Domain Names

Choosing a Domain Name

The choice of domain name for your business or organisation is a small thing, but is highly visible, and should be easy to remember so that people can easily find your website and get in touch by email. The extension to your domain name, like .co.nz or .com, has meaning to your audience and may heavily affect how trustworthy your business appears. You may like to consider registering different domain extensions such as .nz to avoid another business using it and causing confusion.

The business that you purchase a domain name from is called a registrar. Some registrars will charge unreasonably high fees, or charge for basic services that are typically offered for free elsewhere. Web Generation will ensure you get a fair deal, and will put you in control.

Support with DNS and Domain Name Management

Domain names need “DNS records” to be configured to help handle a number of different tasks, some of which are not immediately obvious. The configuration is like a set of publicly available instructions to the internet on how to handle various flows of information relating to the domain name. The affected services include:

  • Sending web traffic to the computer server that hosts the website
  • Sending email to the mail server
  • Proof that the mail server and hosting servers have authority to send and/or receive email
  • Providing a statement for other email systems on what spam prevention tools have been setup. This helps email from addresses using your domain name to avoid being treated as spam.

If you need help with any of these things, just get in touch!

Ensure You Own Your Domain Name

You can check who owns a New Zealand domain name (ie one ending with .nz) by using the lookup-tool at the New Zealand Domain Name Commission at dnc.org.nz. If you already have a domain name, then it’s very important that you have control of it. Your name and email address should be listed under the “Registrant” details when you lookup your domain through the domain name commission website. If that’s not the case, it’s best to get the details updated sooner rather than later, as in some circumstances you may lose your domain name otherwise.

Registrant Responsibilities

To control and use a domain name as the registrant, you need to meet some basic requirements to help keep the internet safe. Below is some more information on what it means to have a domain name: