To browse a web site the address of an associated domain name or URL must be entered. This is a word or phrase, usually memorable, which is connected with the nature of the site or the business or product behind it. The domain names offered at no cost by web hosting companies and those offered by companies which specialize in cheap domain names have a big difference between them. A free web hosting company will not usually want to invest in a new domain name and so will usually offer domains that are extensions of their own name to their customers.

To access a third level domain the hosting company’s domain name must be included. This means that the domain name will be longer than usual and probably hard to remember. Buying a new domain name will get around this difficulty. Finding a low cost one is easily possible as there are many cheap domain name companies all competing for business.

Cheap domain names can be free or they can range in price up to around seven dollars. Web hosting companies that offer free domain names that are worth anything will usually want the customer to buy web hosting from them, and the domain name is still paid for as part of a bundle. Paid for domain names can be bought separate from a web hosting package. These paid for domains will cost anything from one dollar upwards.

There is no difference in the registration process for a cheap domain name as for a regularly priced domain name. When purchasing a domain name, checking that it is still available for purchase is the first step. To find out if the desired name is still available then a customer will enter the name into an appropriate text box and select the extension wanted. A customer my then purchase the domain if it is taken, if it already exists then another name must be chosen. If the domain name a customer wants is already taken then some companies will offer alternative names.

Unfortunately dishonest companies are the biggest one - a person may not receive their domain name at all if they use one of them. The company will tell the customer that the domain will not be active immediately and that they will have to wait for some time. At the end of a few days the domain still doesn’t work, and emailing the company doesn’t work either.

A good first step to making sure that a person hasn’t found a fraudulent company is to check with the better Business Bureau and find out if the cheap domain name company is registered. The Better Business Bureau makes sure that companies are operating legitimately. The next way to protect yourself from a deceitful cheap domain name company is to check for the normal contact information such as a land based phone number and address. Another place to check is message boards that are dedicated to webmasters, ask if anyone knows if the company has a good or bad reputation.

Staying clear of a company that does not have anyone to offer a good opinion may be a reasonable step. But, if a cheap domain name company is reputable then there is not other reason the avoid getting a discounted domain name with them. The way that domain names work takes no account of how much they cost, so if a person can get cheap domain names through a legitimate company then they should take advantage of it.