Registering a Domain Name
Why and how to register an Internet domain name for your organization.
What is a domain name?
If you're reading this online, you're already familiar with Internet domain names perhaps without even knowing it. An Internet domain name is essentially the unique, "user friendly" name for each machine connected to the Internet; they make it easy to keep track of people, organizations and businesses who use these machines for email, the World Wide Web and other Internet services. In email addresses, the domain name is everything after the "@" symbol in an address (i.e. in "stevea@onenw.org", "onenw.org" is our domain name). In web addresses, domain names usually found after the "www", as in "www.onenw.org." Again, "onenw.org" is the domain name. These friendly names mask a more complex numbering system used to keep track of the hundreds of thousands of machines on the Internet.
Domain names, like street addresses, are unique; each machine has a unique name that no other machine on the Internet can use. To keep all these domain names straight, they are managed by an organization in Virginia known as Network Solutions. Network Solutions maintains a large database listing all the domain names currently registered by companies, non-profits, educational institutions, etc.
Why should I register a domain name for my organization?
Two important reasons. First, registering a domain name enables you to establish a recognizable presence in cyberspace that you can use for your Web site (www.myorganization.org) and for email addresses (myname@myorganization.org). This helps people find and recognize you on the Internet, and helps establish the online identify of your organization. Second, having your own domain allows you to "move" your Internet presence to another Internet service provider without having to change your email or Web address on business cards, letterhead, and other materials. If you find a better service provider, it is fairly easy to move your information to the new provider's server and arrange for all inquiries to your domain (emails and Web browsings) to go to this new machine. This portability in a time of ever-changing Internet rates and services makes sense for groups that are planning to be online for the duration. Again, Domain names must be unique, and they are being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis by Network Solutions. Even if your organization is not ready to make the leap to individual email accounts for every staff member and to the World Wide Web, registering a domain now that clearly reflects the name of your organization will prevent others from "taking" this name later. As an example, if another organization had already secured "onenw.org" as their domain, we may have been forced to select "onenorthwest.org" or "1northwest" as our domains. Still workable, but not as easy to work with.
How do I register a domain name? How much does it cost?
Domain names are administered locally by Internet service providers (i.e. the company that provides you with your email account and/or Web site), who work directly with Network Solutions. To register your domain, do the following:
- Select a domain name that closely matches the name of your
organization or is otherwise easy to recognize as representing your
organization. Shorter domain names are generally better (saves on
keystrokes!). For example, when we registered a domain for
ONE/Northwest, we selected the domain name "onenw.org".
- To see if anyone has already claimed that domain as their own, go
to GKG.net and
check your proposed name. Type in your preferred domain name
("enviro.org", for example) and hit the search key. If it returns a
match, you're out of luck: someone else has already registered that
name. "No match" means that the name has not been taken, and it is
probably yours to register.
- Register your domain name with GKG.net (cost is ~$9/year).
- You'll need to also establish web/email hosting service with a high-quality web/email hosting provider. If you aren't ready to "go live" with a website and email, then you can "park" your domain name with GKG for next-to-nothing.
