A website by any other name
Low cost online registrars make getting your own domain name simple and inexpensive
by Gary Clites
Originally published in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund’s Adviser Update, Spring 2007
Want to buy a car online? You type Cars.com into your Web browser and reach one of the largest used car sites on the Internet. Interested in a class at Columbia? Try Columbia.edu. Want to check out a story in The Washington Post, type in Washingtonpost.com.
In the early days of the Internet, computers were identified using their complex Internet Protocol, or "IP" addresses. These identify every linked machine using a unique string of numbers like 192.169.1.100. The Domain Name System, or "DNS," replaced that ponderous method with easily recognizable site names like Amazon.com, WalMart.com, etc. Put simply, the DNS is a registry of site names that links the user typing the DNS name with the appropriate site IP address. You never need to remember an IP address because the DNS system replaces it.
While it has become standard for Web sites to use easily identifiable top domain names like Newsweek.com, most student publication sites, hosted on school or other nonprofit servers, have tended to use complex strings of terms in their domain names that make it more difficult for visitors to easily find them. The Gaylesville Enterprise in Gaylesville, Ala., for example, is reached at the address www.pacers.org/schools/gaylesville/enterprise.html.
How much more traffic might they receive with a domain name like gaylesvilleenterprise.com? How important is this to traffic? Of the top 10 student newspaper Web sites on Yahoo's directory of school newspapers, eight own a specific domain name rather than a system name.
Years ago, when only one nonprofit, Internic, handled the issuance of all domain names, owning a domain was an expensive proposition with hefty monthly fees. Today, numerous private companies serve as registrars, and student journalists can register a domain name for under $10 a year. At that price, taking advantage of your own journalistic name just makes sense.
Getting a domain name is a fairly simple process. First, you need to choose a name. For most of us, that's going to be our publication or broadcast name, i.e. thelowell.org for Lowell HS in San Francisco's paper or thechatterbox.org for George Washington HS's student paper in Danville, Va. Other options are to use the school's initials (Grand Junction HS's paper in Colorado uses gjhsnews.com) or a likely nickname (my own newspaper, The Patriot Press, was once listed by its common nickname, patpress.org). The .com extension is, of course, the most popular, and most of us are familiar with .org, .gov and .edu. There are also .net, .info, .us, .biz, .tv, .museum and many others. If you try your publication name under one extension and it is taken, consider trying another.
Which takes us to step two. Once you've gotten a name, choose a registrar and use its search engine to discover whether your name is available. (These search engines are often called a "whois" engine.) If your name is taken, try another extension or an entirely new name. Don't be discouraged by failures. My own newspaper's preferred names, patriotpress.com and patriotpress.org were both grabbed by an online conservative journal years ago. Since failure is possible, it's good to have several names ready.
Once you've got a name, choose a hosting plan. Many registrars offer special deals to new customers, while others offer discounts if you sign up for multiple years right away. Since most student newspapers and broadcasts are fairly stable, signing up for a multi-year plan may make sense.
Next, you'll have to fill out registration and billing information. Some registrars may be willing to let you send in a check, while others work on a strictly credit card or Paypal system. If it matters to you, check on this before you reach this point.
The next step is to point your new domain name to the server you use for your site. Most registrars offer hosting plans on their sites, but you are not required to use them. So long as you have a Web site, you should be able to point your domain name to it. The registrar will need you to provide the linking information to your site. This should be available from your Web host. You can also buy a domain name before building your site. This requires that you "park" your address somewhere temporarily. Again, most registrars will take care of this for you, though they may charge you a small monthly fee for your temporary parking place.
Can you always replace the domain name your Web host provides with one of your own? No. One of the biggest providers of Web space to school publications, ASNE's MyHighSchoolJournalism.org, for example, requires all their publications use their myhighschooljournalism.org/state/city/school listing system. Similarly, some sites that provide free Web hosting to the public like Geocities or Homestead require that you use their company name in your top domain.
Even if that's the case, you can still point a more specific domain name to your site. McLean HS in McLean, Va., for example, has its own domain, McLeanHighlander.com. When you click it, it automatically transfers the user to their MyHighSchoolJournalism.org site. While that site uses the ASNE listing system, the domain link makes the location easier for people to find.
With low cost domains readily available, why not make your site easier to access by grabbing one. Plus, having your own domain is just plain cool.
Low Cost Domain Registrars
GoDaddy.com
$8.95 per year, $6.95 first year
Hostway.com
$7.95 per year, $3.95 first domain
NameCheap.com
$8,88 per year
Netfirms.com
$4.95 per year
PlanetDomain.com
$8.75 per year
Registerfly.com
$9.99 per year
Yahoo Domains
(smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains)
$9.95 per year, $1.95 first year
© Gary Clites, 2007