B. How to Check the Availability of and Register a Domain Name

NSI offers a quick way for you to find out whether a name is available, and if it is, to register it on the spot. Just go to www.networksolutions.com and type the name you want in the Register a Web Address box. Choose a top-level domain to the right (.com for most users) and click Go! If the name is available, you'll have an opportunity to also register the .net and .org versions of the same name if they're available (see Figure 2, below). Registration costs a minimum of $70 for a two-year period. Reservations cost an additional $49, for a total of $119.
If your name is taken, you may be interested in NSI's WHOIS search service, which gives you information about the registrant of any domain name registered with NSI. Say, for example, you have chosen Webvan, Inc., as the name of your grocery delivery business and want to use webvan.com as your domain name. However, you soon discover that someone else has already taken this domain name. You run the name through the WHOIS search engine on the Network Solutions home page and find that Intelligent Systems for Retail, Inc., is the domain name registra(see Figure 3, below). The search results also give you a contact name, phone number, address and email address. From there, you can decide whether you want to contact Intelligent Systems foRetail, Inc., perhaps to make an offer to buy the name. (Chapter 5 discusses more options if your chosen name is not available.)