Help me create a decent website - Germany

okay, here's the deal: i am looking at setting up my own web page and want to acquire a specific domain name that I am pretty sure is not held by anyone else at the moment. How do I go about acquiring it ad registering it?

I have googled and there seem to be lots of businesses offering deals that are too good to be true and that seems to e to screech "SCAM" at me so, before I proceed it would be good to get soe advice from people who have done it before

Google Yahoo domain names and you can use their site.

you can get a domain registered easily from a domain registrr like domainfactory.de for example.
it takes some time for all the paperwork..etc..

Fot cheap, simple and reliable domain registration and hosting consider Siteground. I have dozens of names registered there. You can be up and running inside of 30 minutes.

Well to add to BTC's question: Does one own the rights to say "Lostart" does it only count toward to .com or does it also effect .de or .org etc?

thanks for that rice77, will check it out

I think you have to acquire each separately. Good idea to do that if it is a business or an event where spiteful competitors might buy all the alternatives if you just buy one.

Nobody seems to have mentioned yet that most ISPs give home users one free domain and some web space with their DSL package, although some make it more obvious than others. I only recently set my T-Home one up, having suddenly wondered about it.

kay, here's another question:

I have a mac.com account that gives me storage and hosting so all I acually need is to get the domain name registered. However, the above pages as far as I can make out offer free domain name registration only as a condition you host the site with them? Is there any way I can just get a domain name on its own?

guy, you must have read my mind

except mac.com do not offer one free domain, they require you to purchase a domain yourself and use that

Are sure it's included/free? T-Home currently have a hosting offer with 12 months free, but the normal price is €0.29/month for a .de domain and one email address (which it is also after the free 12 months...) and of course you need to be fairly proficient in German to manage it.

try GoDaddy.com

It certainly wasn't obvious to find, and I see no mention of it in the tariff details, however in the T-Home Kundencenter under 'Dienste und Abos' then 'Homepage & Shop', it gave me the following option/status, so it is free:

I have T-Home Call & Surf Comfort.

If all you need is the domain name, then any Domain Registrar will do. All Domain name prices are with-in a few $
of each other as the base Domain name fees are dictated by ICANN. That being said some ISPs (T-Online) charge
outrageous monthly fees for their hosting plans and Domain Name fees depending on which package you get.

The avg. cost of a .COM is $8-$10 per year, but will usually go cheaper if you sign-up for 3-5 years or more..
So there you go.. Where ever you go don't get suckered and pay more than that..

www.123-reg.co.uk for normal stuff like .co.uk and .com

www.eurodns.com for all the european stuff