Domains are the www. name that you give your business or nonprofit organization website. It is a URL or web address used to find your website. By creating a custom domain, you give your website a professional look and make it easy for visitors to find you.  

The domain is the name extension used for a URL in order to categorize them. There are a number of these extensions to choose from including .com, .org, .net, - just to name a few. Domains typically cost between $20 and $70 per year through Squarespace and there are many third party vendors out there as well.  

Squarespace Knowledge Base has written an article about the Top level domain price lists and can be viewed here, Domain TLD price list.

It’s always nerve wracking to see if the domain you want is already in use. I breathe a sigh of relief each time I key in a new domain name for a client and it’s there for purchase. Otherwise, you must find something similar.

I recently wrote a blog about Choosing a domain extension where I discuss three popular domain extensions .com, .org, and .net and when to use each one. When a visitor comes to your website, they can tell information about your business or organization just by reading the three little letters at the end of your URL.  

What does each extension mean? (These are the three most popular extensions used in my business.)

• .com  

  This simply means commercial so it’s appropriate for businesses to use this extension. This extension lets the visitor to your website know that you are a for profit company. The .com is the most widely used extension and is thought to increase credibility and reliability for a business. With that said, it is a catch all for website extensions and does not have to be used for commercial purposes only.  

• .org 

  This simply means organization and is mainly used by nonprofit organizations. This extension lets the visitor to your website that that you are a nonprofit website. The same way .com means a for profit company look creditable the .org makes a nonprofit organization look credible.  

• .net 

  This simply means network and is used for websites that have many other smaller websites, like an umbrella. 

Another blog I wrote explains all about domains, Squarespace Basics: All about Domains. Take a look and read all about domains and how to purchase one in Squarespace or point from a third party domain host into Squarespace.

It should be good to know that there are organizations to coordinate and reference domain information.

1. ICANN was formed in 1998 and is a nonprofit organization that consists of people all around the world to assist the government in managing functions of the internet.

2. Whois is an internet service that records domain listings and identifies who owns a domain. Squarespace has an article that explains more about Whois privacy.

Some of the information available on these two websites:

1. Registrar

2. Date Registration began and expires

3. Name Servers

4. Contact Information

Here is the wonderful thing! Most hosting services make you pay a fee to keep your name private. Squarespace keeps the domain owners name private and lists Squarespace as the registrar and redacts the domain owner’s information for privacy.  

Domain privacy protects your personal information from showing up in online directories. This helps to prevent spam, theft, and any sale of your personal information.  

There are some businesses who welcome the increased traffic and do not want the added privacy. For many nonprofit organizations they are required to show their contact information online.  

If you would like to disable this privacy feature for your domain: 

Home Menu/ Settings/ Domains 

Select domain you want to unlock 

Uncheck “Whois privacy” 

You can use ICANN or Whois to look up a domain and find out what service was used to create a website. When a client comes to me with a domain from a third party source, I can easily use one of these websites to verify which hosting organization owns the domain. If they choose to keep their domain at the third party website or decide to bring into Squarespace, I can give them the information needed to point the website or transfer the website into Squarespace. It’s not difficult once you know where the domain resides.

Knowing about these extra safeguards that Squarespace has put in place is another level of protection. Reducing any amount of personal information online is always best and I’m thankful Squarespace thought about that ahead of time and made it a part of their hosting package. Unlike other website hosting platforms, they don’t have many “extras” to pay for.  

May Web Design, LLC refreshes and creates affordable websites that enable clients to take ownership and update themselves on a Squarespace platform. I enjoy helping clients increase customer engagement with a website and improve their overall web presence. The most important part of my business is that when I have completed and reviewed the website with a client, I teach the client how to update their website so that they can keep it fresh and new. A website offers a 24/7 welcome to prospective members, showing them what your business or organization has accomplished and what you plan to do. If built correctly it should welcome people to the site and show them around in a comfortable way.    

If you are interested in discussing the needs of a website for your business or nonprofit organization, contact May Web Design, LLC. Starting out with a basic brochure website may be all that your business or organization needs. Your website should grow with you and change as needed. 

I work with my clients so that I may design the website they envision and, most importantly, teach them how to update their website to keep the information fresh and new. While you are busy building your small business or nonprofit, I can create a website to grow with your dreams. I have a list of services on my website as well as a portfolio of my websites and testimonial from past clients. You may even set up a free 30 minute initial consultation call to discuss your website project.