How to Reserve a Domain Name. Do You Need a Web Host if You Want to Reserve a Domain for Future Use?

The Short Answer

The short answer to the question is "no". That is, if all you want is to reserve a domain name, you can easily do it by simply registering that domain. You do not need a web host or website or anything like that to get that name.

How to Reserve a Domain Name (The Detailed Answer)

A website is a separate thing from a domain name. As I explained in my article on How to Create a Website, a domain name is just a name. When you register a domain, you merely get the right to associate it with your website. In the brick and mortar world, a domain name is like the business name that you register with some government organisation ("organization" in US English), while a website is analogous with your shop or office premises. Just as you can register a business name without renting premises in some building for your shop, so also can you register a domain without "renting" space on a web host for your website files.
Having said that, most (if not all) domain name registrars, the companies through which you get your domain, will automatically associate a dummy (placeholder) website with your domain when you register it. This is called domain name parking, and the end result is that when you type your domain name into your browser, you end up at the placeholder site set up by your domain name registrar. See my article on What Does It Mean to Park a Domain Name? Domain Name Parking Explained for more information if you want to know more about this.
What if you get a registrar that doesn't automatically park your domain name? Well, it actually doesn't matter. Don't believe the advertising hype (if any) from a registrar that implies parking is of any importance at all. In my opinion, this kind of domain name parking doesn't really benefit you at all: it benefits the registrars since they dump their advertisements on that placeholder site. The fact of the matter is, even if your domain is not parked or anything like that, once you've registered it (and paid for it), it's yours to do as you like. You can put a site on it immediately, or if you prefer, at some later date. No one else can buy it and put up their sites on that domain for as long as you own that domain.
(For the curious, all that happens when you don't associate any website with a domain is that when someone types that name in a web browser, the browser will tell that person that the website does not exist or something like that. Don't worry. This message, in such a situation, merely means that the domain has no associated website; it doesn't mean that you suddenly lost your domain or anything of the sort. If you've paid for your domain, and kept your domain registration up to date by renewing it, you still "own" that domain no matter what the browser says. Remember that browsers don't really care about whether someone has registered a domain or not: their job is to display the websites located at those domains, not to give you a report on the state of the internet.)
In summary then, to reserve a domain name, you simply have to register it the normal way. The exact procedure can be found in the article How to Register a Domain Name, and I won't repeat it here since you can just click through to read it. That's all there is to it. Since you are not going to start a website immediately, your job is done. (But remember to renew the domain every year if you want to continue holding onto the name.)

What to Do When You Are Finally Ready to Start Your Website

What happens when you are finally ready to associate a website with your domain name? At that point in time, you will need to carry out the rest of the steps in my article on How to Create Your Own Website.
Briefly, this means that you'll need to get a web host, go back to your registrar's website, log into your account (which would have been created for you when you initially registered the name), and point that domain name to your website. Then you'll of course have to design the website itself, perhaps by using a web editor like Dreamweaver or some other thing. Please see How to Make / Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide for details.

It's a Common Practice

Reserving domain names is actually a more common practice than you may think. Many experienced webmasters do it automatically long before they start a website. Most even register multiple variations of a name for a single idea, since at that early stage in the planning process, it's hard to be sure which name they might finally settle on. And as everyone knows, domain names sell like hot cakes, so a name they think of today might not be available tomorrow.
What I'm trying to say is that you're not alone in reserving domain names that you might want to use. Like many other webmasters, I too believe that it's a good idea to do it. It's just too easy for someone to beat you to a domain name, even if that name is some weird made-up word that doesn't occur in the dictionary. If you want to be sure that a name is available for you to use in the future, the only way is to get it while you can. And as you can see, it's actually quite an easy process, since you don't really need to do anything else, other than getting the name from the registrar (and paying the requisite domain cost).
This article can be found at http://www.thesitewizard.com/domain/reserve-domain-name.shtml
Copyright © 2011-2012 Christopher Heng. All rights reserved.
Get more free tips and articles like this, on web design, promotion, revenue and scripting, from http://www.thesitewizard.com/.

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Understanding Domain Registration

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) regulates domain registrations and sets prices. Visit www.internic.net to learn your rights as a consumer.

 

 

Domain Registration

The registrar can be a company other than the hosting company. While HostGator can host any domain name (as long as the DNS is pointed to us), we cannot register every domain.
If you register a domain directly with HostGator, you should always contact HostGator for domain-related help. If you register your own domains as an eNom reseller, then most issues will be handled directly by eNom. You may still contact HostGator first to be sure.
To register a domain now, visit register.hostgator.com

When registering a new domain, be sure to provide a valid email address for your WHOIS as you will be required to verify your WHOIS information via email. If verification is not received within 15 days, the domain name will be suspended.

It is recommended that you use an email address independent of the domain you are registering since you will need access to this email address to verify your WHOIS information.

If the type of domain you want cannot be purchased online, or if you need to pay with a method other than credit card, please submit a ticket to our Billing department for assistance.

Domain Order Validation

Once you have completed your domain registration with HostGator, you will be required to validate your domain order. This is a required step in the domain registration process in accordance with the ICANN 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement. For more information regarding the domain order validation process, please see the following article:

• Domain Order Validation

Domain Registration Renewal

Renew your domain registration early, before the expiration date. For instructions on how to renew your domain name, please read the following article:

• How Do I Renew My Domain Name?

Domain Expiration

If you fail to renew your domain, your registration will be interrupted, at which point your name servers will be changed by the registrar. This means it will take a few days before you can see your site is down, and after you finally pay to renew, it will be a few more days before you can see your site is back up. We will send domain renewal reminders prior to the expiration date by email to the email address you listed with us.

Domain Redemption

The rules of redemption are different for every registrar, please see below for how your domain will be handled based on how it was registered with HostGator.

LaunchPad Domains

Domains registered with LaunchPad will be sent to auction at SnapNames.com after the 36th day past expiration. Once queued, the domain will either be sold or deleted by the 42nd day after expiration, depending on whether or not the domain receives bids.
If the owner of the domain wishes to purchase the domain back, they may do so by either signing up for an account with SnapNames.com or waiting for the domain to be released to the public once more. Unfortunately, once past the 36 days grace period and the domain is queued for auction, HostGator cannot guarantee the domain's redemption.

eNom Domain Redemption

After 30 days of being expired, domains enter the redemption period. At this point, eNom requires $90.00 plus the normal price to renew the domain name. HostGator will require you to pay this cost or register a different domain (We make no profit on the redemption fee. The entire payment goes to eNom.). This redemption period can last until the next expiration date or until the registrar auctions the domain to a higher bidder — whichever comes first. The registrar may also release the domain so that it can be registered again, but they will not announce when they do this, and they cannot be forced to do this.

Domain Transfers

You must always initiate the domain transfer with the new company. The process takes approximately 5 to 7 days to complete. It is important to keep in mind that there are several obstacles that can make a valid domain registration transfer fail.

• If you have been with your current registrar for less than 60 days, then you are not allowed to transfer yet; however, if you just renewed your domain, you may still transfer because this means you were with the current registrar for more than a year.
• If your domain status is "Locked," you will need to ask your current registrar to unlock your domain.
• If your WHOIS information is incorrect or private, you must have your valid email listed as the Admin Contact Email so you can receive a confirmation notice from the current registrar.
• If an invalid EPP code ("Auth key") was provided, you must get the EPP code from the current registrar and provide it to the new registrar. If you change any contact information or name servers with the previous registrar, you must get a new EPP code, because it may have changed.
• If your domain name is in redemption, you must pay the current company before you may transfer.

Please initiate your domain registration transfers at least 1 month before the domain expires. This will give you ample time to fix any mistakes and re-initiate the transfer in time.

Normally, when you transfer your domain registration to a new registrar, you get an additional year added to your expiration date. However, if a domain expires, is renewed and then transferred between registrars within the first 45 days after the expiration date, the domain will not retain the original renewal year once the transfer completes (meaning your expiration date stays the same). This is a registry restriction and applies to all registrars.

To transfer a domain registration now, visit register.hostgator.com and click on the Transfer Domains button.

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Site Files

The site files are what your visitors and potential customers actually see when going to site such as your products and services. The site files are the same as any other file you normally use, like a .jpg photograph, or .mp3 music file. Though, website files are also .php files or .html files, which are PHP scripts or html pages respectively.
The web-hosting server knows how to read these files, which explain how the webpage looks or instruct the server to do a series of computations. These computations are things like figuring out what blog article it's supposed to send back to the viewer, or what forum post it's supposed to send back.

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Web-Hosting Servers

The web-hosting or server is much like the space that you rent out to have your business in. It's merely the space itself. It does not include furnishings like shelves for your products, just as the web-hosting account doesn't include a site for you to sell your products.
Luckily, in the web-hosting world, it's very easy to furnish the space provided by your host, because you can install many framework applications through the QuickInstall icon within your cPanel.
Without the hosting services, you won't have a place for your files to reside, so your domain would then become like a disconnected phone number in the phone directory, and your site files would have nowhere to stay.

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Domain Names

Computers communicate by using numbers, called IP addresses, to contact each other, much like you use a phone number to dial a specific person's phone. Domain names on the internet are much like entries in a phone book. The phone book tells people looking for a business what the entries are just as a domain tells people (i.e. their computers) that a domain is hosted on the server.
Without a domain, you would have to tell your customers that your site is located at a temporary url such as 123.456.789.123/~mysite instead of using a domain name such as mysite.com, making your site appear unprofessional and impractical.

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