Domains are addresses which point to computers, or servers, where various services reside: websites, email, databases and more. Whatever you choose to have in your domain there are some initial points you should understand: Domains in the US are kept in a single Registry. This is a massive database containing all the domains registered under a General Top Level Domain such as .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info and many others. There is only one registry which is the root of the Internet's addressing system.

The companies that sell domain names are called Registrars or Registration Service Providers. Vividign is a Registation Service Provider. While we all pretty much do the same job, there can be huge differences in terms of service-level and pricing.

The registrar's job is to sell you a domain name, then communicate to the single Registry all the information for contacting the Registrant (you, the owner), the Administrative Contact (also usually you), the Technical and Billing contacts (generally Vividign), as well as the chosen DNS (Domain Nameservers) on which your domain's web pages, email addresses, etc. will be housed. 12 months from the day this registration takes place will be the first expiration date of your domain - it will be due for renewal approximately 60 days prior to that date.

Some times, for whatever reason, domain owners wish to have their web pages hosted on a different company's servers, so there is provision for changing the DNS (Domain Nameservers) and the registrar can do that.

At Vividign, we register HUNDREDS of domain names annually. We know the ins-and-outs with dozens of other companies, and can usually get you the best deal on the domain names you need. We can also provide extensive domain name searches to find the names that are just right.