DNS - Domain Name Server

This is the system that converts your websites ip address to a name that we can easily remember. Your site may reside at place like 192.168.0.256 but that is a difficult number to remember and it really sucks for advertising. So you make up something like MYBUSINESS.COM. The domain name servers will tell your computer to go to 192.168.0.256 when you type in "mybusiness.com". Sort of the internet's own 411 system.

Since you made up the name, you will need to register it with one of the authorized companies to manage domains.

The first rule of internet domains is "Location Location and Location". The name should be short and simple, avoid hyphens or numbers. If you get 4sale.com people will assume it is forsale.com which is another businesses website and you would be advertising for them for free.

You want a ".com" if at all possible. There are too many extensions to list but most people are only aware of ".com". If you get something like mybusiness.biz, it would be confusing and most people do not take non-dotcom addresses seriously. You would be better off with a name like myfloridabusiness.com. It is longer, but automatically recognizable and the first step to making money with your website.

Once you have chosen a name, you will need to register it.

Registration are anual fees just like registering your car. If you fail to pay for it next year, you loose it. So make sure you stay on top of the payments. Fees range from $8.95 to $35.00/year depending on which registrar you use.

Since they all buy from the same source and the registrar is simply a reseller for the governing body, it's often wise to buy at the lower price. But not always. You will need to be able to access the domain registrar and choosing "Joe's Internet Domains" could be a problem is Joe closes or his dog chews on the cable of his walmart server running in his garage.

You may opt to pay more for a domain registration if the domain is important to you. But there are pleanty of good options such as pageBuzz Domain Sales for only $8.95.

pageBuzz resells domains for GoDaddy.com, one of the largest registrars. So even if pageBuzz closes, your domain is managed by the bigger company. The advantage of pageBuzz Domain Sales is that you can deal with a small mom and pop shop for domain help and still have the security of the domain at a huge and stable registrar.

You can buy all the domains you want for $8.95 each and have them hosted at any company. Since most companies charge much more for domain registration, many people choose to register the domains with us.

By default, all domains will point to our dns servers. So if you plan to host with us, you are set to go. However, if you plan to host at an alternate company, you will need to login and update the name servers so your hosting company can manage the requests.

It may be a little work to register the domain, but you get complete control and are never dependant on your website host.