Private Domain Names

[pbridges]

I have to move my website  in June as Apple is dropping support for MobileMe websites.
I am using iWeb and plan to continue using it for several years as it works well for me,
and I believe it will continue to work even if I upgrade my computer to the latest OS X.
(I am on 10.6.6).

In looking for another supplier I notice that I can have my own Domain Name very cheaply.
This is not a technical question as I see no problem in iWeb with using any name.

Can someone explain to me the pros and cons  to having my own Domain Name ?

[AdminMan]

Having your own domain name means that you will never have to change your email address or website URL again.

For example, MUGOO owns the MUGOO.COM domain name, and we have moved the website at least 3 times to different providers but never had to send out any "change of address" notifications. Similarly, mail addressed to somebody@mugoo.com always gets to "somebody" no matter where the mail server is, and it has moved 3 times as well.

As for cost, you should investigate http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/overview.html because it is absolutely free to create your own website.

You can map your own domain to a Google site. You may require a bit of technical help (because it is very geeky) but it is described here: http://support.google.com/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99448

It does not matter what order you do things in. You can get your domain first or you can create your site first (if you just wanted to experiment before cutting over from your existing site.)

FYI: Note that iWeb is the name of an Apple program as well as a Montreal-based ISP. AT first I thought you were going to move your website to iWeb hosting: http://iweb.com/

[pbridges]

Thank you for the information. I have a follow-up question:

Is there any advice on having a .ME domain instead of a .CA ?

[AdminMan]

Comparing .CA to .ME top-level domains ...

.CA

• can only be held by Canadian entities
• sometimes mistyped as .com
• cheaper per year than .ME

.ME

• the TLD for Montenegro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.me
• not common