Why you should register your own domain name
I have explained that to many people separately, so I will publish the reasons why you should register your own domain name and point people to this page.
I am always amazed to see people using email addresses such as
john.doe@myisp.com. They tie themselves voluntarily
to their ISP while they
have a choice. I know of several people reluctant to switch ISP because
they would loose their former email address soon after they stop paying.
They would be forced to change their email address everywhere it has
been referenced, including in other people address books.
Using a free email service such as Gmail and giving away this address leads to the same problem. If for any reason Gmail disappears or starts billing for its services, people would be tied to it or would have to change their email address.
Getting a domain name is simple and not very expensive. For example, you
can book your own domain name at
BookMyName for 8.31EUR/year
(VAT included). This is where I maintain my rfc1149.net
domain (you can choose simpler domain names of course, I just had no
inspiration and picked the first one who came to mind, this probably
shows my geeky side). For this price, you also get 10 free email
redirections. There exist other registrars such as
Gandi, where I initially created the
rfc1149.net domain. Gandi is more expensive than BookMyName
but its interface is much more consistent and simpler to use. Pick the
registrar you like, there are many of them.
Let’s say that you want the example.com domain name and
that you are named John Doe. You can book example.com at
BookMyName and set up a redirection from
john.doe@example.com to your existing
john.doe@gmail.com. You always give people your
john.doe@example.com address; they do not need to know that
your messages will end up into your Gmail mailbox. And since today, you
can even configure Gmail so that your email origin address appears as
john.doe@example.com; this address will be used in your
penpals address books if they record it automatically.
Let’s now assume that Gmail disappears or that
Yahoo now offers better services.
The only thing you need to do is modify your redirection at BookMyName
so that mail sent to john.doe@example.com is now redirected
to your new john.doe@yahoo.com address. Noone but you needs
to know about this change. People will continue using your
john.doe@example.com address.
And what if BookMyName goes bankrupt? Nothing serious would happen, as another registrar would automatically pick up the administration of your domain. You would have to either setup the redirections on this new registrar, or transfer your domain to another one which offers redirection services.
Registrars also offer web redirection services. Just as you redirect
your email to another address, you can redirect your
http://www.example.com/ web site to any place you want and
change it at any time.
Get free, get your own domain name today.