
Domains Names - Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked
questions about domain names which will hopefully clarify any outstanding
questions that you may have about registering a domain name. If you have any
further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best
to answer your questions.
What is a domain name?
A domain name
is a unique address on the Internet which holds information and services,
for example penguin-uk.com and google.com. It can be thought of as your
personal address on the Internet.
What would a
domain name provide me?
A domain name
would provide you or your business lots of facilities. It can give you
personalized email addresses, a personal Web site (allowing you to take
advantage of all the Web has to offer, including e-commerce, advertising,
global sales etc), and lots more.
How can I buy
a domain name?
You cannot
actually buy a domain name - you can only register a domain
name. A few authorized companies around the world have taken the job of
delegating domains names for use. The process of acquiring the use of a
domain name is called ‘registering’ a domain.
What are the
different types of domains for?
UK domain
names: any name ending with .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .plc.uk and .ltd.uk
(e.g. www.domainname.co.uk)
US domain
names: any name ending with .com, .org and .net (e.g. www.domainname.com).
These are also known as gTLD's or global top level domains.
UK and US
domain names have the same standing. US domain names used to be perceived as
the ‘standard’, but UK domain names are now held with the same regard.
Many domain types originally had
specific intended uses, for example .org and .org.uk for organisations, .me.uk
for personal domains, .com for companies, etc. This is not always adhered to
now and is not enforced in any way and so you may generally choose a domain
name for any purpose that you wish.
How do I
choose my domain name?
First of all
you will need to decide what you need the domain name for, and then choose a
relevant name. (e.g. companyname.com). PCS recommend that you register both
the UK and US version of your domain name, if available. This will prevent
visitors of your domain name confusing you with another company, who may
later purchase a similar version of your domain name.
You may also
want to consider registering other variants of your domain name, including
hyphens, abbreviations etc. (e.g. company-name.co.uk). This will help in
promoting your Internet presence.
Once you have
decided upon a domain name, you should perform a ‘lookup’ on the name. A
‘lookup’ tells you whether the domain name is free for registration. If the
domain is already registered, then you will not be able to use us to
register it.
Where can I
perform a 'domain lookup'?
For all of the
domain name types that we register, you can perform a lookup on the domains
page of our website.
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