Yes! We provide a free domain name with every Web hosting account, but you can also purchase additional domain names from us that point to the same Web site files and e-mail mailboxes.

We call these extra domain names "domain name aliases". It's simply an additional name that lets people access your existing Web site files and e-mail addresses, without having to pay for a separate Web hosting account.

Common uses for extra domain names are:

• to cover all the various versions of your domain name (example.com, example.net, example.org, etc.);
• to make sure people who mistype your domain name can still reach you (making sure that both example-theater.com and example-theatre.com work, for example);
• to provide domain names for each product or service your company offers; and
• to make sure that a domain name you're phasing out still continues working for a couple of years.

You don't need to pay any extra monthly fee for additional domain names, and you can have as many additional domain names as you want — there's no limit. The only cost is our annual "domain name registration only" fee, which includes registration and renewal of the domain name.

Domain name aliases with Web sites

As an example, let's say you have an existing Web site at www.example.com. You could add an extra domain name called a-second-domain.com and have us set it up as a domain name alias for example.com.

For example, if you do that and have us point it at the top level of your existing Web site, people visiting either of these two addresses will see the exact same pages:

http://www.example.com/

http://www.a-second-domain.com/

The visitor's Web browser address bar will continue to show whichever address he or she typed; the visitor won't even know about the other domain name unless you display it on the page somewhere. (Compare this to a domain name redirect, in which the visitor's address bar changes to show the "main" Web hosting domain name.)

Domain name aliases with e-mail addresses

Domain name aliases work for e-mail, too. If you currently use the e-mail address address@example.com, any messages sent to address@a-second-domain.com will also reach you.

In fact, mail sent to any address @a-second-domain.com will be handled exactly as if it had been sent to the same address @example.com.

In addition, you can set up your e-mail program to use either domain name as the "From" address.

A note about Microsoft FrontPage

If you're using Microsoft's FrontPage software to manage your Web site files, some special FrontPage features (such as hit counters and feedback forms) won't work properly if the Web site is accessed through an "alias" domain name. If you use FrontPage, you should consider using a domain name redirect instead of a domain name alias, or use the hit counter and feedback form scripts that we provide instead.

The bottom line

Using a domain name alias allows you to use multiple domain names with one Web hosting account, without paying an extra monthly fee.

There's no limit on the number of domain name aliases you can have for a Web hosting account, and there's no extra charge beyond our normal separate domain name registration fees.

To add a domain alias, just contact us and let us know the domain name(s) you'd like to add to your Web hosting account. (You can search for available domain names on this page.) Be sure to mention that you'd like them set up as "domain name aliases".

We'll take care of the rest. If the domain name is not yet registered, we'll register it for you; if it's already registered, we'll transfer it to our company.

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