Decide on a registrar for your domain name

Before you decide on a registrar for your domain name, take a minute to see whether the registrar is accredited by ICANN. Talk about your junk e-mail. I get daily e-mails advising me to Lose 40 pounds in 40 days, accept credit cards now, and of course REGISTER MY NAME NOW! The last scam seems to be geared to obtaining my e-mail address for other junk mail lists rather than trying to help me register my Web site. Choosing a registrar (the company that handles the registering of your site name) is as important as choosing the right Web host. You must remember that the Internet is still a little like the Wild West, and that the James gang might be waiting to relieve you of your hard-earned cash. One of the ways to protect yourself is to understand how the registry works (knowledge is power), so read on.

In October of 1998, U.S. government officials decided to expand the domain registration business by breaking up the Network Solutions site (previously the only place that you could register your Web site). This opened up the Web to all kinds of people selling domain names. Before you decide on a registrar for your domain name, take a minute to see whether the registrar is accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers the international governing body for domain names) or is reselling for an official ICANN-accredited registrar. (You’ll have to ask who they register with.) The Accredited Registrar Directory is updated constantly.

Domain parking

Suppose that you’ve come up with a brilliant name for your site and you get really big and famous. Then someone else uses your Web site name but registers it as a .net while yours is a .com. To avoid this situation, when you’re ready to register your site, make sure you register both domains (.com and .net) and park them with your registrar. You can check the owner of any domain name at any of the Web hosting or registrar sites.

Making your personal information private

ICANN requires every registrar to maintain a publicly accessible WHOIS database displaying all contact information for all domain names registered. Interested parties (or fraudsters) can find out the name, street address, e-mail address, and phone number of the owner of the site by running a whois search on the domain name. You can run a whois search by going to whois.net and typing the domain name in question. This information can be useful to spammers who spoof your e-mail address as their return address to cloak their identity, identity thieves, stalkers, and just about anyone up to no good.

Registrars such as Network Solutions offer private registration for an additional $9 a year. Check to see whether your registrar offers this service and how much they charge.

You’ll usually get a substantial discount from the more expensive registrars when you register your domain name for multiple years a good idea if you plan on staying in business. Also, if you register your name through your hosting service, you might be able to cut the price in half! The only drawback is that your prepaid registration might go out the window if you choose to change hosting companies.

If you’re registering a new domain name but already have a site set up with your ISP, you need a feature called URL forwarding. This feature directs any hits to your new domain name from your existing long URL address. Some registrars offer this service, but watch out for hidden surprises, such as a free offer of the service, which means they will probably smack a big fat banner at the bottom of your home page. Your registrar should also have some available tech support. Trying to troubleshoot DNS issues is a job for those who know what they’re doing! Remember, sometimes you get what you pay for.