In the first of this series of 3, we saw just what a 'domain name' is, and a very important aspect when registering one - that it must be registered in YOUR name, not whoever is doing it on your behalf.

We now turn to what happens once you've finished the registration process (or someone's done it for you, in your name). It's a bit like wandering into a Telstra store and getting a new mobile phone number. They take your details, charge you an initial amount, and give you a wee little chip aka Sim Card for you to put in your phone. That's essentially all you need to get a new mobile phone number - an active Sim Card.

But of course a Sim Card is useless by itself. Likewise, a domain name is useless by itself (unless you're simply stopping anyone else from having it, but don't intend to use it. Not legal in Australia!). In the same way you need to put your Sim Card into a phone before you can make/take phone calls, you need to link a domain name to web services eg. website, email.

Now if you get someone else to sort all this stuff out for you, you won't need to do anything. Even if you DIY, it is very likely that whoever you use to register the domain name will offer you those linked services when you are going through the registration process. "Want webhosting with that?"

However, you are not tied to those web services. If you registered a domain name a while back and the same business hosts your website and/or does your email, it is very easy to switch to someone else. A very popular and highly recommended example is using the business version of GMail for your email accounts. $5 per month per account for buckets of storage space, state of the art anti-spam and anti-virus built in, nothing to backup, and easy access from just about any device that does internet. When you sign up, they will run through what you need to change in your domain name so that all the world knows that GMail is handling your email now. These changes are called DNS record changes. Your domain name keeps a list of what is where, and in this case when a mail-server has email to deliver to you, it will ask your domain name "Who do I give this email to?" and your domain name will say "Head over to GMail at this address".

The same thing applies to your website. If you're not happy with the performance of your website where it is, it is easy to find someone else to host it. Again, it's a case of changing your DNS records to say "My website is now living over here". If you do this, don't forget to stop paying for the original webhosting though! You can bet they won't go out of their way to ask you to stop sending them money...

The upshot of all this is that a domain name is independent of the services that attach to it. Your website can be managed in the USA, your email can be based in Singapore, your domain name registered in Australia. You are not stuck with who you start with. In fact, even the domain name can be moved to someone else without affecting anything else. Say you wanted Winch Websites to make sure that your domain is re-registered whenever required, and all its DNS records are copied to strategic locations around the globe to speed things up and make you more bullet-proof - easily done. So long as you are the Registrant!

In Part 3, we talk about what where you can go with a domain name beyond a website and business email accounts.

If you've got a website, you've got a domain name.

Well, not necessarily, but in the same way as you have a phone, it has a phone number - stop paying someone somewhere for your phone number service, and you've got a piece of equipment that isn't able to live up to its purpose. Likewise if you have a website, if you aren't paying someone somewhere for the associated domain name, then people can't visit your website.

So the domain name is your unique name out there in internet-land. Just like a phone number, nobody else can have the same thing. Every domain name has to be registered and then occasionally renewed (how often depends, we'll get to that). While you can register the domain name through 1,001 different resellers or providers, ultimately all domains are managed by a country's Registrar.

For .com.au type domains (eg. winchwebsites.com.au), the country is Australia (hence the ".au") and our Registrar is auDA (.au Domain Administration Ltd) who is the "policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space". In other words, the top dog. They make the rules, and have final say in who can or cannot have a domain name.

If you'd like to register a domain name, you can't go to auDA. You need to go to an official licenced Registry Operator or more likely a reseller who has a wholesale account with a Registry Operator. I'd recommend Netregistry as the place to go - their prices are good, their service and reputation are good. You'll need to provide the required information (eg. ABN, Business Name) through an online application, submit your payment, and usually within an hour or two the domain is yours unless there's a hiccup of some sort. Of course, Winch Websites would be happy to do it for you and make sure it's done properly, just get in touch.

Many small businesses, however, outsource the domain registration, often as  part of a package deal to get a website. But here's the thing - the domain MUST be registered in YOUR name. Not the name of the business registering it on your behalf. If your own details, including email address, are not used as the "Registrant" (ie. owner), then the domain does not belong to you!

A domain name will have contact info for;

• Registrant
• Admin
• Tech
• Billing

Each has name, email, address and phone (for domains ending in .au). It is quite normal, safe and even recommended to have Admin, Tech and Billing all show the contact details for your webby person. But the Registrant must be you and your business. I have seen several cases where a business owner and the web people have gone separate ways (eg. the web business closed up/disappeared, or there was an argument) and it is a painful bureaucratic process to wrestle back control of a domain name. In some cases, it's a case of "Too bad, you can't have it".

So to close off this first blog post all about domain names, remember this - it's easy to register a domain name, and quite cheap to do. Just make sure that you are listed as the Registrant. And don't forget, the email you give will be the one used to send you renewal reminders.

In Part 2, we talk about what happens after a domain name is registered. To use the phone analogy again - you have a phone number, now you have to associate it with a device so you can tell people to use it.