To view a website a person has to type in its domain name or Uniform Resource Locater (usually shortened to URL) This address is a phrase, or sometimes a word, that is descriptive of the business concerned or of the content of the site. There are companies that specialize in dealing in cheap domain names and hosting companies that regularly offer no charge domain names, but there is an essential difference between the two. You can get a second level domain name from companies, but from a free web host you are usually restricted to a third level domain.
To access a third level domain the hosting company’s domain name must be included. A third level domain name is that the name is long and often tricky to recall which can be a big problem with them. Buying a new domain name will get around this difficulty. Cheap domain name companies are all competing with each other to offer you a good deal, so you can easily buy cheap domain names.
The usual price range for a cheap domain name is from free up to seven dollars. If the free domain name that is offered is worth anything then the hosting company making this offer will usually only make it available as part of a web hosting bundle – so the ‘free’ domain name still has a price. There is no need to get a web site hosting package if you purchase a separate paid for domain name. Paid for domain names are available for upwards of one dollar.
The registration process does not distinguish the price you pay for the domain – the overall method is the same, whether it is a cheap domain name or not. When purchasing a domain name, checking that it is still available for purchase is the first step. To find out if the desired name is still available then a customer will enter the name into an appropriate text box and select the extension wanted. The page will then tell them is the domain name is taken or not, if it is then they can purchase it, if not they will have to decide on a different name. Suggested alternatives will often be offered if the desired domain name is already in use.
Cheap domain names unfortunately come with some disadvantages – if the company is dishonest then the customer may never receive their requested domain name at all. Wait for the domain to activate. “This will take up to a week” is what these companies will tell their customers. Unfortunately a customer usually finds that they have discovered an unscrupulous company when their e-mails to customer services, explaining that their domains are still inactive, go unanswered.
A person will want to ensure that the cheap domain name company isn’t fraudulent – a good first step here is to check with the Better Business Bureau to see if the company is registered. The organization that makes sure registered businesses are operating legitimately is the Better Business Bureau. A second step to making sure that a business is not fraudulent is to make sure they the cheap domain name company has the usual land based address and phone number. Thirdly, visit some message boards that cater to webmasters and see if the company has a bad reputation there.
Of course, if no one has an opinion to offer you may want to take that as a warning and stay away. If the company you are considering is reputable then there is no other disadvantage to getting a cheap domain name with them. The way that domain names work takes no account of how much they cost, so if a person can get cheap domain names through a legitimate company then they should take advantage of it.
Click here for more on cheap domain names …
Leave A Reply (No comments So Far)
No comments yet