Domain names

Computime can register your domain name on your behalf, & have it up & running usually within 48 hours, enabling you to have your own email addresses ie: you@yourcompany.co.uk, sales @your company.co.uk etc.

Why your website must have an active domain name?

How would you react to this letter in your post?

"Dear Sir,

We are sorry to advise you that we are no longer trading as your ISP and your web site name, 'www.localisp/~business/retail/videorecorderland.co.uk,' is no longer active".

Consider the effect this would have on your business. Think of all the locations where your URL is recorded, both:

• Online - with customers, adverts, search engines and all the web sites that link to yours, and;
• Offline - your company stationery, business cards, letterheads, envelopes, newspaper ads, brochures, shipping labels, catalogs, etc.

All these contacts are now LOST to you - they will visit your site only to be met by the 'URL not recognised' error message.

So can this be avoided? Yes, you can have a name which NEVER changes. This domain name is a unique name which will always be owned by you, independent of whatever ISP you use for broadband, email or web hosting.

Choosing a good domain name

If this alone was the only benefit of a domain name it would still be a MUST for any business. But there are many more advantages and it is therefore imperative that a good domain is chosen and retained.

Here are the key elements of a good domain name:

• It should convey effectively the nature of your business - A name such as golfnews.co.uk will immediately give the reader an idea of what the site contains, with no further description. It will also be easy to recall from memory at a later time.  But, a warning, you must also plan ahead for any future diversity. Suppose you then decide to provide news about other sporting activities. It would make no sense to set up new names such as:  boxing.golfnews.co.uk.  The name of your site should be generic in order to allow for future variation. If you had chosen the more general "sportsnews.com" this gives you the flexibility to add:   boxing.sportsnews.co.uk golf.sportsnews.co.uk tennis.sportsnews.co.uk
• It should be easy to remember and to spell - Can you recall the web address at the start of this page? I doubt it. (It was www.localisp/~business/videorecorderland.co.uk.) It is far easier for people to remember a shorter, more punchy name such as VCRworld.co.uk.  Think of the situations when you need to convey the spelling of your URL. It could be in spoken format (during a conversation, a phone call, in your voice mail) or printed format (on all your stationery). You want to make it as easy as possible for your customer to record it and to recall it later and, hopefully, to communicate it to others.  You need to avoid a name that is too long or mixing 'I' with '1'
• Choose the right domain TLD suffix - The domain  TLD suffix is the bit at the end of a domain name such as .com .net or .co.uk.  The aforementioned 3 are the most popular but it is important to choose the one most appropriate to your business.  As a guideline, .com is for International companies (however this has an American bias), .net is more for ISP and .org is for non-profit organisations.  For UK companies, it is advisable to have a .uk domain name as this will help search engines identify your country of origin.

Benefits of a good domain name

• Portability - A domain name means that you are free to move to a different web host or ISP and leave the name unchanged.  The underlying services such as hosting and email can be provided by another company,  A good domain name can also be used for multiple business services or allow a company to branch out into new markets.
• Professional image for your company - Would you feel comfortable about ordering goods offline from a company based at:  Flat 4a, Dodgy Street, Cheaptown.  Or about sending an order online to an Email address of perkins23@localisp.co.uk, where there is no way of finding any information about the company such as the postal address.  Think of the credibility it lends to your company to have a name based on the business: contrast this to a cheap sounding name possibly hosted on a free site.
• Ease of use for your customer - A well chosen domain name will be shorter to enter into a browser and easier to say over the phone or appear on a business card. In addition a customer may guess that your site name is www.yourbusiness.co.uk and reach it successfully.
• Submission to search engines - When search engines index your site, they will also include your domain name so it's advisable to make your it reads correctly.  The notoriously funny example of a bad domain name:   www.expertsexchange.com

How to transfer your domain name

The following advice is a starting point for transferring domains, but by far the easiest way to start the wheels turning is to give Computime a call and let us handle all the technical details.

Transferring your domain name can be a frustrating process but the procedure depends upon one main factor:   the TLD extension.

If the domain is a .uk domain, the process is relatively simple and it involves a short capitalised word known as the IPS tag.  All ISPs should have one of these if they transfer and receive .uk domains.

1. Registrant's agent of the domain changes the IPS tag to the receiving registrant's agent IPS tag i.e.  DEMON to TUCOWS-CA
2. Receiving registrant then has the authority to transfer the domain to themselves and update nameservers to make service changes such as website, dns and email.
3. The process typically takes between 24 and 72hrs.

However for international domains such as .com, .net, .org, .biz etc., the procedure has become a far more complicated and lengthy process.  The basic procedure is as follows:

1. The registrar of the domain must UNLOCK the domain ready for transfer at the request of the domain owner.
2. The registrar of the domain must then provide a garbled string of text called the auth code or transfer code.
3. The receiving registrar must then place a request to transfer the domain
4. An email will be dispatched to the owner and admin contact for the domain requesting approval for the transfer.
5. If the transfer is approved, the auth code and a separate transfer key must be entered before the transfer can be processed.
6. The transfer can then take up to 14 working days to complete, although it is often much sooner i.e. 24-48hrs.

For help and advice on your domain names, call the experts in Coventry, West Midlands on 02476671900, use our contact us form or email info@computime.co.uk

Go back to Web Development