• The total cost to register a domain name is only $30/name per year and as low as $15 per year for a 10 year registration.
• DomainRegistry.com, Inc. is an ICANN accredited registrar and has been registering domain names since 1996! That's longer then 99% of the other registrars!
• Pay by credit card, check, money order. Fortune 1000 companies, city/state/federal government as well as Universities, colleges and schools and school districts, can generally pay by purchase order. For instructions write to the help address at the bottom of the page or see our contact page for our fax number.
• Register your domain name for use NOW, or simply register for FUTURE use.
• Register domain names in .com, .net, .org, info or all 4.
• Use your registered domain name at your current ISP, or another web provider or host, at any time.
• Price includes FREE web forwarding! Forward your domain name to your existing personal or business website or a specific page within that website!
• Price includes FREE email forwarding. Forward mail sent to your domain name (ie. name@yourdomain.com ) to your existing personal ISP or business email account or any email account located anywhere.
• Allows optional (additional charge) full web page hosting (http://www.yourcompany.com) Web forwarding as mentioned above is FREE
• Allows optional (additional charge) e-mail (name@yourcompany.com) Email forwarding, as mentioned, is FREE
• Fast Service - names are registered in less than a minute.
• DomainRegistry.com operates 7 days a week.
• You can search the database of available domain names for free

Why Should I register a Domain Name?

Getting a domain name registered is the first step to having a real presence on the Internet. Combined with web hosting (we can suggest an ISP, or you can use your current ISP) you'll get a real internet address in the form of http://www.yourcompany.com instead of being "part" of a provider's web site. Once your name is registered you can also get free e-mail forwarding in the form of "name@yourcompany.com". Of course, you don't need a web site to have e-mail or vice versa.

How Do I Register a Name?

• If you already know the name or names that you want to register, simply start the process here.

What if I'm not sure of the name that I want?

• If you would like to research domain names before registering, check available domains here

How many names can I register?

• There is no limit to the quantity of domain names that you can register. We have customers who register 1 domain and customers who register hundreds. A typical customer (individual or small business) might own between 5 and 10 domains.

How long can I register a domain name for?

• A domain name can be registered for up to 10 years.

How soon after I register can I use the domain name?

• It takes a minute to register and the domain is available after that to either forward to an existing site and/or forward email, or setup a website (you need to get hosting for that either here or elsewhere). Email and of course web forwarding as mentioned is free.

What is the cost to register a domain name?

• The total cost to register a domain name is currently $30 per name per year. Registration for up to 10 years drops the price per year to only $15.

How long does it take to register a domain name?

• It normally takes less than a minute. You can begin the registration process by filling out the form located here.

Do I have to use the name right away, or can I just "reserve" it for future use?

• Yes you can reserve for future use as there is no requirement to use the domain name within any set time period and this is actually quite common.

Will I receive a renewal notice when my registration expires?

• We generally send out at least 2 emails and 1 notice by postal mail to most of our customers. If the domain name is not paid for within the grace period after expiration (generally 2 to 4 weeks) it will be deleted. At that point, as specified by ICANN, the name goes into what is known as "redemption". During redemption we are charged extra fees and have to follow different procedures to get the name back on the Internet. Consequently you will pay extra charges (currently $100 plus the renewal fee) to get a deleted name back. Redemption lasts 30 days (plus 5 day no activity hold) during which only the prior registrant can get the name. After redemption ends anyone can register the name for the regular fee. The best way to avoid a name being deleted is by paying upfront or at anytime for multiple years. You can register or renew for up to 10 years at a time. Please ask for pricing on this.

If I renew my name prior to expiration what happens?

• Your name is renewed the extra period of time you specify (up to 10 years) and that is added to the current expiration. So there is no penalty whatsoever to renew or pay for extra years in advance and it also protects against any price increases.

Do I have to be a "company" to register a domain name?

• No, individuals and organizations can also register domain names.

Does a company or individual need to be located in the United States to register a domain name?

• No, we can register .com, .net, or .org and .info for companies, organizations or individuals located anywhere in the world. As of April 2000 (when we stopped counting), DomainRegistry.com had customers in 53 foreign countries who had registered domain names with us.

What is the difference between .com, .net, .org and .info?

• ".com" names were originally designated for commercial (for profit) organizations or individuals but now are typically used for any purpose.
• ".net" was originally for network providers, but can now be used for any purpose, commercial, non-profit, or personal.
• ".org" was orignally designated for non-profit organizations or groups, but now can be used for any purpose, commercial, non-profit, or personal. Important: Organizations that register in .org are strongly encouraged to register the similar .com name to prevent confusion from users who type the .com of the same domain by accident.
• ".info" is a new general purpose TLD that can be used for any purpose.
  
  
• ".edu" is for 4-year, degree granting colleges/universities ONLY.
• ".gov" is for US Federal Government agencies ONLY.
  
  Other TLD's:
  TLD stands for "Top Level Domain", so ".com", ".net", ".org", ".edu", ".gov" are all examples of TLD's. Other less popular TLD's include .aero .asia .biz .coop .mobi .name .tel .pro .travel .xxx .cat .int .jobs .museum. As these are far from ubiquitous and rarely used, DomainRegistry.com Inc. does not offer registration of those TLD's.
  
  ccTLD's:
  A ccTLD is a country top level domain. Examples of ccTLD's include .uk (United Kingdom), .de (Germany), .nl (Netherlands), .ch (Switzerland), .za (South Africa), .es (Spain) to name only a few.

I'm confused by all of this. What's the best and safest TLD to register in no matter what I am doing?

• The answer is emphatically .com. The majority of the domains registered are .com. You can rarely go wrong registering a .com even if you would fall under another TLD or even a ccTLD. It is quite common for a foreign company, individual or organization to want to have a .com name instead of their own country code domain as shown by our historic registration records.

Should I register in more than one TLD? Which ones?

• It is typical to lock up a domain in .com .net .org and .info. If cost is an object you should try to register in .com, .net and .org. Obviously you can start with .com and add the other TLD's later assuming they are still available.

If I register a .org or .net or .info domain, should I also register the .com of the same domain?

• Absolutely. It is a best practice, for anyone who registers outside of .com to also register the .com of the same name even if not using that domain. People, by default, will many times type in the .com by accident. If you don't register the domain someone else might and/or your visitors will be redirected to another (possibly) undesirable website. This point can't be stressed enough.

How long can a domain name be, and what characters/numbers or symbols can it contain?

• A domain name can be up to 63 characters PLUS the extension
  (.com, .net, .org etc.)
• A domain name can contain upper and lowercase characters (A-Z,a-z), numbers (0-9), or both.
• A domain name can contain a dash "-" (example: domain-register.com).
• "Case" (upper or lower) does not matter with domain names. The domain name "Larry.com" is the same as "LARRY.COM" or "LarRy.Com".
• Names are assigned on a first come, first serve basis. Subject to any trademark, legal, or ICANN rules or changes, once you register a name it's yours as long as the appropriate initial and renewal fees are paid. (Please note that registration of a domain name, does not prevent a company or individual with an exact or similar trademark from raising objections to the registration through legal or domain dispute methods. Please make a good faith effort not to infringe on known trademarks.)

Once I register the name, what can I do with it?

• Just reserve it for future use.
• Use it for a Website, a blog for email or anything you can use a domain name for. While there will typically be an additional charge to "create" the web pages many people with a "how to" type book or after an internet search are able to do this themselves. There will also be an additional charge for "hosting" of the web pages or blog (as opposed to just "hosting" the domain name) but you can also use the included FREE webforwarding and have the name forwarded to an existing free web site, blog, or any address on the Internet and/or use the free email forwarding to have your email forwarded to any existing email address.

I've heard that the older a domain is, and the longer it is registered for (in advance), the more likely the domain is to be ranked higher for SEO purposes by google and other search engines. Is that true?

• In general, yes. An older domain has more authority SEO (also business wise for that matter) Also it is felt by many that a domain that expires far in advance is generally given more SEO "juice" (authority) as well. As only one reason: simply that a site owner or company is more serious about their web presence if they are paying for their domain registration well in advance as opposed to year by year - which wouldn't typically be a practice done by, for example, a major corporation. It should be pointed out that as with any SEO practice, there are things that are endorse by google as being correct, and there are things that aren't specifically endorsed. The reason is that doing so would enable people to "game the system" and gain an unfair advantage. Consequently it's up to each individual site owner to take advantage of as many things as they can.

Where is your domain name dispute policy located?

• You can view the current ICANN approved domain name dispute policy here.

Anything special I should know about your free web and/or email forwarding service?

• Yes. Please read "What's the difference between web/email forwarding and web/email hosting?" located on our Support Page.

Where is ICANN's Registrant Rights and Responsibilities document?

• You can view the current ICANN Registrant Rights and Responsibilities document here.

Can I register on-line, right now?

If you already know the name or names that you want to register, simply start the process here

Will you auto-renew my name?

DomainRegistry.com doesn't store your credit card information and as such cannot auto renew your domain name. You must supply us with your current credit card info and specifically let us know that you want to renew your domain name. You can also renew your domain name by sending us a check or money order. We sometimes allow certain larger companies or institutions to use purchase orders - please ask for details. As mentioned you will generally receive several email notices and possibly even postal notices prior to the domain expiration.

If I don't pay for my domain, when will it be deleted?

If you domain name is not paid for, it will generally be deleted between 35 and 45 days past the expiration date. It then goes into "redemption" status at which point extra fees (detailed above) are due to get the domain name restored. Redemption status lasts 30 days past deletion followed by a 5 day "freeze" period after which the domain is released to the general public. Please note that names released after the freeze are sometimes "snapped" by speculators so if your name is valuable you will want to make sure to either renew it or restore it while it is in redemption status.

Is there a database that I can search to see what domain names are currently available?

Yes, If you would like to research available domain names, use the form located here. This is a FREE service.

Where is your whois located?

• Our whois is located here

After registration is complete, will my name point to an "under construction" web site?

Yes, within an hour or so of the domain registration, your name or names will point to our "generic" under construction web site. Further details are contained in our service agreement. (Keep in mind that the same page is used for all names that are registered and is not specific your domain name. That is why we call it "generic".)