Domain Registration

Having your own domain name has always been an essential part of gaining credibility for your online business. Not long ago you may have paid hundreds of pounds just to register a domain name, fortunately this can now be done at a fraction of the cost.

There are some Important considerations to bear in mind when registering a domain name. You should always check what you are getting from the domain registration company for your money and what you are not getting.

Make sure that the name you purchase will be registered in YOUR name and not the name of the registration company, otherwise, if it is not, you may not be able to move the hosting of the domain somewhere else in the future. Some registration companies are offering very cheap or even free domain registration but they retain ownership of the domain name and charge large fees if you want to later buy the name and move it elsewhere. In our opinion, this is not worth the risk now that domain names can be bought outright so cheaply. Even if the domain is registered in your name, check if there are any fees if you do decide to transfer your domain later on.

If your web site in not on a server where the administrators are willing to configure the web and email servers with your domain name, then you should make sure the domain registration company offers you free web and email forwarding which acts as a pointer for your domain name to your web site. Please note that almost all ISP´s free web space and other free web space available does NOT give you this facility. So if you have this kind of web space you WILL need web and email forwarding to be able to use your domain name ! Alternatively, for a free ISP that DOES offer this facility take a look at FrostByte4u.

Make sure the domain registration company make it easy for you to contact them if you need to.

Make sure it's cheap ! Many high priced domain registration companies don´t offer anything more than the cheaper competitors, often they offer less !

Bearing the above in mind, and we have done our homework on this, One Stop Affiliates recommend AfterDomains for registration of ".co.uk" , ".com" and ".net" domains.

  • They are cheap: £9.99 for a ".co.uk" or ".org.uk" and £24.99 for a ".com", ".net" or ".org" (includes all fees for the usual two year period).
  • The domain is registered in your name.
  • You can transfer you domain elsewhere at any time with no fees.
  • Email and Web forwarding is provided FREE and can be administered online.
  • Online Registration, usually ready for use within a few hours.
  • Phone and Email support if you have any questions or want advice.
With AfterDomains low prices you can afford to register several names and many different variations on your business name and you would still have paid less than the cost of a single domain name purchased not so long ago !

Now domains are so cheap, people are even buying them as an investment, hoping to be able to sell a desirable name later on for much more than the £9.99 it cost to buy it ! If you later change your mind you can just choose not to renew it after the first two years are up !

Afterdomains do not register the regulated UK domains such as ".net.uk" , ".ltd.uk" , ".plc.uk" etc. If you require a regulated domain names we suggest All UK Domains, a bit more expensive but still a reasonable price and the cheapest option we have found for regulated domain names.

One last consideration, if you really want a particular domain name (".co.uk" , ".com" , ".net" or whatever) and it is already taken, usually we would just have to find a slightly different name for ourselves. But now there is an alternative, WorldSite have launched a new top level domain of ".ws" for use instead of ".com" etc. There are a lot more ".ws" names available as it is a relatively new idea, but don´t delay getting your name as they are being snapped up fast just like all the other domains were !