Domain search
Choosing a domain name
The first step to creating a website is to choose a suitable domain name, but before you do, you might want to consider the following points:
Your domain should be your website name
Naming your site after your domain may seem obvious, but you’ll be surprised to learn that not every website is named after the domain name even when the webmaster owns that domain name. Naming your site after its domain name is important, for the simple reason that when people think of your website, they’ll think of it by name.
If your name is also your URL (website address), they’ll automatically know where to go. For example, when people think of thefreecountry.com, they don’t have to wonder what URL to type into their browser to get there. The name of the site is also the URL.
Long or short domain names?
Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters, so you really don’t have to settle for an obscure domain name, which really doesn’t mean anything, like avab.com when what you mean is AcmeVideosAndBooks.com
Having said that, there appears to be some disagreement about whether a long or short domain name is better. Some argue that shorter domain names are easier to remember, easier to type and far less susceptible to mistakes: for example, getit.com is easier to remember and less prone to typos than connecttomywebsiteandobtainit.com
Hyphenated domain names?
Should you get a hyphenated name? There are a few things to consider:
1. Disadvantage: It’s easy to forget the hyphens when typing a name. Many users are used to typing things like freecpluspluscompilers.com but not free-c-plus-plus-compilers.com. They’ll probably leave out the hyphens and end up at your competitor’s site.
2. Disadvantage: When people recommend your site to their friends verbally, having hyphens in your domain name leads to more potential errors than when the name does not contain hyphens.
For example, how do you think your visitors will refer to your site if it is named “acme-books-and-videos.com”? They might say, “I visited Acme Book and Videos dot com yesterday. It was fabulous.”
Their friends, remembering that comment later, might type “acmebooksandvideos.com”. Oops.
3. Disadvantage: It’s a pain in the neck to type. Enough said.
4. Advantage: Search engines can distinguish your keywords better and thus return your site more prominently in search results for those keywords occurring in your domain name.
5. Advantage: The non-hyphenated form may no longer be available. At least this way, you still get the domain name you want.
These tips were taken from Tips on Choosing a Good Domain Name
Domain Pricing
All prices exclude VAT
| TLD | Min. Years | Register | Transfer | Renew |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .co.za | 1 | R70.00 | R20.00 | R70.00 |
| .co | 1 | R260.00 | R260.00 | R260.00 |
| .com | 1 | R155.00 | R155.00 | R155.00 |
| .me | 1 | R300.00 | R300.00 | R300.00 |
| .net | 1 | R155.00 | R155.00 | R155.00 |
| .org | 1 | R155.00 | R155.00 | R155.00 |
| .co.uk | 2 | R280.00 | R350.00 | R280.00 |
| .tv | 1 | R480.00 | R480.00 | R480.00 |
| .mobi | 1 | R155.00 | R155.00 | R155.00 |
| .biz | 1 | R220.00 | R220.00 | R220.00 |
| .us | 1 | R250.00 | R250.00 | R250.00 |
| .info | 1 | R80.00 | R80.00 | R80.00 |
| .cc | 1 | R200.00 | R200.00 | R200.00 |
| .mu | 1 | R850.00 | R850.00 | R850.00 |
| .in | 1 | R120.00 | R120.00 | R120.00 |
| .cn | 1 | R420.00 | R420.00 | R420.00 |
| .ca | 1 | R165.00 | R165.00 | R165.00 |
| .travel | 1 | R925.00 | R925.00 | R925.00 |
| .de | 1 | R180.00 | R180.00 | R180.00 |
| .eu | 1 | R180.00 | R180.00 | R180.00 |
| .asia | 1 | R180.00 | R180.00 | R180.00 |
| .za.net | 1 | R1.00 | R20.00 | |
| .hk | 1 | R850.00 | R850.00 | R850.00 |
| .com.au | 2 | R650.00 | R650.00 | R650.00 |
| .co.nz | 1 | R175.00 | FREE! | R175.00 |
| .org.au | 2 | R275.00 | FREE! | R275.00 |
| .fm | 1 | R700.00 | R700.00 | R700.00 |
