FAQ - Domain Names
Why Have a Domain?
How Do I Use a Domain Name?
How is a Domain Name Made?
What Does a Domain Name Cost?
Can I move an Existing Domain
Name?
Having e-mail and web addresses which
your customers can easily identify with will assist
your company in building a presence on the Internet.
If your present e-mail or web address is based on the
name of your Internet Service provider then you have
limited your options when you wish to change Internet
Service Providers. It also makes it difficult for your
customers to remember your Internet address.
Your company can promote its presence on the Internet
by registering a domain name. This is the on-line equivalent
of registering a business name. The domain name is important
because it forms part of your e-mail and Web address
and removes the reliance on having someone else's company
name as part of your Internet Address. 
A Domain by itself is not very useful
but when it points to a site , or web page, on the world
wide web you can send and receive e-mail to meaningful
addresses at your domain name and provide information
to those who access your web pages using your domain
name.
For example The Important Company Pty Ltd
with a domain name of important.com
can setup e-mail boxes like sales@important.com
and have their web pages accessed via the address www.important.com
A domain name normally consists of
2 parts, your company name, type of organisation/location.
For example with the domain www.important.com
- important is the company name and the
.com indicates that The Important Company Pty
Ltd is a commercial organisation. Sometimes there may
be an international domain suffix like .au,
which indicates the country where the business operates
(in the case of .au, the country is
Australia.)
If you are an educational institution then you can request
a domain name which ends in .edu, government
and semi-government departments can request .gov,
for clubs and various forms of affiliation groups .org
and for network infrastructure and Internet Service
Providers .net.
What does a domain name cost ?
Most domain names are registered with the relevant naming authority for 2 year periods and the current charges payable to the naming authority for the most common (and useful) domain name options are as follows:
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A standard charge of $77, which includes
the first 2 years registration fee, will apply if you
require Planet HomePage to establish a domain name on
your behalf.
Can I move an existing domain name ?
If your domain is already delegated
to an ISP you can arrange for it to be re-delegated
to Planet HomePage. There is no additional charge for
moving an existing domain as part of your initial set-up,
but you are responsible for any charges imposed by the
name registration authority.
A charge of $39 applies to have an existing domain name
re-directed to your existing Planet HomePage site.