Domain Registration and Research

All domain names less or equal to 3 characters, as well as additional domain names chosen dynamically by the zacr, are considered to be premium domain names in the org.za namespace.

A domain name is simply the address that people type into their browser to find you or your company on the Internet. It serves as your online identity. For example, our domain name is www.itnt.co.za.

Domain names have two parts: the label (itnt) and the extension (.co.za). At ITNT all major domain name extensions are supported, including country specific (e.g .co.za or .co.uk), international (.com, .net, .org) and specialist formats. Just tell us what you want and we will look into it for you. If you are not sure what you want or don’t really understand how domain extensions work, contact us and we will advise you (mail to: Domain registration: Request for Information). There is a difference in the cost of local versus international domain extensions, so you will need to consider your options quite carefully.

ALL DOMAIN NAMES LESS OR EQUAL TO 3 CHARACTERS, AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL DOMAIN NAMES CHOSEN DYNAMICALLY BY THE ZACR, ARE CONSIDERED TO BE PREMIUM DOMAIN NAMES IN THE ORG.ZA NAMESPACE. In order to register a premium name, price charge extensions will be applied. Premium Names will have a Registration Duration of 1 Year per New Registration ONLY. Please contact us directly if you require a premium domain.

Customers and companies often use their company name for their domain name or they might use their business focus/product/service as their name. For example, instead of www.itnt.co.za we could use www.internetserviceprovider.co.za as our domain name. Your final choice for a domain name will depend on whether or not the name you want to register is available or not. Company names are more likely to be available and are good if you wish to build your company brand. However, using a short phrase that describes your business can be effective, particularly for increasing the visibility of your website on the Internet (Search Engine Optimisation). It is important to choose a domain name that is short, easy to remember and describes your business. Many popular names will already be registered, so you might have to change your name slightly or choose a different extension.

We can offer you sound advice on the selection of the best domain name for your business. Private individuals will often choose their family name as their domain name, for example “jones.co.za”.

Your domain name has to be renewed annually and the last thing you want is to lose your domain name because you were late with your renewal. ITNT will send you an automatic renewal reminder a month prior to expiry, to ensure your Domain Name remains in your control and ownership. We will manage the process for you, ensuring that you can focus on your business without worrying about your domain/s.

Once you have chosen your preferred domain name, you will need to host your domain name on a Domain Name Server (DNS). This is why you need an Internet Service Provider. The DNS server translates your domain name (jones.co.za) from a name into an IP address (a numeric address) to enable your website or email address to be located on the internet when someone tries to connect with you.

All customers are welcome to send your domain name to us with a request for domain registration and we will check the availability of your name. Once we have confirmed availability and received your registration payment, we will register your domain for you with the relevant authority. Once the authority has received payment the domain will be active. The process usually takes between 24 and 48 hours.

Once your domain name is registered, you can:

• Host your website at your own domain
• Get Email Addresses @ your new domain name
• Point your new domain name to any existing website address
• Or simply register it to make sure that no-one else takes your name

Once your domain name has been registered you can build your website. We are an industry leader in website design and development. We can develop any website, from simple HTML sites to highly complex websites with content management systems for databases, e-commerce etc. Contact our web services department and we will put together a comprehensive, competitive quote for you.

ITNT also offers comprehensive web hosting services (Linux and Windows), should you wish to host your website with us. Visit our hosting services pages for more information.

ITNT can set up your email accounts and host your email. Visit our Email Hosting page for more information on this service. We also offer a highly effective, simple to use Anti-Spam solution to protect your email from spam, malware and phishing. We offer a 2 week free trial on our Anti-Spam solution, enabling you to test the effectiveness of our Anti-Spam tool. Visit our Anti-Spam page for more information.

Transferring your domain to ITNT is a simple process. All you need to do is grant us permission to transfer the domain. Send us a request for domain transfer (mail to support: Domain Transfer: Request for Information) and we will manage the process for you, no hassle.