Search Engine Optimization & Domain Registrations

You domain is the basis for every bit of activity that will take place in and around your web site. On this basis alone do not normally allow any one party to act as more than the registrar. You cannot have a web site of your own (ie belongs to you) without a domain name being registered. You can share hosting of a domain name and many many web sites operate on this principle without the owner knowing it.

I will talk about hosting in the next chapter but for now let me stress that you should always register your domain separately to appointing your host. In other words strongly resist the temptation to let your host register your domain for you even if it does save you money and a bit of hassle. You will soon learn why.

Once you have a domain name registered and assuming you pay your annual renewal fee then that name belongs to you for as long as you want it. In the early days of the web many web names were registered as investments and there is a resale market in domain names.

Today it is difficult to find a short one word domain name worth having especially if you seek a .com registration. The introduction of new top level domains such as .us does allow you to find your domain name of choice but bet your life that people will type .com and not .us for quite some time to come. If this happens your visitor goes to the wrong site.

Domains ending in .org, .edu, .gov are generally used by non-profit organizations, universities and governments respectively. Endings like .co.uk, and .co.za refer to different country domains. Most but not all domains ending in these suffixes reside in that specific country.

You will be able to check for availability of any domain name using the intended registrar who will have a search capability on the home page.

If you intend to have an international presence then go for a .com domain. Think for the future here also. If necessary register the same name with your more local domain type. You will probably find that you pay more for this type of domain.

Earlier in the book I said I belonged to the school that believed the use of an important keyword in a domain name was a bonus. Not everyone does but more and more you see longer domain names with individual words separated by hyphens (minus signs) like one of my mine http://www.practical-water-gardens.com Of course this takes a lot more typing and remembering than yahoo.com but it does tell the surfer something and maybe also the search engine.

You register a domain by finding a registrar who will do all the necessary work for you. The registrar will charge you for a .com anything between $7.95/year and $30/year +. You will not get any more service for paying $30 so I remain amazed that people continue to pay companies charging this amount. The registrar will look after your domain and after 1 year will remind you that the time has arrived to pay the annual renewal fee.

I have provided links to my preferred registrars, which also happen to be lowest cost at the end of the book.

These are the things to look for in a domain registrar:

The name is actually registered in your name including the admin and other contact names required to register.

Some registrars will allow free parking which means they post an under construction sign on your web address until you have posted your actual web site.

• Look for a registrar that offers the ability to manage your own domain through a control panel you can access via a user name and password.

• Upon registration your registrar will send you important information relating to name servers information and other contacts for help and support. Keep this information safe. It will become important later when you look for a host.

• Once your domain is registered all the details used to register will be available publicly to anyone who wants to see these details.

• If you have a problem finding a good domain name try using nameboy.com to help.

Your domain name will normally take between 24 and 72 hours before it has gone through all international channels of promulgation before it can be actually used although the ip address (see hosting chapter) will be available to you earlier through your host.

If ever you want to change a registrar do it before the expiry date comes around or you will find yourself paying the old and new registrar. It normally takes about 48 hours to get the registrar changed.

Quite recently one of my registrars of my .co.za domains decided to increase the renewal fee to $75 (yes, quite ridiculous). I changed the registrar immediately.

I said this earlier but it is so important I will repeat it:

Do not use the domain registrar for hosting your web site. Do not use your web host as your domain registrar If this is the present case with you then make plans to change the status quo now with minimal disruption get the best advice from the new intended registrar or host. However make sure you get confirmation that your sites will NOT go down during the transfer process. Get this in writing.

Do not cancel any existing arrangement until the new one is in operation.