Get a unique domain name for your business.
Call it a "dot-com name," a URL, or a domain. Whatever you call it, it's the cornerstone of your online presence, and we make getting one easy.
We register it for you, in your name* and will keep track of when it will expire*. If the domain you want is available, you pay a single fee that will register it for 5 years, and the name is yours.
* in your name - why is that important
1. There will be no "transfer-out" fees
Buried in the fine print of a registrars' "Terms of Service" will be a hidden fee authorizing them to charge your credit card a "transfer-out" fee if you move your domain to another registrar. Often times, this transfer-out fee is 2 or 3 times the cost of the original registration.
2. There will be no whois edit fees and locks
Every time you register a domain name, the details of that domain registration must be published in a publicly accessible database called Whois.
One of the functions a registrar is supposed to be providing to you is the ability to change those whois records. Some registrars (especially the bargain basement outfits) register your domain for a dirt-cheap price and then ding you with an "administration fee" when you want to edit your Whois record.
Some others may also "lockdown" your domain for 60 days everytime you make an edit to your record, preventing you from moving the name out to another registrar.
3. There will be no domain lock-in
There has historically been a real problem with "domain slamming" (see above) and unauthorized domain transfers, so the "registrar-lock" was created to protect a domain against this. If the registrar lock is set, nobody can transfer your domain away from you. This is actually a good thing and best practices include having this set for all your domains. The sharper registrars enable it by default when they register or transfer a domain for you.
Alas, this lock can become a real problem for you if it is turned on and the registrar will not turn it off, or give you the ability to turn it on or off yourself.
Your domain name and website when registered and created by Green Thumb Web Designs is yours. If you ever wish to move to another registrar or hosting company you can, with no hassles from us.
* keep track of when it expires - why is that important
Because all the data is there for the taking, spammers and marketers "mine" the whois database and harvest registrant data including addresses, fax numbers and email addresses. This is a real problem, and there have been very slow moving Whois database reform processes creeping through ICANN as well as CIRA in Canada.
In the meantime though, people may wonder why is it that shortly after they register a domain name, they start getting all kinds of marketing spam in their mailbox. This is because their email address is being harvested by robots from the Whois database.
The variation on this is some registrars (and there is one outfit who is particularly notorious for this) which is mining the whois database for registrant information, and then mailing out what look like renewal invoices for either those domain names or variations of them.
Unsuspecting recipients think they've received a renewal invoice on their domain and then remit payment, initiating a domain transfer without realizing it. Surprise, you've been slammed. In the worst cases your website and email comes crashing down as your DNS services terminate with your old provider.
We will notify you by email or phone when your domain is going to expire. If you receive any type of communication about your domain expiring from anyone but us, please call us immediately.
605-223-0766
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