Domain names
What is a domain name?
A domain name is basically the website name. It's how people find your website online. It usually looks something like www.example.co.uk or www.example.com.
The importance of a good domain name cannot be emphasised enough. It is the public (online) face of your business or organisation and, hopefully, it'll be in use for many years to come.
How to choose a domain name
Domain names are made up of 3 parts:
www.example.com
www - this stands for World Wide Web and usually denotes the hostname for a web(site) server.
example - this is the unique name choosen to represent your business or organisation. There are still plenty of names available, however, virtually all generic names are long gone. You may have to be creative to obtain a good representative name.
com - known as a domain suffix it is the last part of a domain name and is often referred to as a "top-level domain" or TLD. Popular domain suffixes include ".com," ".co.uk," ".net," and ".org,". Most UK businesses prefer .co.uk and/or .com whilst non-profit organisations may be happy with .org.
Do I own the domain name?
Not really is the short answer. You buy the right to use it for a period of time and have automatic rights to renew it. So, provided you don't let the domain name lapse it can be yours for as long as you want.
How much does it cost?
This varies a lot, usually depending on the "top-level domain". However, a rough guide is around £5 per year for the cheapest (usually .co.uk) up to £50 per year for some others (e.g. .uk.com).
I already own a domain name
Great! We can transfer the domain to our hosting (you are still the registered owner). Or we can upload your new website to your existing hosting package.
Email addresses
These are dependant on domain names. So if you own the domain www.example.com you can have ' This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ' as an email address - anything, as it suggests can be any word before the ampersand ( @ ). So you can have This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it etc etc. We offer up to 20 email addresses as standard and up to 1,000 if required.
Dont forget...
- We can source domain names on your behalf.
- All domain names are registered in your name (not ours) so you have control.
- Hosting and one domain name are free for the first year if we build your website.