Once the registration is complete, you have a few options on how to put your domain name to use. The following are the most common uses for a domain name and instructions to get you started.

Put up a web site on the Internet. If your web site is complete, you will need to acquire a hosting account and upload your site on the Internet. Or, if you have not yet built your web site, there are several easy and affordable options for you to quickly put together a professional, quality web site.

Get a personalized email address. An email account can be a great way to put your domain to use. Get a personalized email account that your friends, family, and business contacts will more easily remember and associate directly with you.

Sell a domain name for a profit. Domain names can be a great investment and you can easily market domains you intend to sell by creating a For Sale parked page.

Register domain names that are similar to your other domain names. The more domain names you register, the better. Prevent others from registering a similar domain name to yours. What to do with all these names? Forward them to your main domain name!

Wait to use your domain name. Maybe you haven\'t decided what to do with your new domain name. Don\'t worry – there\'s no rush. You can leave it parked for the length of your registration. Once you have determined which hosting provider you will use, you must change the name server information so that the site is no longer parked.

You can create an online presence with your Domain Name by putting up a personal, business or not-for-profit web site. Putting up a web site on the Internet is one of the most common uses for a domain name. Having a web site can help you keep in touch with your family and friends, or customers of your business, sell your products or services, improve your customer service by giving your customers a way of finding your company contact information or answers to their support needs on your site, or simply expanding your exposure into new market areas.

There are many options when it comes to building and hosting a web site. We offer different options to fit our customers\' varying needs. You automatically get a FREE "parked page" with every domain name you register through us. But, when you\'re ready for more, we have the answer.

Use your domain name with an easy-to-remember email account. Having a personalized email account (e.g., "you@yourdomain.com") is the perfect way to leave behind your hard-to-remember email address. Whether your domain is for personal use (to give family and friends an email address they won\'t forget) or for your business (where having your domain name in your email address is a great way to build awareness and show customers you\'re seriously in business), a personalized email account is sure to be a great investment.

Choose the number of mailboxes and amount of storage space that fit your needs. With WebMail, you\'ll have the flexibility to read, send, store, and organize your email whenever, wherever you have Internet access. It includes an easy-to-use interface, its own powerful spam filters, an address book, and much more.

Register a domain name as an investment. Domain names can sometimes be great investment opportunities. Though there are millions of registered domain names already in circulation, there are still millions more that haven\'t been registered yet. You may find that registering great domain names could turn into a lucrative investment. The easiest way to market domain names that you have registered as investments is to create a For Sale Page for these domain names.

Keep in mind that copyrighted or trademarked names may be protected under federal copyright and trademark laws. If you register a trademarked name, you could be forced to turn that domain name over to the company or entity that owns the trademark for that name, and usually without collecting any money from that company. So, choose your investments wisely, and don\'t tread on uncertain ground.

Registering improper variations of your domain(s) is important. Think, you\'ve got your domain name and you\'ve built a top-notch web site. Now it\'s time for visitors to buy your product, check out your business, or maybe view the latest photos from your family reunion... that is, until you find out someone has registered an insidious knock-off of your domain name – one that\'s intended to be harmful and offensive to your name, company, brand, or reputation.

Whether you\'re new to domain names or a seasoned veteran, you can\'t afford to ignore domain name abuse. You should consider registering any underhanded versions of your domain name(s) – the cost is minimal, but the savings can be tremendous.

You can start by removing the most common harmful alternatives to your chosen domain name: "(yourdomainname) sucks" is one; "I hate (yourdomainname)" is another. While you can\'t anticipate all of the possible alternatives, starting with the simple removal of the obvious alternatives (and any others that come to mind) can save you legal hassles, money, and embarrassment down the road.

Protecting yourself is not only for big business. Registering devious alternatives of your own domain name is a great way to protect your personal and professional identity.

Register misspellings or variations of your domain so you don\'t risk losing visitors. There are other variations of your domain name, which may not be devious or intended to be harmful to you or your business, that may still prove to be solid investments for you to register. These are simple variations or misspellings of your domain name, such as "youredomain.com" or "yourdoman.com." You can forward these variations of your domain name to your actual web site so that your customers or visitors who mistype your domain name will still find themselves at your web site.

A top-level domain is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot ("."). The most common TLDs are .COM, .NET and .ORG. There are several other popular top-level domains on the menu, including .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME, and .WS. The top-level domains have certain guidelines attached, but for the most part are available to any registrant, anywhere in the world. Exceptions are the restricted TLDs (rTLDs) – which include .BIZ and .NAME – that require the registrant to represent a certain type of entity, or to belong to a certain community. For example, the .NAME TLD is available strictly for individuals. Where appropriate, a top-level domain name can be of geographic significance and hence only available to registrants in the locale defined by the TLD. These are called country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) and include such top-level domains as .US (United States), .TV (Tuvalu), .CC (Cocos Islands), .DE (Germany), .JP (Japan), .BE (Belgium), .UK (United Kingdom), and .NZ (New Zealand).

As you may have found, .COM is the most common TLD in use today, which is closely followed by .NET. If you find that the domain name you want to register is already taken in .COM, you may check to see if it is available with an alternate TLD. Following the same reasoning, if you register a domain name, you may want to consider registering all or some of the more common TLDs of the same domain name in order to protect your brand, your site, or yourself.

Register domains to support business potential, product ideas, and more. When you think of a domain name that you may want to use in the future, the best thing to do is register it. Even if you aren\'t planning on using the domain name right away, you should register your domain name ideas for potential product, business, or investment opportunities. You have nothing to lose by registering your domain name early. The banner at the top of our parked page lets visitors know that your site is coming soon.