Gift a Domain: The Perfect Gift for Anyone or Any Occasion

There are so many things you can do with a domain and a simple web site. Here is a short list of the people and occasions in your life that might like to have a domain as a gift:

1. Grandparents would love a web site that allowed them to see their grandchildren living far away.

2. College students, for the most part computer savvy, can share their campus experiences with family and old friends.

3. Military families can stay in constant touch even half a world away. The site owner can post pictures of the new baby and post his or her own blog of daily events. Imagine how that would pick up the spirits of military personnel away from home - and very home sick. A personal or family website is almost like being there.

4. Kids can get very creative (probably more than adults) using today's site building software.

5. Family with distant relatives.

6. Small business owners.

7. Artists

8. Writers

9. Poets looking to expose their works to the world.

10. Not-for-profit organization

11. Community organizations

12. Town sports teams

13. Service organizations

14. Special Occasions

15. Birthing Gifts

16. Birthday Presents

17. Anniversary gifts

Don't make the mistake of giving Mom flowers for Mother's Day! Flowers die...but a website can live on forever!!

First, check out the new theme for the lens in awesome Valentine's day style!

Second, let's talk about a great, last minute Valentine's day gift for your honey (male or female). How about grabbing them an appropriate domain name. Or, if you are feeling silly, buy a silly domain name. Let's get some ideas on the table!

For a domain name to "exist," it has to be registered. Most often, registrars are web hosting companies and can charge anywhere from $3 to $18 to register a domain name with the W3 domain name authorities. I suggest a full service domain registration and hosting company like www.GoDaddy.com

There are millions of web sites, which means there are millions of registered domain names because that's what a domain name is all about - a web site. Amazon.com is a domain name you may have heard of. Youtube, Myspace and WebMD are other examples of domain names.

So, if you're giving your brother a domain name for his birthday, choose a name that he'll enjoy and appreciate. Be creative in developing a name that's (1) available and (2) a reflection of the gift recipient. To check availability of a domain name go to www.GoDaddy.com. Type your idea for a domain name gift into the box labeled "Start Your Domain Name Search Here" near the middle of the page.

Now, we're all familiar with dot-coms, as in IBM.com and Google.com. The c-o-m stands for "company," telling potential visitors that this is a commercial site. But today, there are many more options for domain name extensions including .net, .us, .name and plenty of others. This gives you many more domain options because if IBM.com is taken (and it is!) you might try IBM.net or IBM.us until you find a name that will please the individual who receives the gift.

So you have read this lens, you would like to buy a domain name, but nothing is coming to you. You can't think of a good domain and you think that all the good domain names are taken.

Think again. The folks over a NameBoy have a domain name generator that is sure to help.

Find available domain names and domain name ideas from Nameboy domain name generator

They also have a free domain name appraisal service if you are so inclined. And Now it is FREE

You and/or the domain name owner are now poised to construct a web site. Look for a web host that provides a toolbox of web building tools free. Go with a web host that provides all the tools you'll need to design and launch a website. www.GoDaddy.com also provides web hosting!

Low-cost web hosting, with a pile of goodies, shouldn't cost more than $10 a month - less than $120 a year. BTW, this might be a cost you add to your "gift" - a one-year subscription of web hosting. You get the best rates when you sign on for 12 months or longer.

Once you've selected a web host, it's time to build a web site and, really, it's something anybody can do. You don't have to be a computer genius. You don't even have to be a computer dummy.

Help or let the gift recipient handle things on his or her own. A child might need a little help but part of the fun of designing a web site (especially one given as a gift) is to personalize it and make it your own.

Actual site construction is done using templates - basic forms into which you add whatever information you want - your name, the family name, whatever - that's what makes it your site.

Using pick-and-click templates, even the techno-impaired can build a web site in a few hours with a completely customized look. Hey, now you've taken your place in cyberspace. You have a digital identity.

What's in a name? Perhaps a good gift

This is the time of year when every newspaper, magazine, website, and news show feels obligated to publish a Holiday Gift Guide.
I don't get much out of those, in part because there's always plenty of overlap. Wanna bet that digital cameras, cellphones, and MP3 players are on a lot of lists? (And who buys someone else a cellphone, anyway?)

So I thought I'd suggest something completely different, gift-wise. It's an idea that's a little on the techie side (this is a technology column, after all), but is a lot more personal than a camera or cellphone.

My personal favorite gift idea, if the Someone You Love doesn't already have one, is a domain name. You know - kantor.com or johnsmith.com or stevesplumbing.net. They're inexpensive, personal, and they can be pretty useful.

Domains are cheap; you can register one for a year for about $6.00 or $7.00. Another $4.00 or $5.00 a month gets you hosting for that domain. So bottom line, $52 (or less) buys a hosted domain for a year.

A quick explanation: Owning a domain only gives you the rights to the name, e.g., stevesplumbing.net. It's like calling "dibs." But if you actually want to use it for a website, email, etc., you need to have the domain hosted. (Owning one without hosting it is called "parking" the domain.)

This is why you often see domain names and hosting sold together. Hosting means renting space on a computer that will hold Web pages (if Someone You Love wants a website), and will also handle email from that domain. That way your friend Steve can use "steve@stevesplumbing.net" as his email address.

There are about 20 gazillion sites that let you register domain names, and another 20 gazillion that will host that name for you. And there's plenty of overlap. There are also plenty of sites that will help you find a hosting company.

I use a company called TotalChoice Hosting that, like many, does domain registrations and Web hosting. A .com domain costs $11.00 per year to register, and $4.00 per month for hosting.

I've also registered domains with Hostway for $7.00 per year, although I stick with TotalChoice for hosting because the service and services are so good there. I've heard good things about GoDaddy as well.

Another good thing: You can always change registrars or hosting companies. As long as you've registered that domain with one of them (and make the annual payments), it's yours, period.

Much more than email

Giving someone a gift of a domain name gives them a few things. First, she can put up a website - that $4.00 per month gives her a nice chunk of space for a site (450MB in the case of TotalChoice), and instructions for putting up a site if she's so inclined.

Even if she's not interested in a website, having a hosted domain gives her personalized email. Instead of being "suzy1734@serviceprovider.net" or somesuch, she can be "suzy@suzysplace.com." And the beauty of it is that the address is hers for life, whether she connects to the Internet through Cox, Verizon, a local dial-up provider, or whatever.

And not just one email address. TCH, for example, allows unlimited email accounts, which is one of the reasons I like the company. I was able to give everyone in my family - as well as some other Kantors around the world - a kantor.com address that's theirs forever. So if you buy something like "zyxw.com" that doesn't clearly belong to a "suzy" or a "bill," Someone You Love can give friends and family permanent addresses too.

Of course, this late in the Internet game many of the really cool and short domain names are taken. But there are certainly good ones to be had.

First off, to find whether a name is available, don't just enter www.whatever.com into your browser. The name might be registered but not have a website yet. Instead, you can use one of the many domain-name check sites.

I like one tool called the Domain Explorer at Whois Source. It lets you enter a word (e.g., "suzy") and some options (e.g., no hyphens) and will give you a list of domain names and a chart telling you whether they're available as a .com, .net, .org, etc.

There are lots of ways to go about choosing a domain. A name is a good start, but most first and last names are already gone in their .com, .net, and .org forms. But, while you won't get suzy.com, you might find suzyderkins.com or mynameissuzy.com.

Going beyond names, if you like the idea of a short domain, you can find lots of three- and four-letter nonsense domains available, like qzek.com or xptk.com.

These are more useful than you might think; a well-chosen short name is easy to remember and easy to give to someone verbally. My wife, whose domain is kcentral.com, used to get a lot of queries for people at casecentral.com because they misheard the address.

A nifty piece of free software for finding available domains is NR4's eePire. You can have search for available three- or four-letter domains (all two-letter .coms are taken), as well as a dictionary search and some other lookups. Granted, argles.com doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but displeasures.com has a certain je ne se quois. Both are there for the taking.

Once you get Someone You Love a domain and a host, a whole world opens up depending on how much she feels like doing. She can set up a blog, free, with Movable Type or WordPress software. Many hosts offer free message board and chat room software as part of the account. Some offer shopping-cart packages as well.

Or she can simply enjoy having a cool, and permanent, email address. Hopefully she'll use it to thank you.

PS: The domain name bedumb.com is available.

PPS: So is disobeyers.com.

Andrew Kantor is a technology writer, pundit, and know-it-all who covers technology for the Roanoke Times. He's also a former editor for PC Magazine and Internet World. Read more of his work at kantor.com. His column appears Fridays on USATODAY.com.

Here I would like to highlight the current GoDaddy.com deal of the week.