site for business purposes, the following elements are important:

a. SSL Certificates: People are getting smart about online security. More and more of them are looking for the padlock icon and "https" prefix in the address bar of their browser before submitting personal information online. If your Web site doesn't have an SSL Certificate, visitors may leave before making a purchase, creating an account or even signing up for a newsletter.

b. Customer/Tech Support: Does the company have 24/7 customer support? If they do not have this basic service do not use them!

c. Spam Free Email: Is the email service protected from fraud, spam, and viruses. Make sure it is compatible with Microsoft® Outlook®, Outlook Express, and Mozilla Thunderbird .

d. Quick Shopping Cart: Online Sales are expected to hit $144 billion in the U.S. and £78bn in the UK by 2010. Isn't it time you got your piece of the pie? With a quick Shopping Cart, you can create and publish a stand-alone Internet store or add one to your existing Web site in a matter of minutes. Make sure the company you choose provides this service if you are considering e-commerce with your site.

e. Hosting and Servers: From a basic Web site to a massive online superstore, look for full-service hosting solutions for every need and your budget. Make sure the company offers up to 99.9% guaranteed uptime, best-of-breed routers, servers and firewalls and 24/7 support and maintenance.

You can succeed with the right tools, so choose wisely. purchase web domain

http://www.dtswebsolutions.com

Domain Name Registration Process - Basic Guide

If you are hesitating to read this article, you may surely miss some important information about domain name registration.

Several articles on this subject could be found on the net but the advantage of this write-up is that it's simple and easy to understand. This article provides you with great info on domain name registration.

What is a domain name anyway?

Domain names are the familiar web addresses (i.e. http://somename.com) that web browsers use to locate a particular website. Domain names, in fact, are pointers to a particular IP (Internet Protocol) address (it is an address servers use to locate each other) and we use them for a simple reason. They are more descriptive and easier to remember than an IP addresses which are presented in just a bunch of numbers (i.e. 125.416.28.7)

The Domain Name Registration process

If you want to purchase a domain name, first you need to find a registrar who will process the domain name registration.

Currently there are hundreds of registrars you can use. To see the full list of accredited domain name registrars visit the InterNIC website (http://www.internic.com/regist.html). When you go to a website of the registrar you selected you can use their domain name search tool to verify that the domain name you plan on buying has not been taken yet. If it is available you can proceed with the registration.

Now as you go ahead with the registration you have about 3 more steps to complete the purchase. The domain name registration process may slightly differ from registrar to registrar but the next 3 steps should be pretty much the same for most of them.

1. Decide how many years you want to register your domain name for?
2. Choose Public or Private registration?
3. Enter domain name contact information

Now let me go through the steps listed above in more detail.

1. When you are registering your domain name you can choose the time period of the ownership which is usually from 1 year to up to 10 years (of course you can extend it just before the domain is about to expire so you don't loose it). Some registrars may even require minimum of 2 or more years for selected domain names.

So how many years should you register the domain name for? Well, it depends on what you are going to use the domain for. If it is for your business and you intend to be in business for at least the next five years, I would register it for five or more years. If you are not sure about the future of your website 1 or 2 years should be fine and then you can just extend the registration if your website is doing fine. Nowadays many registrars give you the option of having your domain name renewed automatically so you don't have to worry about it. Using this option will allow you to avoid loosing your domain name just because you forgot to renew it.

2. Choosing public or private registration is another step you will go through, however, some domain registrars may not offer this option. Public registration is the one where you use your personal information in the domain name contact. This type of registering is more convenient but also less secure than the private one simply because your detailed contact is widely and easily accessible including your address, phone numbers and email address which would make you an easy target for email spammers and fraud.

Private registration is on the other hand giving you the security but at the same time it could cost you some extra money over some period of time. The way it works is basically that your registrar is registering your domain name on your behalf. So you are not directly the owner but you have the right to use it. In this case the domain name has the contact information of your registrar rather then yours. Any mail received to the address listed under your domain will be forwarded to you and here is where the extra expense comes in since most of the registrars will charge you extra for this service. If you are choosing private registration I would definitely recommend to closely read the service agreement before you proceed with the registration. You may save yourself some headaches.

3. The last step is fairly simple. If you have chosen private domain name registration you don't have to worry about this step. In case of public registration all you need to do is to enter your detailed contact information. The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) records 4 types of contacts for each domain name. 1.Owner's contact 2.Administrator's contact 3.Tech person's contact 4.Billing person's contact. You can just have the same contact information for all four unless you have other people managing different aspects of your domain name.

That's all. Now you can just complete the checkout process. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain name registration to be finalized. Once the registration is complete you've got yourself a domain name. Of course there's more than just a domain name registration you need to do in order to get your website online using the domain name you've just purchased. You need to build your site, find a web host, and publish your site to your web host's servers but those topics are beyond the scope of this article.

Now that you have read this article, we hope that all your doubts regarding domain name registration must have been resolved.

Guest post by Robert Dobes

5 Important Points to Note When Choosing and Purchasing a Domain Name

Choosing an effective domain name is a crucial first step to setting up an affiliate business. To be taken seriously, you need to purchase a domain name of your own. It is also an important factor when it comes to branding yourself and your online presence that your affiliate business creates. Therefore, it is important that you take note of the 5 important points listed below when you have decided upon an affiliate program to promote as an affiliate business.

1. Avoid “free” domains
Your domain name will be your business’s “address” on the Internet, so it’s important that you choose the right one. That is why you MUST get your own unique name, as opposed to one you can get from a web hosting company that includes their name (eg. /YourWebHost/yoursite). With your own domain name, you can easily move your site to another host while keeping your domain name if you are unhappy with the current host’s range of services.

2. Always register a “.com” name first.
Everyone remembers a “.com” before “.net”. Even most web browswers, if the extension is not entered, will default to “.com”.

3. Consider registering other top-level domains like “.net” and “.org”
No, this is not a contradiction to the previous point. Rather, it’s always a good idea to protect your business and your domain names by registering the less popular top level domains as well.

4. Protect Your Business by Registering Product Names and Plurals
You should also go beyond the basic top level domains and register some variations on your domain as well, including plurals and even misspellings. Now, you may ask why misspellings? Because believe it or now, there are “typo-squatters” out there who make a point of registering misspellings of popular domain names just to scoop up the traffic of people who made an innocent typo error.

5. You can create your own sub-domains
If you cannot find a domain name that has the keywords you want to focus on, there is another solution. You can take advantage of a sub-domain, which is anything that comes before the main domain. Search engines love keyword-rich domains. Well, by using your keywords in your sub-domain, you can have the same effect.

Guest post by Tim Ng

One method to start earning extra retirement income is with a Internet home business. As more people begin to explore this viable option the first decision they face is whether to purchase a domain name or to use the free web hosting option many programs offer. With a free domain name you do not actually own the domain name. Instead of having a website with the domain name of "yourname.com" the free hosting company gives you a URL of their choosing.

By choosing a free domain company your domain name will always be integrated somehow with their name. Instead of having the website of "your name.com" it would be "your name.freehosting.com," or something similar.

The above example of a free domain name offers many disadvantages versus owning your own name. While the lure of free is hard to pass the advantages of owning your own unique name are numerous here are just a few.

1. Search engines prefer unique content. In order to make money with a Internet home business you need traffic to your website. While that may seem simplistic its much harder to achieve than many realize. With a free domain extension many of the top search engines will dismiss the site or place it lower on the search results making it harder to get traffic. With little or no traffic the dream of extra retirement income becomes nearly impossible.

2. Most free web hosting company's require that you place advertisements on your site. You may not have any control over which adds are placed on your site or even were they are placed. Some of these adds my not be appropriate for your site and may actually hurt your business because visitors feel they are being bombarded with advertisements. The free service is now making money off of your customers and you will see nothing. If you own your domain name you control everything that is placed on your site and you receive the profits from the advertising.

3. A free domain name as limitations. Just as they require that you place advertisements for them on your site the actual design is usually predetermined and the the amount of changes you can make to the appearance is usually limited. Remember that the most visitors are not going to purchase from the first site they visit. They will surf and visit several sites before they decide. If your site is the same as all the other sites it gives the impression that you are only trying to make a fast buck and chances are you will not get a sale.

These are just a few examples of the disadvantages of using a free domain name provider. A Internet home business offers a excellent opportunity to start earning extra retirement income. However, if you are truly serious about this type of business venture than the minimal expense of purchasing a domain name is essential.

Guest post by John McRae

To obtain a domain name, you have to pay an annual fee to a registrar for the right to use that name. Take into consideration that you cannot buy a domain for life. You get it for a period of one to ten years. If you fail to renew the domain name at the end of its term, the registration of the domain will be revoked and the domain name may be acquired by another party.

Buying a domain name is one of the easiest tasks. To purchase a domain name, take the following steps:
1- Refer to the website of an authorized registrar.
2- Use the registrar's online search function to search to see if your desired domain name is taken.
3- If your domain name is available, you can then proceed to the next step to complete the registration form and pay by credit card.

******************

Important Tips:

1- As you're registering your name, you will be presented with the option of adding Privacy to your domain registration. A private domain registration will keep your information (name, email address, etc.) out of the global Internet database, and will prevent a lot of spam from reaching your email box. It is highly recommended you select this option.

2- Avoid web hosts offering free domain. Try to register the name yourself, so that you can be sure that you are registered as the owner. If your web host places itself as the owner, they can always decide to not let you change your web hosting service. Especially if you are not happy with their hosting service it can be catastrophic! So don't accept any free domain name and pay for it.

3- Don't trust any cheap service. Some registrars are cheating and misleading their customers. For example if the price of a domain name is $10 /year, they offer it $2 for first year. But next years they charge $35 to renew the domain name! On the other hand, many of cheap services don't allow you to have full control on your domain name.

If you are looking for a safe and cheap service that works for you, GoldPuma.com is a reliable website to register your desired domain name. Their service is one of the lowest cost services on the web which is really full-featured and easy-to-use. They offer free extras with every domain name and you can check out their hot prices by going there.

Guest post by FCJ Oghab

Hyphens are permitted in domain names, but should you use them? Including a hyphen in a domain, means that users can make mistakes when typing it into the browser address bar, especially seeing that most users are use to domain names like happy birthday cards.co.za. Hyphens and numbers are a no-no.

Imagine telling someone your domain name and then reminding them to use a hyphen between this word and that word and, oh yea, don't spell the numbers. Hyphen symbols are also allowed, but cannot be included in the beginning or the end of the domain name.

Purchasing a domain is very easy and available at less than $10 a year, so it is a very inexpensive yet potentially valuable asset.

If you are considering purchasing a domain with a high PR that is not well indexed or doesn't have many backlinks, you've got to stop and think for a minute. Google has made it well known that it considers relevant backlinks, among many other criteria, in assessing PR. In child care, as in any profession, the quality of your Web site makes a lasting impression on parents searching for child care.

Domain Lookup already supports 20+ of the world's top registrars, with another 34 being added in April. No one sees your domain searches except the users and their chosen registrar, minimizing the risk of your doma .

Unfortunately, you've never done this kind of thing before and you've just created a nightmare that seems to have no end. I always thought that purchasing a domain is always difficult because to purchase one domain with available PR you need to search through thousands of them. Thinking of it makes me sweat!

Registering your own domain name means that you have the sole use of this internet address and your email address is your own. It is independent of the service provider that you choose to use which gives you the freedom to change providers without "changing your address". Register now to avoid getting stuck with "my-domain-name-is-a-loser.net ".

You don't have to have an active Web site or a Web design consultant or even a hosting provider to own a domain name. Registration for agloco is free and earnings will come from the number of people you introduce to download the viewbar, the number of hours your use the viewbar to browse and adverts clicked upon by users.

Remember to choose a domain name that is short, memorable, includes a keyword and that matches your websites name. If the preferred domain name already is taken you have to get creative. Remember that the idea is to create domain names that people can easily remember, and just as easily type into their browser. Remember always go for .com extension which is the best.

Prices for web hosting have plummetted in recent years, so it's generally a good idea to pay a small monthly fee for a hosting service. Prices can be 70% less than other domain name providers and you can have private registrations. Godaddy is very user friendly - 24/7 live customer service plus step-by-step guides and a huge Help Section,Knowledge Base with QA's to help you.

Guest post by Todd Ash