Free .co.uk Domain Name

kjevans

kjevans

Messages
362
Name
K
Edit My Images
No
Hi all,

I found this site purely by accident last night Getting British Business Online

They give you a free (for 2 years) .co.uk domain name.

GBBO is a joint initiative by Google, Enterprise UK, BT, e-skills UK and many other partners to help small businesses create their first website and help them understand the opportunities offered by the Internet. We've set a target of helping 100,000 UK organisations get their first website easily and for free by the end of 2010.

Why is it free?
Because they're working with Google & BT they're able to offer you a free website for 2 years, after that you'll only have to pay a few pounds to renew your domain name for a further 2 years - you're not tied in to a contract and they won't put ads on your site without your permission.

If you haven't already got a Google account, you will have to signup for one as initially the domain will be linked to your Google Sites.
I have a Google account so it was really straight forward and very quick.

After I received all the relevent login emails etc.. I just removed the URL from my Google Site, logged into the Domain Admin screen and changed the NameServers to point to my own webspace, easy. ;)

The domain is owned by yourself and a record of your ownership is held by Nominet.

Thought I would just share this with the gang. :)

Cheers..,

K
 
Cool Nice one :thumbs:

Thanks for sharing

Who is it that will be hosting the domain name? (DNS Servers)
 
It's just a domain registrar offering google sites which has been available for many moons. The only different thing being offered here is a free domain name. I would suspect it is a domain registrar trying to fool businesses into getting their free domain with the hope that they will then continue to renew their domain there without transferring away. A bit of a "register your domain for nothing for the first 2 years...then start paying us every 2 years for the rest of your business life (we hope)"

Probably worth grabbing a free domain for those of us that are aware of things like "transferring somewhere else" :)
 
flicker said:
It's just a domain registrar offering google sites which has been available for many moons. The only different thing being offered here is a free domain name. I would suspect it is a domain registrar trying to fool businesses into getting their free domain with the hope that they will then continue to renew their domain there without transferring away. A bit of a "register your domain for nothing for the first 2 years...then start paying us every 2 years for the rest of your business life (we hope)"

Probably worth grabbing a free domain for those of us that are aware of things like "transferring somewhere else" :)
Click to expand...

I did say that it is initially linked to Google Sites.

Read on the actual website and it tells you that.

The free domain offer is only for 2010 and yes, get it free and repoint the nameservers, then after 60 days if you wish, move the domain away to another host or just wait to see what the renewal will be in 2 years.

Nothing to lose really. ;)
 
So...if you have done it already, could you let us all know how easy/hard or what the process is for getting a domain then moving it away? i.e. can you register it then log in and manage your own DNS, or do you have to call them and ask them to change the IPSTAG - are there transfer away fees etc...?
 
flicker said:
So...if you have done it already, could you let us all know how easy/hard or what the process is for getting a domain then moving it away? i.e. can you register it then log in and manage your own DNS, or do you have to call them and ask them to change the IPSTAG - are there transfer away fees etc...?
Click to expand...

Within a few minutes of signing up, which is straight forward with steps all the way, I got the emails from them with the login details for the domain management.

I first went to my Google Site and deleted the URL with the new domain just leaving the standard free Google Site URL, as I still use this for other purposes, logged into the domain management panel following the email instructions and changed the nameservers to point to my webspace.
This can take upto 24 hours to propagate through the web with a .co.uk domain but actually took about 10mins.

Hey presto, new free domain for my website.

You cannot move the domain from GBBO for 60 days after registering, it's in the T&C on their site but after that move it if you wish.

Hope this helps.., ;)
 
K, thanks for posting this. I have got my free domain but am having trouble pointing it to my website. I am confused about changing the host records and name servers. Could you post a dummies guide to doing it please?
 
Northstar100 said:
K, thanks for posting this. I have got my free domain but am having trouble pointing it to my website. I am confused about changing the host records and name servers. Could you post a dummies guide to doing it please?
Click to expand...

Hi,

firstly go to gbbo.myportalexpress.com, which is the domain portal and enter the username and password that was sent to you upon registering, then hit the signin button.

You will now see your domain portfolio with the domain you registered in the list.

To the right you will see a drop down box under actions.

Click on the drop down button and choose 'Nameservers'.

A new page will open with the heading 'DNS servers'.

Just enter the nameserver details that you have got from your webspace provider and hit confirm.

That's it, could take up to 24 hours to process but usually is done within 10mins or so.

Cheers..,

K
 
Thanks K, I think I've done it but I am getting "Oops! This link appears to be broken. DNS error - cannot find server". Maybe as you say it'll be fine in 24 hours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top