Seeing if a domain name is available and registering it is easy as things have become deregulated with many companies now being able to do this for you.

It used to be all in the control of Network solutions but whilst that remains a major player, many more have now emerged so shop around. Most site hosting companies offer this as part of their package & if you need webspace or forwarding for your site this might be the most cost effective option.

All the reputable companies will check to see if the name is free without asking you for a penny.

Check with a search engine or check any Internet specific computer magazine for a list of agents or hosting services.

You will have to pay 2 things.

The agent will require a fees to the agent (and for any ancillory services such as web forwarding). The domain address regulatory bodies will charge an administration fee although the agent may include this charge. Prices have fallen and vary - our fluffbucket.com domain cost us ~ $70 for 2 years in mid 1999, in 2003 to get www.basicwebresourcesite.co.uk only £1.99 GBP from our host oneandone)

For a small fee many will offer domain address forward (so if someone types in your domain address it will forward to another URL allowing you to use your domain name) and e-mail forwarding.

What to do with your domain

Okay so you've got the domain what now?

Well you can do several things.

Firstly you can pay a site hosting company to provide webspace for your domain on the web. Rates vary and we've another article on this.

Alternatively some registration companies offer web forwarding. This means that if someone types in your domain name they will be forwarded to a webaddress of your choice. This usually is a fairly cheap option and allows you to host your site on free webspace. However it can cause problems if people want to bookmark ceratin pages (often the address doesn't change when they jump between pages). Also if your traffic increases you may begin to see the limitation of your free space

You can do nothing and cyber squat with your domain name. However you run the risk in the future, at best, of having the name taken off you by the regulatory authorities or find yourself being sued by another individual or company wanting that name

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Disclaimer

Please note we do not endorse any companies listed on this site and people using them do so at their own risk and we take no responsibility for any problems that may occur in doing so. (See also legal notices) We strongly advise you look at several different companies

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