If you're establishing yourself on the Internet, not only will your domain name form a key part of your organization's online identity, it may also count substantially among the company's assets. You obtain a domain name through a domain name registrar, and until recently that meant visiting Network Solutions at www.internic.net (the Web site hosted by Network Solutions for the Department of Commerce).
The past year, however, has seen the introduction of so many new registrars that choosing one can be baffling. By no means are these registrars interchangeable. Shopping around to get the best service, the best deals, and the best contract pays off. The variations are enormous, and what you're getting for your money isn't always clear. The purpose of this article is not to recommend one registrar over another but to highlight the differences among a limited number of registrars in order to help you learn what to look for.
Domain Names and Top-level Domains
Domain names put a friendly face on hard-to-remember numeric Internet addresses. Every computer on the Internet has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) number. A domain name represents one IP number or more. For example, the IP number for the domain name pcmag.com is 126.96.36.199, and the number for whitehouse.gov is 188.8.131.52. The whole purpose is to give users an easy-to-remember handle so that when sending an e-mail to, let's say, the President of the United States, you can type email@example.com instead of the more unwieldy firstname.lastname@example.org.
Anyone can buy a domain name. To do so, you visit the Web site of a domain name registrar, tell the registrar the name you want to buy, and pay a fee. You can't buy just any domain name, of courseonly one that isn't already registered and that bears a valid domain suffix. The suffix identifies the name as belonging to a specific top-level domain (TLD). As of late October, 2000, when this article was written, only three TLDs were available for general purchase: .com, .org, and .net. The most popular of these by far is .com, which is supposed to indicate commercial sites but in reality has come to include almost everything. The .org TLD stands for organization and denotes a nonprofit group, while .net stands for network and is supposed to include organizations that are concerned primarily with Internet networking itself. But in practice, .net is often used when the desired .com name isn't available, or by companies that offer network-based services and products.
Actually, a fourth type of TLD is available. You can register a domain name as being geographically situated in a specific country. A Japanese site will often have the .jp suffix, for example, and .us indicates a U.S. domain. Some domain name registrars let you buy these domains as well, although country-code domains (as these two-character domains are termed) frequently have a single legitimate registrar.
You may encounter a few other TLDs. Educational institutions (especially in the United States) use .edu, government agencies use .gov and military organizations use .mil. Organizations established by international treaties and sites that contain international databases use .int (see RFC 1591 at www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1591.txt). Each of these domains, however, has its own registration system, which is not available to unqualified persons or institutions.
As you might expect, the problem with the domain name system is that domain names are running out. Almost anything worth owning, particularly in the .com TLD, is already owned. For that reason, ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (www.icann.org), has agreed to begin releasing new TLDs, a few at a time. (ICANN is a private-sector not-for-profit organization that, under a U.S. government contract, controls domain names.) The initial additions were made public too late to include in this article, but you can find them in our late-close Pipeline section (page 71).
That hasn't stopped newor, more appropriately, seemingly newTLDs from appearing, however. Over the past year, for example, the TLDs .ws (Website), .tv (television), .cc, and .to (which are supposed to be like .com) have become available for registration. In reality, these four are simply country codes that formerly belonged to Samoa, Tuvalu, the Cocos Islands, and Tonga, respectively. In the case of .tv, the country of Tuvalu reached an agreement with dotTV, a Pasadena, California, company, that gives dotTV the exclusive right to register domain names with the .tv extension. For this right, Tuvalu will collect a minimum of $4 million per year.
Finding a Registrar
The easiest way to get a list of registrars is to go to Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) and type domain name registration into the Search field. Click the Search button and you'll see a good starting list. Among the entries here is a link (labeled Web Directory: Domain Name Registries Around the World) to an extremely helpful Norwegian site at www.norid.no/domreg.html, which offers links to registrars of all available TLDs. The most useful link from the Yahoo! search results page is the Domain Registration link, which takes you to http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/
Domain_Registration/. (Note that, given the Web's nature, these links may have changed by the time you read this.)
You needn't go to a dedicated registration service to get a domain name, though. For example, Web hosting services (also called Web presence providers) routinely offer a registration mechanism as part of the sign-up process. In most cases, you use this mechanism to check for the availability of your desired domain name which, if untaken, is registered with a registrar, typically Network Solutions.
Increasingly, however, hosting services have been offering a free domain name when you sign up for a Web-hosting plan. For example, all of TodaysWebHost's hosting plans (www.todayswebhost.com) give you a domain name at no charge if you sign up for a minimum of six months. You can also become a reseller, selling Web hosting packages through your account and receiving a discount on the domain names your customers register. Many other hosting services provide similar registration features.
Keep in mind, however, that free domain names are usually free only for one or two years, after which the registrar will bill you for the annual or biennial fee. In other words, the provider of the free domain name pays only for the first billing from the registrar. Also take note of whether or not the provider charges a fee for setting up a domain name. Most services offer to transfer an existing domain name to their servers at no cost, but sometimes you'll find a setup fee over and above the registrar's fee. Some good deals are available: 1FreeDomains (www.1FreeDomains.com), for example, will pay the recurring registration fees if you purchase a Web hosting plan. Typically, though, you should study any "free" domain offer with skepticism.
When you shop for a registrar, you should pay attention to a number of details, including:
Accreditation: Among other duties, ICANN bears the responsibility of accrediting would-be domain registrars. To become accredited, a registrar must submit an application (found at www.icann.org/registrars/accreditation-application.htm), and, once accepted, must sign an accreditation agreement (located at www.icann.org/nsi/icann-raa-04nov99.htm). Furthermore, the registrar pays application and annual fees to ICANN and also to Network Solutions, the company that maintains the central registry of domain names through which all other registrars add their names. The point of seeking an accredited registrar is to ensure that your chosen domain name is officially part of the Internet. ICANN maintains a list of accredited domain name registrars at www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html. Many registration sites simply act as resellers for accredited registrars. $10 Domains (www.10-domains.com) sells for Parava Networks (www.parava.com), for example.
Contract: We'd all like to think that, once bought, a domain name is ours forever and under all circumstances. This is not necessarily the case. Be absolutely certain to research what you're getting before you pay. The contract you sign with the registrar could affect you in a number of ways. Many registrars reserve the right to revoke your domain name for specific reasons, typically if you use the domain for illegal purposes or purposes deemed unacceptable (such as spamming). Many contracts contain a clause letting the registrar delete your domain name for no apparent reason. (NSI's contract contains language to that effect.) The implication, of course, is that the domain name is the registrar's, not yours. Furthermore, practically all registrars reserve the right to make changes to the registration agreement whenever they wish and without letting you know. Others, such as N@meIT (www.nameit.net), clearly state that you don't own your domain name, your registrar does. The point is that every registrar needs to be checked out carefully.
Price: Buying a .com, .net, or .org domain name has long cost $35 per year from Network Solutions, originally payable for a two-year period only. Many registrars continue to use the $35 price guideline, although you can find significantly cheaper prices today. Anywhere from $10 to $35 will get you one of these domains, with some registrars offering discounts for multiple names. Occasionally you might find that a registrar will offer a discount on the .net and .org versions of the .com name you've just registered, but this is rare. Pricing for other TLDs varies widely. For a .tv name, you'll pay anywhere from $50 all the way up to $1 million. (Do a search for www.sex.tv at www.tv.) Names with the .ws suffix (see www.ws) range from $35 per year for a four-letter name to $1,000 per year for a three-letter name and $2,500 per year for two letters.
Duration: Registrars offer a wide variety of registration durationsone year, three, five, and even ten. Be careful about registering for more than a year, though. First, there might be restrictions on your ability to transfer the domain name should the registrar give poor service. Second, the registrar could go out of business, leaving your domain name unhosted (domains are hosted on the registrar's DNS servers). Once again, check the policies closely.
Delay: Even when you register and pay for your domain name, you won't necessarily be able to use the name for several hours or even a few days. NSI has to update the official registry with the DNS information first. Check your registrar's site to determine how long you'll have to wait. Some registrars promise to have the name up nearly immediately, but the delay can be up to seven days. Typically, though, you should expect to see the name functional on the Net within 48 hours.
Domain transfer: You can transfer your domain name from one service to another. You'll want to do this if you're not satisfied with your current domain hosting service, if you find a better deal when your current registration is coming due, or, most likely, if you've signed up with a Web hosting service that will also transfer your name to its site. Expect to get the transfer for free. If you don't, look around for another hosting service (but make sure you get the hosting you want). Under no circumstances should you pay more to transfer a name than to get a new one. Check what the transfer will require. Does the new service handle the task completely? Or do you have to go into your current registrar's site and change the technical details manually (a tedious chore at best)? Finally, check the transfer policy of the registrar before registering your domain name. Typically you can't transfer a name during the first 60 days after registration, but the period could be much longer. Don't expect any registrar to refund money you've paid for months of service you won't use. If, however, you have 1FreeDomains (www.1FreeDomains.com) host your Web site and you transfer your domain name, the company will refund your InterNIC fees.
Help in choosing names: If you're having trouble finding a domain name, check for a help facility on each registrar's site. Some sites offer a search engine that returns a listing of available names similar to the one you want. Other sites have a full-blown name-invention system. When you search for a domain name on register.com, for example, you get both the status of that name and a list of suffixes available for that name. Search for bigspeakers.com and you may see that the .com, .net, .org, and .cc versions of the name are taken, but the .tv and .ws versions are not. In addition, register.com generates a list of names that contain the word bigspeakersaboutbigspeakers.com and mybigspeakers.com, for example. This sort of information is obviously very useful.
A Closer Look
To help you get an idea of what working with a registrar is like, over the course of a week we registered new domain names with five different registrars. We encountered a wide variety of interfaces, prices, regulations, and conditions. These are five out of many, many registrars, of course, but what follows will give you an idea of the range of choices.
Network Solutions (www.nsi.com). Still referred to as InterNIC, the granddaddy of domain name registrars remains one of the registration services of choice. The company has used its extensive experience to build a site with very good tools to get you started and information about a wide number of issues. Note that, even though the cost for a domain name is listed as $35 per year, it's actually $40 if you let NSI supply the full technical details such as DNS server names.
Network Solutions offers registration of country-code domain names and non-English names as well as discounts for registering more than 100 domain names at the same time. In addition, the company provides Web hosting (at exorbitant prices), e-commerce services, and small-business resources. Transfers are also exorbitant, at $195 per domain. Finding your way around the Web site is a bit trying, but all in all this remains a decent place to start.
Register.com. Register.com impresses right on its home page with an up-front invitation to register .tv, .ws, and .cc domain names, as well as a variety of country codes. A service called Domain Fast Find helps you put together a convincing domain name if your searches don't bear fruit. Simply type in the domain name you have in mind and, in the event that the searched-for name is already taken, the service presents you with a variety of similar names. Domain names cost $35 per year for .com, .org, and .net, with varying prices for country-code names. Transfers cost the same.
You can build a small (three-page) Web site for your domain at no extra cost using a nice little design system called FirstStepSite. Other hosting plans are available through links to affiliates. When using the site, you'll often find yourself getting information you didn't want instead of information you did, but for the most part Register.com is a complete and useful service.
Dotster (www.dotster.com). Dotster is an example of the kind of extensive services cropping up now that domain registration is no longer a one-organization process. You can register a name for $15 per year for up to 10 years (no discount for multiple years), and if you don't have a Web-hosting service for your new domain yet, you can "park" your domain on the service's Futurehome page. This gives you a home page telling visitors that the domain name is taken and the site is being developed. You can register up to 300 domain names at one time, and Dotster emphasizes its affiliates program through which you become a reseller of names. The NameSpin feature helps you create a domain name from scratch. If you already have an account on Dotster, you can register names quickly: The details are taken from your account. Transfers are not specially priced, but considerable help is available on the site to assist you in the process. This is a strong service as a whole, with a fairly intuitive interface.
000 Domains (www.000domains.com). 000 Domains is a domain name reseller for Tucows. It offers names at $13.50 per year, and you can register for up to ten years. Transferring a domain costs $13.50 as well, but the fee adds a year onto the expiration date as set by your current registrar. The domain name search provides little in the way of alternatives; the service handles only .com, .net, and .org TLDs. However, the reseller's terms clearly state that the domain name is yours, with 000 Domains.com listed only as a technical contactclearly a good thing. You really can get good deals with resellers, so this type of service is worth seeking out. As long as the service registers your domain properly with an ICANN-accredited registrar, you shouldn't encounter any difficulties.
Signature Domains (www.signaturedomains.com). Signature Domains is unusual among both ICANN-accredited registrars and resellers in its offer of discounts for multiyear and multiname registration. A single domain name costs $32.50 for one year, then drops to $30 per year for two years and $27 for five. Registering five names drops the rates to $27.50 each for two years, $26 each for five years, and $25 per domain for ten yearsnot huge savings, but the idea is right. Transfers cost $60, which seems a lot, but this fee both transfers the name and adds two years onto the name's current expiration date. There are no Web hosting services available directly from the site, but for domain names this service is well worth a look.