A domain name, also called a web address or URL, is the way people will find your site. This address is used in advertising and business cards.

Domain name registration is performed by a company called a registrar. There are several registrars on the internet, with names like Network Solutions, GoDaddy, Register.com, and more. We use 000domains.com, since they have a good price, great support, and share our vision of superior customer service.

Please note that you do not own the domain name -- you are leasing it. Every year, you must pay a fee to continue to control that domain name. If you don't pay the fee, the domain name will eventually be back on the market for purchase.

When registering a domain name, you are asked for some simple contact information. This includes four types of contact information:

• Owner/Administrator: This is the key contact information in the domain name, and it should be your information, not your web designer's. This is the point of contact that allows domain name to change ownership, renew, or move to a new web host.
• Technical: This should be your web designer's contact information, or on occasion, your web host's contact information.
• Billing: This information should coincide with the credit card used to register or renew a domain name.

Once registered, you will need to specify a host for the domain name. The host will provide you with domain name server (DNS) information. This is the host information you'll need to link with the domain name. It allows the domain name to point to your hosting account.

You can register a domain name for a year, two years, or as long as 10 years. We recommend purchasing for a year at a time. Domain name prices have dropped significantly over the last 3 years; we expect this trend to continue.

If you register the domain name yourself, you should receive a username and password for accessing your domain name account. Do not lose this information. This is critical to renewing the domain name, changing the hosting provider, and proving that you are the owner of the domain name.

If your web designer purchases the domain name, they should keep track of the username and password for you. To be safe, you may want to keep this information on file yourself. On occasion, web designers are reluctant to provide this information to clients. If you are trying to switch web designers, the information may be very difficult to get at that time, so get it as soon as the name is registered and keep it on file for later.