Common Questions On Domain Names

Below are a number of common questions regarding domain names and domain name registration.

1. Which organization provides governance of all domain names?
2. Is there a difference which domain registrar I register my domain with?
3. What is an accredited domain registrar?
4. How do I know if the company I plan to register my domain name with is an accredited domain registrar?
5. How do I check to see if the domain name has been registered successfully?
6. What should I do if the domain name I really want is taken?
7. Can I transfer my domain to another domain registrar?
8. How do I transfer my domain to another domain registrar?
9. Can I change the domain name after I register it?
10. Should I register the domain for one year or longer?
11. Should I register misspellings of my domain name?
12. Should I get a double-byte character domain?
13. Do I need to start using my domain name immediately?
14. When can I renew my domain?
15. What is domain forwarding?
16. I received solicitation in my email from an unknown organization who said they can renew my .com domain for me for $75. Is this a scam?

1. Which organization provides governance of all domain names?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a nonprofit organization that provides governance of all domain names.

2: Is there a difference which domain registrar I register my domain with?

As long as a domain registrar is accredited by ICANN, there is little difference in the functionality different domain registrars provide.

3. What is an accredited domain registrar?

An accredited domain registrar is a domain registrar that has been accredited by ICANN to act as a domain registrar. An accredited domain registrar has to follow compliance rules aimed to protect registrants.

You should always use an accredited domain registrar to purchase your domain name. If you are buying your domain through a reseller (for example, you are getting a domain name as part of your web hosting page), you should check with the reseller to make sure the actual domain registrar is accredited.

4. How do I know if the company I plan to register my domain name with is an accredited domain registrar?

ICANN maintains a list of accredited domain registrars at https://www.internic.net/regist.html.

5. How do I check to see if the domain name has been registered successfully?

You can check the WHOIS record. Many registrars provide this lookup functionality. You can also use the WHOIS tool from ICANN.

6. What should I do if the domain name I really want is taken?

If you want the domain right now, you can contact the current domain registrant to see if he or she is willing to sell.

The following factors will influence the outcome of your inquiry:

• Current state of the domain name. If the domain name is being actively used, there is a very low chance that the owner will be willing to sell. If you see a domain parking page or the site doesn't render anything, you have a better chance of getting the domain.
• Desirability of the domain name. In general, you can expect to pay higher prices for shorter domain names and domain names that comprise of a single dictionary word.

If you are willing to wait, you can place a "back order" so when the domain name becomes available, you will be able to get it. If multiple people express an interest in a domain, you will likely enter an auction.

7. Can I transfer my domain to another domain registrar?

Yes. You are the domain name owner, and you can decide which registrar to use for your domain.

8. How do I transfer my domain to another domain registrar?

You will go through the following steps when transferring a domain name to a different domain registrar:

• Make sure your domain name has been registered for at least 60 days. Domain names that have been registered for a shorter period of time are not eligible for transfer.
• Make sure your contact information is up to date. Communications related to a domain transfer will use this information.
• Make sure you domain name is unlocked. Domain locking is a security procedure to prevent someone to illegally tamper with your domain name, and usually you should enable it. However, when you are transferring your domain name, you should leave your domain unlocked as you are the one making the change to the domain name. You should re-enable domain locking as soon as the domain transfer is completed.
• Request the auth code of your domain from your existing domain registrar. Depending on the domain registrar, this may be a one-click process, or it could involve a formal request that takes several days. Note that there is no cost to transfer a domain away, so you should not be charged by your existing domain registrar.
• Go to your new domain registrar. Specify you want to transfer your domain to them. Enter the auth code when prompted. You will also be asked to provide payment. When you transfer a domain, you need to pay for one more year of registration, at the rate the new domain registrar charges.
• Confirm your intention to transfer you domain name. You'll receive an email from your existing domain registrar, saying that it has received a request to transfer your domain out, and wanting you to verify. Once you click to confirm, the transfer process will start.
• Check on your new domain registrar's site to see if the transfer has been completed. In general it takes 5-7 days to complete a domain transfer.

The above steps apply to .com, .net, and .org transfers. Transferring domains in other top-level domains may be different.

9. Can I change the domain name after I register it?

No. You may not change the name of the domain once you registered it. If you had made a mistake, you should proceed to register the correct domain name, and let the original domain name expire after one year.

10. Should I register the domain for one year or longer?

When you are buying your first domain, we recommend that you register your domain name for one year, the minimum amount of time allowed.

This is because there is a chance that after a while you may decide to pivot from your original website idea, and the domain name you had first chosen is no longer the best. If you only registered your domain name for one year, your loss is minimal, as you can simply choose not to renew the domain name after one year.

There are three possible benefits of registering your domain name for a longer period of time that you might want to consider when you renew your domain name:

• Search engines may give you a small ranking boost if the domain is registered for a longer period of time. This makes sense because a domain that is registered over multiple years signifies that the domain owner is serious about keeping the website going for a long time.
• In some cases you may receive a discount for multi-year registrations / renewals.
• It eliminates the possibility that you forget to renew your domain and it becomes available to anyone. Most domain registrars are very good at sending you reminders about domain renewal, because it is to their benefit that you renew your domain. Despite that, there is still a chance that something slips through the cracks and your domain expires and becomes available to the general public.

11. Should I register misspellings of my domain name?

The idea of registering misspellings of your domain name is to catch visitors who make a typo when they try to go to your website.

Traditionally, there are two routes people can take:

1. They make a typo when typing in your domain name directly in the browser address bar.
2. They make a typo in the search engine search box, and search engine serves up the misspelled domain.

For the first route, there needs to be substantial traffic. A good rule of thumb is that your daily visits should be at least 5,000 for direct traffic from misspelled domains to be meaningful.

The second route has pretty disappeared in recent years, as search engines have advanced to the stage where they often can recognize if someone makes a typo. For example, if you type in "aplle.com" into Google or Bing, both search engines recognize that you are really trying to go to apple.com, and shows apple.com in their search results.

For your first domain, you do not need to register misspellings, as you will certainly not have enough traffic to your domain for traffic to misspelled domains to be meaningful.

12. Should I get a double-byte character domain?

If your website targets audiences in East Asia such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, or China, you might think it's a good idea to register a domain name in double-type characters. This type of domain name is called Internationalized Domain Name, or IDN.

Today, browser technology has evolved to a point where double byte domain names render perfectly fine. However, most of the domain names in Asian countries with a double-byte language are still using single-byte characters, and rarely do double-byte domain names appear. With this in mind, there is no need to register a domain name in double-byte characters.

13. Do I need to start using my domain name immediately?

No. If your site is not ready, you have the following options:

• Do nothing. Usually the domain registrar will display a domain parking page (a page that contains pay-per-click links).
• Configure your domain name to point to your own domain parking page. This way, you receive any revenue generated from visitors clicking on the clicks on that page. Sedo.com is a company that allows you to do this.
• Configure your domain name to not resolve (in other words, when people type in your domain name, nothing shows up). To do this, remove any entry from your nameserver.
• Configure your domain name to point to another domain.

Once your website is ready, you can change the nameserver entry on your domain registrar to point to your actual domain.

14. When can I renew my domain?

You can renew your domain at any time. You do not need to wait until your domain is close to expiration.

When you renew, you will get an additional year (or two, or three, depending on the number of years you renew) added to the end of your domain's current expiration date.

For example, if your domain expires on December 31, 2016, and you renew for one year on June 15, 2016, the new expiration of your domain will be December 31, 2017.

15. What is domain forwarding?

Domain forwarding is when you configure your domain name settings so that whenever a visitor tries to go to your domain, that visitor is forwarded to a web page on a different domain.

16. I received solicitation in my email from an unknown organization who said they can renew my .com domain for me for $75. Is this a scam?

Yes. It is a scam. Do not use it. Regardless of the domain registrar you use, your actual domain registration cost for one year is going to be far less than $75. Besides, you can easily renew the domain yourself via your current domain registrar, and there is no need to use a third-party.

As a rule, we recommend that you ignore all unsolicited third-party inquires regarding your domain registration / renewal.