Domain Name

• What name to pick
  • www.eaa1999.org - there is no hard rule for choosing a domain name. It is recommended to selection one that is easy for your members and potential members to remember. Many chapters use www.eaa(chapter number).org. This is probably the most easy to remember and find. If you want to find Chapter 32's website, without doing a time consuming search, you may just try to type www.eaa32.org and see what you find. Yes, you will find Chapter 32's web site.

• Dot-org vs. Dot-com - Why do some web pages end in .org and some end in .com or .edu or .net? These are extensions that traditional tell what type of web site you are visiting, although if .org is not available, you can select .com. Traditionally non-profit organizations (like EAA) use the .org ending. Commercial businesses, for profit organizations will use .com. The extension .net was added when .coms were filing up. If you look at an Domain name registration page, you will see a wide variety of extensions.

• Reserve your domain name
  How do you know if anyone is using your domain name? The quickest way is to open a browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox) and type in the name. If there is no active site, then it is available. Or you can go to any of the Domain Registration sites (a couple are listed below), and search on those sites. Check around, many will have special deals. Note: Before you register a name, review some of the Internet Service Providers. Some will give you free registration if you host with them.

Scroll down to see a few Registrars.

Free

You don't have to pay to have a domain name. Many Internet Service Providers will allow you to create a domain name within their domain as seen below.

• Netfirms
  • www.eaa1999.netfirms.com
• Geocities/Yahoo
  • http://www.geocities.com/eaa1999

This works well for Chapters on a limited budget. The only drawback is that there is more domain name to remember than just the chapter number. It may make it difficult for people to remember the URL (web address).

Inexpensive

If you want your URL to be easy to remember and just your chapter number (www.eaa1999.org), you will probably have to pay for it, but many are very inexpensive.

The following are examples Registration Companies, but they are also Internet Service Providers, they will also store your web page files on their computers. Most ISPs will also provide a place to register your domain name. You do not have to use the ISP services to register the names. You can register with one company and then shop around for an inexpensive ISP.

• Register.com
  • $35/year
• Netfirms
  • $4.95/first year
• Stokia.com
  • $35/year
  • Free domain registration with $35/year hosting

Once you have decided on your domain name and check out of few registration companies, now you have to decide on an Internet Service Provider. This company will store your files on their computers.

NOTE: Don't register your name until you have reviewed a few ISPs. As mentioned earlier, many will give you a deal on registering your domain name if you host with them. Continue on to ISPs.