Domain Tips

I have a domain name how do I start to build a website around it

2009-12-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

So you have registered a domain name, now what ?

In case you don’t know what a domain name is and how to register it, see here and here.

Technically, if you have your website designed, which is a set of some files structured in some way, put those files in a computer and point your domain to this computer.

This is where web hosting providers come, these providers provide you the computer ( or server) space where you can keep your web design files.

How to point your Domain name to the web host ?

It is actually very easy. When you sign up for any web hosting provider, some data they will provide after you sign up like your loginid, password and Name Servers.
This Name Server info is what you are looking for when you are going to point your domains to your website.

Name Server info consists two parts –

The Name of the Name server – like ns1.namecheap.com
And the ip address – like 72.231.87.97

Typically they will provide two name server info instead of one. (One is primary and other as a backup so that if the first one fails, your website could still be accessible)

So after getting this info, you login to your domain administration panel & change your name servers to those that your web host has provided.

Typically after doing this, your website will be online after 15 minutes or half an hour.
Here is a video of changing name servers if you have purchased you domain from namecheap.com, for oter registrers, the process ois almost the same –

How to transfer a Domain name ?

2009-12-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

The first rule is, you must transfer the domain 7 days before expiry of that domain.

The second rule is you have to provide an authorization code to the new registrar which will be emailed to you by the first registrar upon your request.

You must also ensure that the domain is not locked to transfer in the registrar from whom you are transferring.

That’s all.

And for your information, most registrar will make the transfer free of cost if you are transferring domain names to them.

How to backorder a Domain name ?

2009-12-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I know and you know very well that an iceberg reveals only 1/11 of it’s total mass upon water. You can only see very little when you see an iceberg floating.

That is indeed true while backordering a domain name.

It does not really expires when it dies, that’s true.

Imagine you have found out just the perfect domain name for your use and also found out that it expires in 15 days. Assuming that the registrant might not renew it ( a guess only), you have a hope. Now, the domain registrar (like Godaddy, namecheap to name a few) says you can backorder it for $18.95. So you are now the happiest person in the world and you backorder the domain for the amont specified and you live happily ever after.

YOU SIMPLY DON’T

Listen the truth, you may have to pay $1000 (that’s a rough estimate . Actually you might pay much higher or lower.to actually snatch the domain.)

The story - Death of domain (and may be the resurrection)

Each & every domain expiers after a certain period. The domain you buy will be yours for 1 year to maximum 10 years depending upon the what you have chosen during registration.
From the date of expiry, the domain will remain in a grace period for 40 days. In this period, nobody can buy this domain for themselves and you can only renew it for the same fee that you have registered.

After 40 days, the domain enters in a “redemption” period for 30 days into which you can reregister the domain but you have to pay some extra fee to your registrar (depends on registrar but minimum is $100).

After the redemption period, the domain enters in “deletion” phase for 5 days, in this time all records of the domain is deleted from the internet registry and the domain is again available for register.

So, a domain is available to register again after 75 days from its expiry, Oh my GOD !!

So if I can register the domain after 75 days, why should I backorder the domain with so much extra money ?

Yes, you are right, but there is another story. The domain just expired is released by Verisign (who controls .com domain names) everyday for three hours period. It is called “The Drop”. And there are many players who are playing during this time for registering domains.

So if you are not trying to register a name which you think does not have a fair competition, you may try and snatch it, But who knows.

So here comes the backordering process in which you try to secure that domain by the big brothers. And there are big brothers in this market, such as Snapnames.com, Enom.com, and Pool.com

So you try to backorder that domain from one of them, and let’s see what happens –

They all try to give you the domain name but all have a bidding system. But you never know who the other bidder and what their bid is. So if you pay minimal fee to backorder it, you might miss it. So based on fair guess and their subsequent update about bidding process, you might have to increase your bid and may be one day you will be the proud owner of that domain.

But who knows !!

How to register a domain name without revealing personal information?

2009-12-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

Many people don’t want to reveal their personal information about the ownership of their domain. It is perfectly logical and makes sense. Any people who want to know the ownership of a particular domain may do so by doing a WHOIS search. A Whois search is simply the search in internet domain database returning the ownership information of the domain.

But one must provide the ownership information while purchasing a new domain. It is impossible to purchase a domain name without providing that information. As per ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) policy, one must provide valid address, phone no. & email address else there is always a risk of losing the domain ownership.

So, the solution of this problem is WhoisGuard or a procedure of ID protect.

This service is provided by many domain registrars with very small fee. For example, Namecheap provides the whois guard service with following facility –

They provide your information in Whois so that yours is safe.
You retain full control of the domain. You can enable or disable WhoisGuard when ever you want.
They provide a new email address so that every email that is sent to that address is forwarded to an email address of your choice.
They provide an option to change the email address in a specified interval to cut down more spam.
Their phone number and fax number are listed in Whois so you don't get unsolicited calls or faxes.
They will forward any regular mails either through regular mail or through email as a scanned copy.

Remember to turn off WhoisGuard before transferring your domain to another registrar as they will need your real information at the time of the transfer.

How to find cheap domain name ?

2009-12-02T01:10:00.000-08:00

You should check Godaddy’ s offer from time to time. For example , just for now-
$1.99 with any non-domain purchase.

What this means is that you may need web hosting or many other services (like Domain Privacy, Whois Guard etc.) In this case you can get a domain for $1.99 only instead of $10.69 standard price.

Or you can use Namecheap for a new domain purchase for $9.69 only. Which saves you $1 if you want to purchase domain name only,nothing else.

Or if you are really low in budget, buy the cheapest .info domain for less than $1 from any of them.

However, Cheap is always not good, if you are creating your organizations website or establishing your online brand then don’t go for .info.

Go for .com instead.

What is the Procedure to do domain registration?

2009-12-01T03:31:00.000-08:00

Its pretty simple actually. I thought picture speaks a thousands times more than words, so here is a detailed video for this. I have used Namecheap for domain name registration and believe me they have the most user friendly site while purchasing a new domain name or administering a purchased domain. So here comes domain name registration procedure from www.namecheap.com –

You can now purchase a new domain name from Namecheap. Click the banner below -

What is a domain and what does a domain registration company do?

2009-12-01T02:59:00.000-08:00

My father is a pretty old guy and really scared of the INTERNET. He has done his office jobs in pen and paper all his life. Recently I think some of his friends were pretty intrigued by the rise of the all encompassing internet and they started to ask questions. They know that for any website you have to type some sort of name like www.thewebiste .com or www.thewebsite.net in your internet browser. Now their question is what the heck the name is ? Is there any rule for them or we can write anything we like ?

So on one Sunday morning at breakfast table , my father asked – “What is a domain and what does a domain registration company do?”

I gave him the best answer I could. Meanwhile, I think many of you guys having same question popping up in your belly. So here is the detail answer for this –

What is the domain name ?

Domain name is name of a website just like the name of any person you know.

The .com, .net, .org are like surname which denotes in which family this domain belongs to –

Here is what the surnames means –

.com is for websites that is existing for commercial reason.
.net is mainly for technology related websites.
.org is for non profit organizations.
.gov for Government organizations and so on…..

There are many surnames. In domain language they are called Top Level Domains – (TLDs).

This does not mean that an commercial company cannot register (or book ) a .org domain. In fact one campany I know did not knew this differences and booked a .org domain for their website. Later they knew it and changed immediately.

There are also domains like .co.in,co.uk. They are called Country Code Top Level Domain (CCTLDs).

Now What is the purpose of these names ? Why the heck they exists ?

It is to help us find websites very easily. Suppose you have remember each of your office staffs or each member of your community with a sixteen digit number like 3452674555456431. Can you do it ? Maybe you can but It is indeed impossible for me. Instead I would remember them by their name – So here are you John? How are you David ? Sound simple, right ?

But for each of us some kind of number exists to identify us, just look at your library card no. or your Income Tax identification no.

So there is also some 16 digit no. exists for each website, it is called ip address.
Just like previous analogy, it is much simpler to remember them by their name like www.google.com. If you have to remember a sixteen digit name for each of the website you visit, just imagine who would use internet, only Einstein may be !!

Ok, I understand, but what does a domain registration company do ?

They has the right to register domain name for whoever wishes to register a domain name for him or his organization to represent themselves in the World Wide Web, aka Internet.

When somebody purchases a domain name through them , it is registered with ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers , below is the reason why they exists –

“To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet.”

Follow the link to find out ICANN accredited registrars in your country -

The registrars charge some money (usually $6- $10) annually for their service.

That’s all for today Folks, see ya next time.