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Register a Domain Name |
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Register a Domain Name |
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Rules and Registrars for all top level domains (tlds) |
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On
this page 1. Domain name registration info, rules, accredited registrars. Subheadings below on this
page (Click to jump) |
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choose another page 1. you are here. 1.1 Info on all top level domain names, .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .aero, .coop, .museum, .name, .info, .biz and .pro, and country codes 2. Find a company to host your Web site. 3. Register your Web site with search engines and directories. 4. Maintain your site to keep it accurate and current. 5. Other marketing considerations. 6. A final note |
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1. Register a domain name |
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Background - Network Solutions Monopoly |
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To have a Web site, you first
must have a domain name - such as yourname.com, and abcnews.com. You see domain names in this string:
http://www.example.com/, but your
actual domain name is just the example.com part.
Addresses on the Web are actually numbers - IP addresses (for Internet Protocol) such as 216.25.103.109. But, because numbers are inconvenient and hard to remember, names are assigned to the numbers. If you type http://209.35.222.177 in the address
field of your browser, it will take you to the same Web site as the name http://www.webstreetstudios.com
will. |
The domain name registration
monopoly enjoyed by Network Solutions since 1993 began to break up in
spring of 1999. Five companies were initially accredited to
register top level domain names ending in .com, .org, and .net. and to
have access to the master database of names in a testbed situation. The testbed ran from April to November, 1999, and now many new registrars
are officially in business. By October,
1999, 88 companies were accredited and had become Registrars. (Update Dec. 4 - Beginning January 1, 2003, Public Interest Registry (PIR) - a subsidiary of the Internet Society (ISOC) will take over operation of the .org registry from VeriSign.) Here is the Oct. 14, 2002 announcement of the decision, and here is a Dec. 4, 2002, news article that the deal is finalized.) They will manage the .org database, but not sell names.
*Verisign acquired Network Solutions
in June, 2000, and renamed it Verisign Global Registry Services (Verisign
GRS) in September. Verisign GRS is the registry for .com, .net,
and .org, which means they manage and maintain the domain name system
that resolves names into I.P. addresses for .com, .net, and
.org. Although they are also a registrar who sells these tlds to
the public, they are only one of many certified now to do
so. See the complete
list of registrars under the .com registry. |
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The hardest part is finding a name that is still available, so start thinking now, and have a few to choose from! Any site that registers domain names will have a search feature (one is below) that you can use to see if the name you want is available, and if it is, you proceed, and register it. How many and what characters are allowed for .com, .net, and .org domain names? (See this page for character and count rules for .info, .pro, and other tlds.) Your new .com, .net, or .org domain name can contain letters, numbers and the hyphen symbol but no underscores _ and no exclamation points !. It cannot begin or end with the - hyphen. For example, even Yahoo! is Yahoo.com without the exclamation. The official rule is that your domain name for .com, .org., or .net must be more than 2 characters, and cannot be more than 63 characters - not counting the "dot" and 3 characters used to identify the top-level domain .COM, .NET, .ORG. However, longer than 22 characters (not counting "dot" and tld) is not recommended as certain web browsers, email programs and other Internet related applications may not support domain names more than 22 characters. Shorter is much better. Remember, your visitors often have to type your domain name in to find you, and you will be saying it a lot and perhaps spelling it a lot over the phone. Try to keep it simple and easy to remember, if possible. Barnes and Noble used to be barnesandnoble.com. They have changed it to bn.com . And dejanews.com is now just deja.com. Well, actually, now it's http://groups.google.com/ . But, it used to be deja. :-) If you can simplify, do it. |
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Choosing a Registrar to Register Your Domain Name |
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Make sure whoever you use is an accredited registrar: Here are the lists: Accredited Registrars from ICANN.org for all tlds. Verisign
GRS's list for .com, .net, and .org registrars. |
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Most hosting companies will provide this service. Make sure you find out who they register with, that whoever that is, is accredited and that the domain name will be in your name. |
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