Domain Names

A domain name is used to find websites and for routing email messages. Domain names consist of up to 64 characters, followed by an extension (usually three letters).

You must buy a domain name, which has a yearly fee. There are services which don't require your own domain, but the address is usually long and cumbersome.

Some advantages to having your own domain name:

• A domain gives you a unique address on the web (www.yourchurch.org).
• You can receive email at that domain name (john@yourchurch.org).
• If you want to transfer your site to another server, you can do it easily.
• The search engines will do a better job at indexing your site.
• The address is short.

AtMyChurch can do the following:

• Help you choose a good domain name.
• Register the name for you (at Network Solutions).
• Keep tabs on when the domain needs to be renewed.
• Configure your settings to point to where your website is located (the appropriate DNS server).

If we register a domain for you, it must be for a minimum of three years. The longer the period, the cheaper the cost per year.

3 years: $75 ($25 per year)
5 years: $100 ($20 per year)
10 years: $150 ($15 per year)

As you can see, it's highly advantageous to register a domain for a long period of time. You have one up-front cost, and then don't need to worry about it for many years.

We use Network Solutions to register domains. Why them? Because Network Solutions was the first domain registrar, and we've found it to be highly reliable. All of the UB denominational domains (over 30 of them) are kept with Network Solutions.