Domain ordered. So now what?

So you've bought a new domain name. Now what? Much depends on why you purchased the domain name - but that's the last of stating the obvious!

There are several options now ahead of you and we'll try to cover them all in the document below. Whichever you choose you are free to change your mind in the future, there are no configuration costs for your domain name so you can change your mind as often as you wish. But first things first, you need to make sure your domain name registration request was executed correctly by viewing the domain registrant details on the public WHOIS record.

First things first...

1) Make sure your domain name is correctly registered

Once you have submitted your domain registration order and successfully paid, your domain registration request is immediately submitted to the appropriate registry. The domain should be showing as registered to you within a few short minutes. A common reason for rejection is "invalid postcode" or even a completely dreamed up address!

To verify that your registration was successful, go to our WHOIS lookup page and type in your domain name eg. yourdomain.co.uk. If the result is "no match" or "not found" and you have paid for your domain name then you must contact the Helpdesk immediately as it is possible that you registration request has been rejected OR your PayPal payment has not been correctly matched to your order.

Once you have established that your WHOIS record is correctly showing your submitted contact details then you can move on - it's time to decide what to do with your domain name!

2) I bought my domain name with a UKC web hosting package

That's great! So you have a full hosting package with your domain name, you need read no further here as your domain name will be automatically connected to your web hosting service and your web hosting control panel is in control of all aspects of your domain name.

3) Make sure you can login to your domain name control panel

Your domain name control panel is your domain control centre. Everything you could possible want to do with your domain name is done from here such as setting up aliases (email prefixes), email forwarding, web redirection, changing nameservers, changing IPSTAG or UNLOCKing your domain name. Everything, I think you get the picture!

Your domain name control panel can be entered using the link below:

https://www.uk-cheapest.co.uk/members

If you have problems getting in make sure that you are NOT using the Safari Browser. We recommend Mozilla Firfox for everything, it is fast, secure and FREE! You can download Mozilla Firefox here:

Download Mozilla Firefox - The World's BEST Browser

Once you have downloaded and isntalled Firefox we promise you will never want to use another browser!

4) What happens if I don't want to do anything with my domain name yet?

Well, nothing happens! You have registered a domain name for 2 years, this is now your domain name. Maybe you like the sound of it? You may be able to sell it in future, earn cash from domain parking (see below) or just keep it reserved for future use. It is entirely up to you but the main thing is to know that it is yours do with as you please and so doing nothing is entirely a valid option!

5) How do I get my domain Homepage online?

The Homepage builder is very easy to use. When activated it overrides your "Web Forwarding" features.

1. Login to your domain name control panel
2. On the Features menu on the right, click on "Homepage Builder"
3. Change "Homepage Builder" drop down box to "Active" from "Disabled"
4. Select your desired homepage layout
5. Enter the Main Title for your web site, eg. "Widgets and Gadgets Limited"
6. Enter the Sub Title for your web site, eg. "Established sine 1999"
7. Enter your contact email address, eg. "info@widgetsandgadgets.co.uk"
8. Enter your Homepage header, eg. "Welcome to our website!"
9. Enter your Homepage text, eg. "This website is all about us!"
10. Select if you want an "About Us" page from the drop down box.
11. Enter the information you want on the "About Us" page if necessary
12. Select if you want a "Contact Us" page from the drop down box.
13. Enter the information you want on the "Contact Us" page if necessary
14. Press the "Save and Publish" button
15. Your site is now online!

If you no longer require your Homepage simply "Disable" it. You can switch it back on at anytime.

6) How do I setup email forwarding aliases for my domain name?

So now it's time to setup your email forwarding. In an effort to minimise SPAM to your domain name, all email automatically bounces UNLESS you have setup an alias. So, in effect you setup which email addresses will be valid.

1. Login to your domain name control panel
2. On the Features menu on the right, click on "Update Email Forwarding"
3. In the alias text box on the left type the alias name, eg. "sales"
4. In the destination text box on the right type the target email address eg. "myhomeaddress@hotmail.co.uk"
5. Now press the "Add" button on the right of the destination email address.
6. Now all email sent to "sales@yourdomain.co.uk" will be redirected to "myhomeaddress@hotmail.co.uk"
7. Add as many aliases as you wish, eg. "info", "webmaster", "bob" etc.

7) How do I redirect/connect my domain name to my web host?

Your web host will provide the information to you. You will either have a URL to forward to such as:

http://www.freewebspaceprovider.co.uk/mydomainwebspace

Or your provider will ask you to change the nameservers to something such as:

ns1.nameserver.co.uk
ns2.nameserver.co.uk

Or finally (!) your provider will ask you to change DNS A records and provide an IP address such as:

12.23.34.45

The first two options can be performed easily in your domain name control panel, the DNS A record change is best performed by our Helpdesk. Just contact them and copy+paste the instructions you received from your provider and our Tech Support will do the rest for you.

8) How do I modify my DNS A, MX and CNAME records?

Modifying DNS records directly causes our clients more problems than any other single subject! There is no standard notation from providers when supplying the DNS record changes and so unless your are well aversed with DNS records then this process is best left to the experts - so, simply submit a ticket to the Helpdesk with a copy of the instructions provided by your hosting provider (Moonfruit, Weebly etc) and we will do the rest - at absolutely no cost!

9) How do I make money with my domain name through a domain parking program?

First you need to sign up to a domain parking programme, we recommend Namedrive as they at present pay the greatest clickthrough rates. Sign up to Namedrive, add your domain (full instructions provided at Namedrive) and then login to your Domain Control Panel and forward your domain to Namedrive using a forwarding URL such as:

http://www.ndparking.com/yourdomain.co.uk

You can use Masked or Unmasked forwarding, the choice is yours. There is a plethora of information at Namedrive concerning adding keywords to your domain in the Namedrive parking system.

Another popular parking programme is run by Sedo whilst earnings from clicks are lower than Namedrive you are more likely to be made an offer to purchase your domain name outright by a private buyer.