Free Domain Name

To qualify for a free domain name, it must be linked to a web hosting package. If you renew your hosting package, your domain will renew free of charge. If you cancel your web hosting, the domain price reverts to the current price, if bought today.

Finding the right domain name can be a challenge. According to the 2020 Web Hosting Stats & Facts,

As of January 1st, 2020, there were 1,744,517,326 websites, up from 906,616,188 in January 2016.

So it's fair to say that your preferred domain name is most likely already taken. But try not to focus too much, on including your company name, or product in the domain name. You are better off finding a name that's easily remembered and when given out as part of your email address, it needs to be clearly legible, so avoid hyphens and lengthy names. You can achieve some great search results by using page or product URLs cleverly.

For domains ending .uk

1. Visit your current host, and change the IPS Tag to STACK.
2. Type your full domain name in the domain search box, at the top of this page, and click the search button.
3. Your domain will be listed as taken (in red). Click the transfer button and follow the instructions on the domain transfer page. You do not need an authorisation code.

For gTLD domains (domains ending in .com, .net, .org and most other domains)

1. Ask your current domain provider for the domain name authorisation code.
2. Type your full domain name in the domain search box, at the top of this page, and click the search button.
3. Your domain will be listed as taken (in red). Click the transfer button to proceed to the domain transfer page.
4. Add your authorisation code in the box provided.
5. Click the Add to Cart button and follow the instructions to purchase your transfer and add 1 year to your registration term.

Your free domain is provided along with a web hosting package. As long as you renew that package, you will continue to receive a free domain. When your hosting package expires, you can transfer your free domain to another registrar.

Generally speaking, most UK domains transfer within a few hours. There will always be exceptions though! Top Level Domains (TLDs) are a different matter! TLDs can take up to seven days. There's also a lot of constraints around TLD transfers. A lot of web hosting companies make it really difficult to transfer away from them. They prefer to have you raise a support/transfer request so they get an opportunity to offer you incentives to stay. The very fact you have to threaten to leave, in order to get their best offer, is reason enough to transfer away.

Our IPS TAG is STACK. This must be used to transfer .uk domains to us, and must be entered in your current web host's system, before you attempt the transfer.

All Nominet domains, such as .co.uk, .uk, .org.uk, .me.uk can be transferred for free.

All other domains are charged depending on the extension. See Domain Name Prices for details of each transfer fee.

So you have your domain name secured. If you don't already have it, you will need to add web hosting to your domain name. Once your hosting is in place, you have a number of options:

1. Depending on your level of expertise, you can install a content management system, such as Joomla or WordPress. These systems come with a few basic templates but you can add more complex templates, depending on your requirements. Our WordPress Hosting installs WordPress for you, including the database and linking everything together, ready for you to start building your website.
2. Use our free website builder software that comes pre-installed with our web hosting. Its an on-line solution, that allows you to use pre-built templates that you modify using drag and drop, click and edit actions, to build your website.