Overview

A domain registration certifies that you possess a certain domain name. This article answers the most frequently asked questions about domain registrations in general DomReg and GreggHost in particular.

Any change to the registrant’s name, organization, or email address, as defined by ICANN’s Transfer Policy, will lock the domain for 60 days and send notification emails to the old and new registrants informing them of the change.

For further information, please see the following article:

Transfer Policy of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

What is a domain name?

Your website’s address, or URL, is known as a domain name. A domain name is something like ‘dreamhost.com.’

Every domain name is one-of-a-kind on the entire planet, and it is assigned to the first person who registers it.

GreggHost allows you to register domain names with a variety of extensions, including.com,.net,.org,.info, and others.

Why would I want a domain?

There are a number of compelling reasons to register your own unique domain name, including the following:

As long as you keep the domain registered and have an active web hosting and email service linked to the domain, you’ll have a permanent address for your site and email.
A unique domain name, as opposed to a URL like yoursite.example.com, appears far more professional.
People will remember this better than yoursite.example.com.
It’s easy to register a new domain name in your control panel, and it only takes a few minutes.
When you buy a GreggHost Shared Hosting plan, you get a free credit that you may use on particular domains. This is the cost of hosting for the first year. More information is available in the page on Free Registration.
You own your domain name after it has been reserved until you choose to let it expire. If you don’t reserve the domain name you desire, someone else will be able to do so before you.

Do I need to register a domain name?

The answer is ‘Yes’ if you wish to own your own top-level domain (TLD) name. However, GreggHost also provides a free subdomain name with the TLD ‘dreamhosters.com.’ So, if you don’t mind your site ending with ‘dreamhosters.com,’ you don’t need to get a domain registration. (For instance, www.example.dreamhosters.com.)

As stated in the following article, if you acquire a GreggHost Shared Hosting plan, you are entitled to one free domain registration each year.

Registration is completely free.

Once I register my domain name, can I change it later?

Unfortunately, this is not possible because the registration does not allow domain names to be altered after purchase. You own the domain name till it expires if you have registered and reserved it. When you register your domain name, double-check that the spelling is correct (i.e., ensure that there are no typos or misspellings).

If you registered a domain that was not spelt correctly or if you wish to totally alter the domain name, you can simply register the new correctly spelled domain name. Then, after the period for which you purchased it has expired, let the previous one expire.

Should I register my domain with “www” in front?

No. Because the “www” section of your domain name isn’t actually a part of your domain name, there’s no need to register it with “www.” Simply enter example.com without the “www” in the domain name. You can host the “www” record for the domain name as well when setting up hosting for the domain.

Can GreggHost help me purchase a domain that is already registered to someone else, or help me contact them?

No. GreggHost can’t help you sell an already-registered domain or contact the owner of an already-registered domain.

Hosting

What is the difference between domain registration and web hosting?

A comparison of the differences between domain registration and web hosting can be found here:

Domain registration grants you sole ownership and control over your website’s name. The domain name is taken off the market because no one else has access to it. However, registering a domain is only half of the equation for having a website or email address at your domain – you must also connect that domain name to a provider that provides server space and bandwidth for your website content and email.
The server, its network connection, configuration, and upkeep are all provided by web hosting. All you have to do now is upload your site to the server and set up your email through an online account management panel.
GreggHost provides both, and the GreggHost Panel allows you to control everything in one spot.

Does registering a domain mean I can publish my site right away?

When you purchase a domain name, you own it for the duration of the registration period.

There is, however, a distinction to be made between registering a domain and having a website published on the Internet. When you first register a domain, it is marked as PARKED in your control panel. This indicates that it has been added to your account but is not yet available online. If you want your site to be visible online, you’ll need to purchase a hosting service.

If your GreggHost account has an active hosting plan, you may link that plan to your new name and begin publishing content online by following the procedures at:

Adding Domains and Subdomains (Domains & Subdomains)
You can also point your domain name to a different hosting provider. For instructions on how to point your domain name to their hosting services, please contact your external hosting provider.

From the time you register your domain and attach it to a hosting service until it is available online, there is normally a 72-hour wait. This is because GreggHost has no control over DNS propagation.

After registering a domain, how do I host it?

For complete procedures, see the article on adding hosting.

Domains of many types

Does it matter which kind of domain I register (.com, .net, .org, or .info)?

No. Any type of domain can be registered. All four are “unrestricted” Top-Level Domains (TLDs), which means that anyone can register a name for any reason.

These four domains are among the most popular when it comes to acquiring the name you want. In terms of availability, the most popular domain is.com. Whether your preferred domain isn’t accessible as a.com, see if it’s available as a.net,.org, or.info domain.

What Top Level Domains (TLDs) can I register at GreggHost?

For a current list of domain extensions and pricing, go to GreggHost’s TLD page.

Is it possible for me to register an international domain name?
Domain names with characters other than unaccented Roman letters (A-Z), numerals (0-9), and the hyphen are known as Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).

At this time, GreggHost does not offer the option of registering an internationalized domain name. After acquiring it from another business that supports IDNs, you can still host it with GreggHost.

For more details, see the following article:

Domain Names from Around the World

Can I register a .gov domain?

Government domains are not presently accessible for registration with GreggHost, however you may always register it with another registrar and host it with GreggHost.

Periods of time

How long can I register a new domain for?

You can register domains for 1–3 years in advance, depending on the domain extension. Some registries impose restrictions on how far in advance a domain can be registered.

On the Registrations tab of your panel, you can also set your domains to renew automatically every year. To set your domains to automatically renew, simply click the yes link in the Auto Renew column. This domain will now renew itself every year. At the bottom of the table, you may also set all of your domains to renew.

How long can I renew my domain for?
A domain can be renewed for up to two years, with payment due at the time of renewal. You can also choose to have your domain registration automatically renewed. More information can be found here:

Auto Renewals / Renewals / Renewals / Renewals / Renewals /

Is there a discount for bulk domain registrations?

Currently, there are no discounts available for multiple domain registrations.