Domain registration overview

A domain registration is the name of your site, which must first be purchased in order for the domain to display online. There are a variety of different names and Top Level Domains (TLDs) that you can choose from in order to register. This article provides general information in regards to domain registrations with DreamHost.

Generally speaking, there are two major steps to get your site online:

1. Purchase the domain registration (the name of your site).
2. Purchase a hosting plan and add your site to it.
   • What types of hosting plans are available?
   • Adding a website and hosting

A domain registration (or TLD - Top Level Domain) is the first half of a two-step process for getting a site on the Internet. Purchasing a domain registration provides contact information for the registrant (the owner of the domain name), and assigns the nameservers which control the domain's DNS settings.

The registration information for any domain name can be looked up with a WHOIS search. You can take a look at the following article for more details on the WHOIS information and how you can retrieve it for your domain name:

• WHOIS overview

You can use your free registration credit for the following TLDs:

• .blog
• .club
• .co
• .com
• .design
• .gay
• .info
• .ink
• .io
• .me
• .net
• .online
• .org
• .shop
• .site
• .store
• .tattoo
• .tech
• .tv
• .us
• .wiki
• .xyz

You can read more about the free registration offered with Shared Hosting and DreamPress plans in the following article:

• Free Registration overview

DreamHost allows you to register multiple domain names such as example.net, example.store, and example.club in a single sign-up process through the panel.

You can read more about how to register multiple domains in the following article:

• Can I purchase multiple domains at the same time?

Visit the Renewals article for details on how to renew your domain registration at DreamHost.

The latest pricing can be found in the "List of Current TLDs and Pricing" table on the following page, which dynamically generates the most up-to-date pricing info for new domain registrations and domain renewals:

• dreamhost.com/domains/pricing/

For an overview on how to transfer your registration to DreamHost, or away from DreamHost, please review the following articles.

• Transfer a domain registration to DreamHost
• Transfer a domain registration away from DreamHost

Transferring a domain registration between DreamHost accounts

See the following article for information on how to transfer a domain registration between DreamHost accounts:

• Transferring a domain registration between DreamHost accounts

See the following article for information on how to purchase a domain registration:

• How to purchase a domain registration

If your domain registration was purchased at DreamHost, you can host it by adding a hosting plan and adding your site to it.

• What types of hosting plans are available?
• Adding a website and hosting

If instead you had previously purchased the registration at another company, you must update your DNS settings at that company. View the following article for more information.

• How to host your domain at DreamHost if it is registered at another company

Every domain purchased is unique on the Internet. Even if there is a single letter different in the spelling of a domain, it's still considered a completely different domain name.

This means that if you misspelled a domain when you purchased it, there is no way to adjust its spelling. The only option would be to purchase a new domain with a different spelling.

Refunding a misspelled domain

Domain registrations end in different TLDs such as .com, .net, .io, .life. Each of these has different rules as to when or if you can cancel the registration after it's purchased. Contact support immediately if you need to cancel a new registration.