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As more domain names are registered, so are more expiring, and all too often
businesses find themselves losing their domain names because they forgot to
renew them. Most domain names are valid for 2 years, and the problem is that
some businesses change their contact details in that time but don't update
their details with their domain registrar. Most registrars will
automatically email you a reminder, but of course if your email address has
changed you may not get the email, and could therefore lose the domain name
if it's not renewed in time.
Is your domain name about to expire?
Check it now at 123-Reg!
Definitions:
1) Domain Name: The bit after the www of your website address e.g.
managedweb.com
2) Registration: Domains names aren't bought - they're effectively rented
for a specific period.
3) Domain Registrar: The company that registers your domain for you.
4) Renewal: After the initial registration period, you need to renew your
registration in order to continue using your domain name.
5) Web forwarding: This allows you to forward visitors to www.yourdomain.com
to another website, for example if you have free web space from your ISP you
want to use.
6) Email forwarding: This allows you to forward emails sent to you@yourdomain.com
to another email address, for example if you have free email from your ISP
you want to use.
7) Cloaking: Most web forwarding services offer two options. The first is
direct forwarding, whereby visitors to your domain are redirected to your
free or other webspace, but the free webspace's domain shows in the location
bar at the top of the screen, e.g www.freehost.com/users/managedweb - not
very pretty and not much point in having paid for a domain name! The other
option is cloaking - this is the same as above, except your paid domain name
remains in the location bar, so visitors effectively don't even know they've
been forwarded to another website.
8) Domain Transfers: If you want to move your domain from one provider to
another, perhaps because the current registrar is too expensive, then you
need to arrange to transfer your domain name. You will need to speak to both
the host you are transferring to, and the company you are transferring from
for the correct procedure as this does vary. Alternatively, please
contact us for assistance.
8) Detagged Domains: A detagged domain is a domain that is no longer
associated with any nameservers - in simple language it's not being used
anymore. A domain will be detagged if for example it's due to be renewed but
the current registrant cannot be contacted. The ISP will then detag the
domain so that they are not serving it anymore. They will then try to
contact the owner to cancel it - this can take a long time and some domains
are still detagged after a year after expiry. Nominet has now implemented
new processes so that domains will be cancelled 90 days after expiry if the
owner cannot be contacted.
Costs:
Costs vary considerably, as do the services you receive with different
registrars. Some service providers may just register the domain and anything
extra costs extra, for example web forwarding or email forwarding.
.uk
domain names should cost no more than £20 for 2 years including email
forwarding. Web hosting is likely to be extra, but you can get a small
amount of webspace plus email forwarding and a free domain name for as
little as £20 per year. UK domains can only be registered for 2 years.
.com domain names should cost no more than £50 for 2 years including email
forwarding. Web hosting is likely to be extra, but you can get a small
amount of webspace plus email forwarding and a free domain name for as
little as £20 per year. Com domains can be registered for up to 10 years.
© Managed Web Ltd 2003.
About Managed Web
Managed Web
provides website maintenance, marketing and management services, including
one-off or regular updates, website support, search engine marketing and
website management. Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at
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www.managedweb.com for more information. |