What is a "domain name"?
A domain name is the label used to identify your contractor website, for example, yourname.com or yourcity.com. In order for visitors to access your site on the Internet, you must select a unique domain name and register it with an accredited domain name service like The Design People.

What kinds of things should I consider when choosing a domain name?
Because your domain name will represent your business, a general rule to follow is make sure that the name you choose is easy to spell, easy to remember and instills confidence. It's a good idea for you to try to stick .com or .net names, as those are the most commonly accepted and trusted by visitors to your website. Your domain name can be up to 67 characters long and can include almost any combination of letters, numbers and dashes. However, use care as complicated or long domain names may break the first rule we mentioned.

I picked out a domain name. How can I find out if it is available?
You can quickly check to see if a domain name is available by visiting our domain name registration page at http://domains.thedesignpeople.com. Type in your domain name into the appropriate area and click 'Search.' The Design People will find out if that name is currently available. If the domain name is already registered, you may want to try variations of the name.

Someone else is already using the domain name I want. Is there anything I can do?
Once a domain name is registered, it belongs to the person or company that registered it. If you are really interested in having a domain name that is already registered to someone else, you can contact the owner of the domain name to find out if the name is for sale or you can wait for the registration to expire.

Can I have more than one domain name? Can they both point to the same Web site?
Yes. You can have as many domain names as you like. You can have each domain name point to a different site, or you can have multiple domain names point to the same website. Registering multiple domain names for the same can help prevent competitors from poaching your potential customers. When picking multiple domain names-or aliases-for the same site, consider variations of your name such as common misspellings as well as both singular and plural versions of the name. Contact a The Design People design consultant to find out how.