Your Web Domain in Three Easy Steps

Get Your Own Domain Name

First off, why would you want your own web domain? There are several reasons:

• Perhaps you want to start a website or plan to start one in the future
• Maybe you want a personalised email address, such as pete@myfamilyname.co.uk
• Or perhaps you don’t like the idea of someone getting there first and nicking your name

Getting your own web domain is quick, cheap and easy, and you don’t need to have a website to go with your domain name

What is a domain name, and how do I get one?

Assuming you’re in the UK, then getting a .co.uk or a me.uk domain name should cost you around £5. You pay to register the domain name, and once you’ve paid for it, you can direct it to a website or to another email address

Let’s assume your name is “Pete Family” – You could get the email address pete@familyemail.co.uk to forward to your personal Hotmail address – and if you decide to get a web site in the future, the domain is yours and you can point it at a website easily.

So, how do you do it? Just three easy steps…

Step One: Check availability

There are plenty of companies around the world that will sell you a domain name. Here, we use Namesco and 1 & 1 Internet for domain names, and are happy to recommend either. For this example, we’re going to use 1 & 1 Internet, as they’re slightly cheaper.

First, go to order.1and1.co.uk (this link opens a new window)

Then, type in the name you’re after, select “co.uk” and select ‘Check’

Example of 1 and 1 Domain Checking

If the name you want isn’t free, look for another.

Step Two: Buying the domain

Once you have settled on a free name, you will be prompted to buy the domain, or to buy web hosting. You just want the domain name, and not the hosting. At the time of writing, the price is £2.99 a year for a .co.uk domain name at 1 & 1 Internet.

You’ll then have to put in your name, address and credit card details, and set up an account with 1 & 1. This should take you no more than 5 minutes.

Once you have bought your domain name, you may need to wait between 12 and 24 hours before this becomes live (it’s normally much quicker). This allows time for the registration to be completed with the domain authorities, and for the domain to propagate around the Internet.

Step 3: Forwarding your domain

Now you have bought and paid for your domain, it’s time to do something with it – let’s set up the domain to forward email to your main email address

Log on to your 1 & 1 account using the account number and password created when you bought the domain. Then, do the following:

• Go to the Administration screen
• Select “Manage Domains”
• Select “Emails”
• Press “New”
• Type in the email address at your new domain (e.g. pete@familyname.co.uk)
• Select Type as “Forward”
• Enter the email address to forward emails to (such as your BT, Virgin, TalkTalk, Hotmail address)
• Press OK

Example of 1 and 1 Email Forwarding Setup

And that’s it. Should you wish, you can make changes to your email forwarding address, add other aliases (e.g. thewife@familyname.co.uk), or even direct your domain to a website – all by logging on to the 1 & 1 Control Panel.

We hope you found this little guide useful…