Choosing a Registrar and Registering Domain Name

There are many choices available for registering a domain name. However before you choose you need to be familiar with what types of service are provided and what you will need.

Firstly a domain name is an address. A domain name is not a mailbox or a website! Once you've purchased a domain name you need to link it to a website and/or mailbox. 

So when purchasing a domain name from a registrar you need to find out if it includes any of the following in the price or are they extra.

a) website and/or email forwarding.
b) website hosting.
c) pop3 mailboxes and/or Webmail.

To access email sent to your email address you will either need to forward that email to an existing mailbox (see email forwarding) or have it sent directly to a mailbox .

Account Management

Whether you are going to use email forwarding, Webmail, POP3 etc you should also take into account how easy the registrar makes it to configure and reconfigure your domain name. Most use a web control panel interface.

You should check if there are any extra charges for configuration/reconfiguration. For example let's assume that you've been using email forwarding from ask@johndoe.name to askjohn@hotmail.com and have now decided to use a yahoo account askjohn@Yahoo.com.

Can you make the change yourself? How easy is it? Do you have to pay extra. These are the things you should be aware of when deciding on a domain registrar.

Using the Registrar to Host your Website/Mailbox

If you currently don't have a mailbox/ website then I would choose the package from the domain name registrar. I wouldn't choose to register the domain name with one company and host it with a different one, unless I had already, for some reason, purchased one or the other.

Registering the Domain Name

This process is relatively straightforward. You will need to supply credit card and contact details. What is important to remember is that registration is usually for a fixed period (1 year being common). After that period you will need to pay your fee again to renew your domain name.

Because it is easy to forget I would always choose a supplier that auto-renews unless cancelled.

	Web www.oeupdates.com

Related Articles:

• My own email address
• How to get and create your own email address
• Choosing and registering your email domain name
• Mailboxes and Mailbox Locations
• Web Based Email
• Domain names