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Domain Registration

In your journey to own a domain name, you will need to conduct a domain search to find domain names available for you to register. Doing a domain name look up can also help you make sure that the name you've painstakingly come up with is not already registered under another owner.

You should allocate some time for planning before you begin doing a domain name check so that you have a greater sense of focus on what to search for, making for a more efficient search. Determine a broad topic or a range of topics that you intend for your web site. For this, you may have to do a little bit of forecasting - thinking ahead to the intention of your site, the contents you would want to publish on that site and how long you think you will use that site for.

What is the difference between the different kinds of domain names: .com, .net, .org, etc.?

.com
Originally, restricted to businesses and commercial enterprises. Now anyone can register a .com domain name. This is the most sought after extension because it is almost always assumed that the web site ends in .com.

.net
Originally, restricted to network-related organizations and enterprises such as ISPs. Now anyone can register a .net domain name.

.org
Originally, restricted to charitable or non-profit organizations. Now anyone can register a .org domain name.

.biz
Intended to provide businesses with a distinct presence on the Web. However, it is not limited to corporations and registered business owners. Anyone and everyone can register a .biz domain, as long as the domain name is used primarily for bona fide business or commercial purposes.

First-time registrations of .biz names have a 2-year minimum.

.info
Anyone can register an .info domain name, including businesses, individuals, non-profits, and government agencies.

First-time registrations of .info names have a 2-year minimum.

.us
.us is the official two-letter country code top-level domain extension for the USA. First-time registrations of .us names have a 2-year minimum.

.tv
.tv was originally the country code top-level domain name extension for websites registered in Tuvalu, but it is now being marketed globally as a generic domain name that can be registered by anybody. Because of the similarity to "television", the niche market for .tv sites is huge and includes sites for: presentations, music videos, movies, seminars, conferences, distance learning, concerts, video chat, sportscasts, etc. The future of content delivery is via the Internet. Many sites offering broadband content will choose to adopt the .tv name.