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Tell me more about web addresses and e-mail addresses

Web addresses

Everyone needs a unique web address so that people can find their website. Ideally it should be obvious how the name relates to you so that people remember it. The addresses I recommend are all of the form www.something.co.uk where the something relates to you.

Let us assume that you live at 'Aardvark Farm' - a good choice would therefore be www.AardvarkFarm.co.uk. Unfortunately, there may be lots of Aardvark Farms around the country and someone else might have got in before you.

If you really want your first choice of name and it is not available, it might be worth looking at it in a web browser to see what it is being used for. If it has a real website behind it then you will have to think again. However, there are lots of people who register names they think may be popular just to stop them being used and so that they can sell them to people who really do want them. The legallity of this is dubious in the case of registered trade names etc, but your farm name would probably not be covered under such rulings. You either have to pay up or choose something else. As a matter of principle, I would choose something else.

If you live near Anstruther, you could be www.AardvarkFarm-Anstruther.co.uk but this might be a bit too long. How about www.AardvarkFarmCL.co.uk?

I should point out that addresses are not case sensitive, in other words www.AardvarkFarm.co.uk is the same as www.aardvarkfarm.co.uk. I just tend to put capitals in to make it easier to read.

You need to pick a name, then check whether or not it is available. I suggest you go to www.ukreg.com (if you click this link it will open in a new window). Type your name in the domain checker (just the AardvarkFarm bit) and you will find that AardvarkFarm.co.uk has already been taken - it is obviously a real website under development as I write this. Try AardvarkFarmCL and you will find that AardvarkFarmCL.co.uk is available (unless anyone else has taken it since I wrote this).

Choose the name you would like, and let me know. There is a charge for registering names, but this is included in my price. Remember, someone else might just register the name you want before I have a chance, so don't delay in letting me know once you have chosen.

E-mail addresses

You may already have an e-mail address like george.aardvark978@hotmail.com. If you are happy with your current address, then you may want to use it on your website. However, people frequently seem to change their addresses, so you might become george@aardvark.freeserve.co.uk. This is all very well, but the Caravan Club Handbook only comes out every other year and if it has your old address then potential customers might not find you.

I register web addresses with ukreg.com and they have an e-mail forwarding facility.

Let's assume you did get www.AardvarkFarmCL.co.uk . Along with it you would get the facility to redirect mail addressed to anything@AardvarkFarmCL.co.uk to be delivered to george.aardvark978@hotmail.com. Here 'anything' really means everything - not just the word 'anything', so info@AardvarkFarmCL.co.uk will come to you.

Apart from a consistent look between web and e-mail addresses, there is one other significant advantage.

The Caravan Club handbook and website will point people to info@AardvarkFarmCL.co.uk which will actually come to george.aardvark978@hotmail.com (but you are the only person who needs to know that).

When you change your address to george@aardvark.freeserve.co.uk, all you have to do is let me know and I will change the redirection. From that moment on, CL requests will come to your new address - even if people are reading an ancient copy of the Caravan Club Handbook.