With so many companies offering to sell you domain names, it is difficult to know who you should buy from. A domain name is a valuable investment, even though it is inexpensive. It is therefore   important to choose wisely. Just how you buy, and who you buy from depends very much on how you are going to use your domain name. Are you going to be using it for your new web site or do you just need a domain name for just your emails?

You will usually receive a number of free services alongside your newly purchased domain name. Make sure that the registration company provides you with these facilities so that you have control over your domain. Common features include the following: -

• Web forwarding
• Email Forwarding

This allows you to point the new domain name to an existing web site.

What this means is that anyone typing in (for example) www.my-new-domain.com into their browser will automatically be transferred to www.current-website.com.

This allows your new domain name to be used to forward email to an existing email account; giving you a more professional email address.

For example, when someone sends an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it it will automatically be forwarded to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Being an inexpensive option however, it does have its disadvantages when compare to buying a real account. The disadvantage here would be that if you replied to an email it would be sent through your existing account and the recipient would (in the above example) see the hotmail address on their screen.

It can be confusing to know where to buy from and while you may expect all registration services offer the same level of service this is not always true.

Some of the apparently very cheaper offerings have hidden costs. You may have purchased a very cheap domain name but if you then decide to add a couple of email accounts your package then may be in for a shock. Always check and compare the costs of extra feature before hand before if you change your mind about the company and decide to move your domain elsewhere

...such as charging you a large amount if you want to move the domain name away from them.

We've had many customers approach us with a domain they've already purchased from such a company, and they have had to pay extortionate amounts of money to move the domain to a host that gives them control.

Now, there are many good registration companies out there, but we can only speak from our personal experience. Here's the two that we highly recommend:

1. http://www.heartinternet.co.uk
2. http://www.123-reg.co.uk