[flossie]

I want to find out if a domain is available to use. Can anyone tell me what site is the most reliable? Also, if the domain I want IS available what is the process to go through to get it? What kind of cost would I be looking at?
Thanks guys!:)

[Clough]

Hi, flossie!

To find if a domain name is available, I think that the following site would probably be pretty reliable.

WHOIS Search provides domain registration information from Network Solutions

There are also other sites where you can find that out.

Finding Domain Availability - Google Search

I did a search for clough.com, and it looks like that domain name is already in use.

WHOIS domain registration information results for clough.com from Network Solutions

Why are you asking the question, please? There are many, many ways to put things on the Internet without paying a cent toward listing them. Or, are you wanting to make sure that you will have only a certain domain name?

If you would like to know how to have websites for free and also other types of listings, please let me know.

To purchase a domain name, the process as well as the costs will vary. Hopefully, someone will come along who knows more about the process and cost.

Thanks!

[Scleros]

The actual domain registration cost depends on the Registrar used and the type of client they cater to. The costs can also vary greatly depending on what top level domain you want, where you are located, and what other services like web site hosting or email hosting the Registrar includes along with the domain. See Network Solutions pricing chart as an example. The registration process can be as simple as filling out an online form and paying by credit card. Once you have registered a domain, it needs to be parked on your own servers or parked on someone else's servers that you rent, called hosting, so that the rest of the world can find your domain. Most folks generally have someone else host their domain, web site server, email server, etc. because of the complexities and costs involved with providing bandwidth to the servers and keeping them secure from tampering. So, for the first time domain owner, the initial costs usually include registration of the domain and a web site and email hosting package for usually a year. After the first year, there are domain renewal fees and renewals can be made for multiple years.

The registrar and the hosting provider do not have to be the same entity. For example, my domain Registrar is GoDaddy.com and my local Internet Service Provider is hosting my email and website. But, if you are planning to use your domain for a commercial website, use of a large hosting provider, such as Rackspace.com, is prudent as they are equipped to provide the reliability and services a commercial website needs.

[flossie]

I'm planning on using a website to promote my dental hygiene practise that I will be opening in the new year. I'd like the website to have the same name as my business so it will be easy to find.
I'll use the website to provide dental health information and info about why my practise has to offer.
This is all new to me and any other info you have to offer would certainly be appreciated.

[vingogly]

What I've had to do in the past is look for variations on the name. For example, if your practice will be named Clean Teeth and cleanteeth.com is not available, see if clean-teeth.com is. Or think of variations that include your company name: maybe cleanteethnow.com. You want your name in there for search engine optimization purposes (SEO), and also for your clients who will be looking for the site.

For a small business like yours, it's my opinion that a heavy-bandwidth provider like Rackspace is not necessary. It would be overkill (you aren't going to be getting thousands of hits an hour with a lot of streaming video going back & forth, I'll guess), and it would be more expensive than need be. I would suggest looking at one of the top ten lists for hosting; my personal choice (the one I use) is bluehost.com. You'll note that GoDaddy doesn't show up often on these lists; in my experience, their quality of support is lacking and their website very confusing to use for a person who doesn't know the ropes. I'd pick a host from one of these top ten lists.

Also, you may want to consider buying up variants of your domain name: I usually get the .com, net. And .org versions. You don't want your competitor on the other side of town buying up the variant (if this isn't a concern, don't worry about it).

As for costs, plan on 5USD to 10USD per month. Most will give you one domain name free, but you'll have to pay extra (typically 10USD per year) to register any additional variants. One inexpensive and quality solution I'm familiar with is Little Oak; they're very friendly and helpful and for starting, their Seed plan would probably suffice for you and it's only 25USD per year.

Getting great rankings in Google may or may not be a concern for you... I would suggest you want to rank high on search strings like "dental care Smalltown Ontario" or "clean teeth Smalltown Ontario". Search engine optimization (SEO) is an art. When you're ready to get into it post again and I can give you some useful tips.

[Denismtl]

Another option: domain backorder. If necessary domain is not active it possible to get it.

[Clough]

Just some additional information from me...

Below, are links to at least a couple of websites that I maintain for free because of my involvement with the organizations.

Please note, that the names of the organizations are included in their URL addresses rather than the words all being jammed together and that they both come up first, or at least on the first page in searches on Google by using the names of them in the searches. Where a website ranks in searches can frequently vary day-by-day. However, how a person does word things on the websites will also make a big difference in how the websites are ranked in the searches.

I've never paid a cent to have any website that I maintain. My point is, why spend the money when you can do the same thing for free, and when doing it for free might even get better results in various ways. These are just a couple examples of websites on hosting services where you can have a website hosted for free.

http://www.freewebs.com/quad-city-wind-ensemble/

http://www.freewebs.com/bend-of-the-river-chorus/

Quad City Wind Ensemble - Google Search

Bend of the River Chorus - Google Search

To see one example of how what I do for business for myself gets excellent results in searches, please click here.

You could do the same thing, flossie! It's not hard!

Thanks!

[flossie]

Thanks for all your info! I've gone through godaddy.com and now have my domain for my new business.