Frequently asked questions on Domain names

Choosing your domain name
Which Domain name to choose and is it available for registration.

Which Domain to buy:
If you need your company website to appeal worldwide then the best Domain is likely to be .com, but it is common practise to use your own countrys domain registration and then to use a .com name as well, many companys who wish to advertise or establish a Brand Name will buy the Domain name in as many Domains as possible thereby securing the name so others can't jump on their success. If you operate in one country only, and have no plans for going international, then the domain for your country will provide your customers with confidence. To check if your chosen domain name is available visit our front page and enter the name you are interested, into the search box.

Registering A Domain Name:
Exercise some simple prudence in choosing your domain name. Certain words or phrases may be forbidden on the grounds of community standards, or may be offensive to visitors whose language or slang differs from that of your region.
Domain names can contain only the 26 letters of the alphabet (without accents), the hyphen (though not at the beginning or end of the name), and the 10 digits. Domain names are not case-sensitive, and can be at least 26 characters long (this limit is subject to change). Be careful not to register a name which you can reasonably have been expected to know infringes on the trademarks of an existing company, the courts are not kind to cybersquatters. Some information on the circumstances under which your poorly-chosen domain name might be stripped from your control are available in the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

Using the hyphen (-) and Using keywords in a domain name:
It's clear you need keywords in your domain name, but remember that any search engine is nothing more than a machine.
A domain name like "heatingengineer.co.uk" looks interesting to a human eye, but to the search engine, this domain name consists of one keyword: "heatingengineer" and not two: "heating" and "engineer".
To make a distinction between the two words, you can use the hyphen (-) like this: "heating-engineer.co.uk". However, when people have to remember the domain name, domains without a hyphen are easier to remember, but with intelligent meta tags and use of keywords you can circum-navigate the search engine bots lack of intelligence
A solution to this is to use "heating-engineer.co.uk" when registering with search engines, and for online advertising, but also buy "heatingengineer.co.uk" for those people who forget to type the hyphen.
Nothing stops you from registering both the .com and the country domain or any others. ie: .net, .biz, .org etc...
When you take these small tips into consideration, you are sure to find an excellent domain name for your site. And remember, for the price of a domain name, nothing stops you from registring multiple variants for the same site.

Registering or transferring a domain name with Domainshop or any of our subsideries:

To register a new domain or transfer a domain name to Domainshop, and if you have not yet signed up for a hosting account, go to our hosting page and choose a hosting package. If you already have a web hosting account and want to register another domain, enter the domain name in the "domain search" box and click search, this will allow your account procedure to start During the sign-up process you will be asked whether you are a existing customer or new customer, if you have lost your existing customer password or details, please set up a new account as a new user and enter the contact information for your domain.

please note that domain registration is not free. An annual fee must be paid to a domain registrar to maintain your domain name in the Internet domain registry. When transferring a domain that you already own, please contact us by email or telephone to start the procedure.

New domains generally take 24 to 48 hours to be entered into the nameserver database. Transfers from a different registrar can take up to a week or more.

Special notes about registering .UK domains
All .UK registrations are set for two years. The registry does not offer any other registration periods at this time. Renewals can be requested six months before the expiry date of your domain, at which time it can be renewed for another two years.

When a .UK domain has been successfully registered, Nominet sends a confirmation of registration letter to the registrant. This letter includes a security code to access "Registrants Online" (a tool where registrants can manage their contact information), and Nominet's terms and conditions.

Managing your domain
It is very important that you keep your contact information up to date. Otherwise someone else could request that your domain be transferred to them, and you would not receive an email notification allowing you to cancel the transfer. You could also miss a domain renewal reminder, causing your domain registration to expire.

Domain Parking
Domainshop can register many Domain names for you and park them in such a way that they send ALL internet traffic to your chosen website. For example, if your main hosted domain is greatcook.co.uk, and you also own greatcook.org, Then all URLs using greatcook will automatically show the same content as their corresponding URLs in greatcook.co.uk. Additionally, email will be automatically forwarded to the one account in greatcook.co.uk.

If you have any further questions, please email Domainshop at sales@domainshop.co.uk or go to the Domainshop.co.uk frontpage and use the support telephone numbers supplied.