Is your domain name still available? Check its availability and register it without further delay

A domain name is the unique name used to identify an IP address without having to use a series of numbers. Each computer that is connected to the Internet has its own Internet Protocol address or IP address; Combell’s IP address, for instance, is 217.21.190.142.

However, using these numbers is not very user-friendly; it is much easier for you to remember Combell.com than these numbers. And there is another downside to using numbers: if you ever need to migrate the website to a new server, it will probably have a new IP address. Using domain names instead of numbers makes things a lot easier, because the domain name remains the same, even if you change the underlying numerical address.

The Domain Name System or DNS is the name system that connects domain names to the corresponding numerical IP addresses. The DNS is comparable to a phone book. It ensures that you can enter an URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or e-mail address without having to know where the computer is located in the world.

A domain name consists of different parts, which must be read from right to left. The extension at the end is the Top-Level Domain or TLD. To its left, you will usually see the actual domain name, which is the Second-Level Domain or SLD. Both are separated by a dot. In Combell.com, “com” is the TLD, and “Combell” the SLD.

There are different TLDs: generic Top-Level Domains (generic TLDs or gTLDs) and country code Top-Level Domains (country code TLDs or ccTLDs).

In gTLDs, the extension consists, by convention, of a series of minimum 3 letters, such as .COM, .NET, .ORG, etc.

In ccTLDs, the extension consists of the two letters of the country code. Each domain suffix that consists of 2 letters is a ccTLD.

A country code Top-Level Domain is a TLD reserved for a country, a sovereign state or a dependent territory. A domain with a country code usually indicates that a company or organisation is established in a particular country and/or addresses the people in that country.

In a ccTLD, the extension (the last part of the domain name) consists of the two letters of the country code, like .be for Belgium and .nl for the Netherlands. Some country codes also use a Second-Level Domain, like .co.uk for companies and .org.uk for non-profit organisations in the United Kingdom.

.eu is also considered a country code; it indicates that a company addresses the whole of Europe.

A generic Top-Level Domain is a TLD that is used to identify the company or organisation for which the domain was requested: .com for commercial entities, .org for non-profit organisations, .net for networks, .edu for educational institutions, .biz for businesses, etc.

Contrary to ccTLDs such as .be for Belgium and .nl for the Netherlands, which indicate local roots, a gTLD has a more international dimension.

A few years ago, it was decided to increase the number of existing gTLDs. This is how new gTLDs became available for specific professions (like .LAW, for example) or geographic locations (like .VLAANDEREN and .GENT).

A domain name must be 'read' from right to left; the different parts, separated by the dot, indicate the hierarchy. The last part is the highest level (Top-Level Domain or TLD) and consists of the extension or suffix. It refers to a gTLD (generic TLD) such as .com, .net or .biz, or a ccTLD (country code TLD) such as .be, .nl or .eu.

A registrant is the person, company or organisation that registers a domain; once the domain has been registered, it becomes the owner of the domain. The domain is registered with an accredited registrar, like Combell.

A domain registrar is an organisation or commercial business that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. In order to become a registrar, an accreditation must be provided by the operator of a generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) and/or a country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD), also called domain name registry.

The registrar must manage the domains according to the guidelines laid down by the domain name registry concerned. A registrar can also work with dealers or resellers.

Combell is an accredited registrar.

A domain registry is a database of all domain names in a specific Top-Level Domain. This database also contains the associated information about the registrants of the domain names.

This name also refers to the unique organisation that manages this database and oversees the registration of domain names for a specific Top-Level Domain. DNS.be is e.g. the domain name registry for the .be ccTLD, and VeriSign is the domain registry for the .com gTLD.

In the future, Combell, which submitted an application together with the City of Ghent for the new .GENT gTLD, will become the domain name registry for this gTLD.

When the registrant applies for or registers a domain name, he/she is required to provide his/her contact details, which are then stored in the WHOIS record. Depending on the gTLD, these details can be summary or comprehensive. The WHOIS record usually contains the following details:

• REGISTRANT or DOMAIN NAME OWNER: the (legal) person that has the right to use the domain name.
• ONSITE: the name of the technical contact of the registrant; this can be the person who built the website, the hosting provider, etc.
• TECHNICAL: the technical contact of the registrar

A domain name is your virtual address on the Internet, whether you are a company, an organisation or an individual. It is your permanent address on the Internet, even when you switch hosting providers or Internet Service Providers. If your company does not do business via the Internet, you should still have your own site, no matter how simple, on the web, so that you can introduce your business (address, opening hours, prices, special offers...).

In addition, having your own domain allows you to have an e-mail address for life, no matter who provides Internet access to your computer. An e-mail address with your own domain is a must for any self-respecting business. After all, you have got to admit that john@bakerstevens.be sounds much better and more professional than user21234@provider.com, right?

Every company, organisation or individual can register a domain name. However, some Top-Level Domains have restrictions. For some country code TLDs (ccTLDs), for example, your company must be registered in the country in question, or you must be resident in this country if you want to register a domain name in that TLD.

Restrictions will also apply to some new generic Top-Level Domains that will soon be available; a gTLD like .LAW, for instance, will be reserved for companies and individuals in the legal services industry, etc.

In order to register a domain name, you need to address a registrar, i.e. a company that is authorised to register domain names for specific country code and generic Top-Level Domains. Combell is such an authorised registrar.

More specifically, if you want to register a domain name with Combell, you should go to the section Domain name registration. Start by checking if the domain name is still available by entering the desired domain name in the search box and then clicking on the Check button. This will return a comprehensive list of the various possibilities that are still available in the country code (.be, .nl, .eu, etc.) and the generic TLDs (.com, .net, .info, etc.) with the corresponding prices you would have to pay if you decide to register the domain name. Select the domain names you want to order, log in (if necessary) using your Combell details, and click on the “next step” button that will guide you through the order form in the next screens.

A domain name must be available if you want to register it. You can check the availability on our site. If the domain name you had in mind is no longer available exactly as you imagined it (e.g. with the .be ccTLD or the .com gTLD), you can pick one of the other extensions, or slightly change the spelling (my-domain, for instance, instead of mydomain).

The domain name itself (i.e. excluding the extension or suffix, subdomains or the www prefix) should also consist of minimum 2 and maximum 63 characters, which can be letters, numbers and the minus sign. The minus sign can only be used between two letters or numbers, which means it cannot be used as first or last character of the domain name.

Recently, it has been decided to allow accented letters in domain names with the .be ccTLD (like citroën.be or café.be). The following characters are not allowed:

Domain names are not case-sensitive, which means they make no distinction between small and capital letters. Even though Internet addresses (domain names, web addresses, mail addresses...) are generally written with small letters, you are free to mix capital and small letters when you mention your domain on your letterhead or in your campaigns (WhoIsComing.b, for instance).

Be careful though: this only applies to domains: for paths to HTML files, you have to use the exact spelling.

Example: www.mydomain.be points to the same address as www.MyDomain.be. But those who enter www.mydomain.be/specificfile.htm instead of www.mydomain.be/SpecificFile.htm will get an error message.

The price for the registration of a domain depends on the type of Top-Level Domain and must be paid per year. Discounts are allowed if you register the domain for several years. For some country code TLDs, a one-time activation is also required, once again depending on the type of Top-Level Domain. When checking the availability of your domain name on our site, you will also see the prices of all extensions.

The duration of a registration is determined on the one hand by the Domain Registry that operates the Top-Level Domain and sets the minimum duration of a registration, and on the other hand by yourself. You can indeed choose to register the domain for a longer period, which allows you to benefit from a discount (check out our prices). For most TLDs, the minimum registration period is one year.

The registration of multiple domain names has many advantages. When you establish your company, you should always look ahead and consider future opportunities for expansion. If you intend to enlarge your range of products, which currently includes a particular product (like pre-packed sandwiches, with the domain sandwich-in-a-box.be), with other products in the same category (pre-packed bread, pre-packed croissants, etc.), you should pre-emptively register these other domain names. Otherwise, competitors who notice how successful your business becomes could get hold of them before you do!

You should also think about registering variations of your domain name; in addition to the .be domain name, you should e.g. also register the .com and .net variations. This way, you will be one step ahead of cybersquatters who may register the domain in your name and ask for a lot of money when they resell it to you.

You should also not forget about typosquatters, i.e. people who register a domain with a slightly different spelling than yours (gogle instead of googl, for instance), thus attracting visitors to their website, when all they wanted was to visit your website, but they misspelled your domain name.

If you have registered a domain name that you no longer use, nothing prevents you from transferring that domain name to another person or company, which will make better use of it. You are also entitled to charge a fee for that transfer. The amount of that fee is a question of both market value and supply and demand. What you cannot do, however, is register the name of a product or company with the sole intention of reselling it to its rightful owner with a (high) profit margin. Because the rightful owner might then initiate an arbitration claim and gain ownership of the domain name without having to pay anything.