Who or what is Nominet?

Nominet is the authority in the UK that controls the issue of UK Internet domain names. As a voting member and agent of Nominet we act as your 'tag holder' - which simply means that we take care of all aspects of your domain name registration.

I've heard that Nominet charge a fee. Do I have to pay this as well as paying you?

No. When you buy a domain from us there are no further fees to pay to Nominet! (You CAN buy your domain direct from Nominet - but it will cost you! (£80 + VAT the last time we checked)

Who or what is Tucows?

Tucows is an ICANN accredited registrar. We are agents for Tucows.com Inc for the sale of generic domain names (the non UK names).

What happens after the registration period expires?

UK domains are registered for two years at a time. Other types of name (.com, .org etc) can be registered for anything from one to ten years. After the registration expires you have to pay again to keep your domain name. We will contact you in good time to see if you wish to renew. If you do wish to do so, the price for renewal is the same as for initial registration.

Who owns the domain name?

You do! After we have registered your name you can check the name's ownership by visiting Nominet's site (for UK domain names) or a public "whois" service such as centralops.net for generic domain names.

How do I start using my new domain name?

The first place to start is email. If you take advantage of our free email forwarding service you can start using your new domain name for email straightaway! But perhaps you also want to have a web site? If your ISP (dial up or broadband) gives you some free web space we can "point" your domain to that web space (this is called "web forwarding" and it is a free service with your domain name). However if you are trying to set up a business web site we would strongly recommend that you take out a hosting plan with a web space provider that supports true domain names. Fortunately genuine 'commercial' web space need not be expensive - for example we offer fully featured commercial web space for just £5 per month with no set up fee.

I've chosen a web space provider - what now?

Technically what's involved is that we need to know the names of at least two of your provider's 'domain name servers' (DNS). Your hosting company will provide you with this information. We then update this information and your domain name then becomes activated.

Is it safe to order online by credit card?

When you order with us you can be confident your credit card details are kept secret and secure. This is because our online order system uses a digital certificate to encrypt data using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, the industry-standard method for protecting web communications developed by Netscape Communications Corporation. The SSL security protocol provides data encryption, server authentication, message integrity, and optional client authentication for a TCP/IP connection. Because SSL is built into all major browsers and web servers, simply installing a digital certificate turns on their SSL capabilities. This means that you will get confirmation from your browser when you submit your order that you are about to start a secure transaction (in Internet Explorer for example a padlock icon will appear). If you are still worried about security however just contact us and we can take your order by a more traditional method!