Why Personalised Online Photo Album and a Domain Name Can Be a Great Last Minute Gift

December 14th, 2011 | Tags:

Who else wants unusual last-minute gift ideas for the holidays?

Are you looking for something inexpensive, personal, and can be pretty useful? Start with a domain name and you can be more creative from there. It can be a great gift by itself or can be combined with a turnkey photo gallery to become the best personalised gift.

Here are some reasons why it is a good idea:

No assembly required and no instructions in Chinese.
It is easier to find a good domain name than a passive 3D TV.
It’s hypoallergenic.
Less obvious last-minute gift, unlike a lottery ticket.
Save a tree — you don’t have to wrap it!
Give someone the secret identity they’ve always wanted.
May increase in value over time like a good real estate.
The $6.95 domain can be passed down from generation to generation like a great story.
Does not take any space in the house.
You can buy it at 11:59 p.m. before that special day and still have it in time.

Owning a domain only gives you the rights to the name, e.g., johnandmary.com. It is like a declaration that the name is yours. You can go to any of the web domain registration companies such as Godaddy or Namecheap to purchase a domain name.

Making the Domain More Personal and Useful

But in the event you truly want to use the domain name for a website, email, etc., you should have the domain hosted. Owning 1 with no hosting it can be known as “parking” the domain. Less than $10 a month gets you hosting for that domain. We have been using Hostgator for more than 8 years and it has been the best one out of 30+ hosting companies that we have tried. So bottom line, $120 (or less) buys a hosted domain for a year.

Now once you have a domain hosted, you can create a pretty website based on the templates given at the hosting company. You can also get a web photo gallery for the domain. You can even help that special someone to start an online business. But you need to get the right hosting service. See further below about how to choose a good host.

A domain is so techie that you may want something solid to go together with it. And the obvious selection could possibly be a set of gorgeous business cards with the new domain particulars on them. VistaPrint will print 250 business cards in color for 20 bucks (or absolutely free for new customers, with a sub-$10 shipping-handling fee).

Where to Buy

There are about 70 gazillion websites that let you register domain names, and another 30 gazillion which will host that name for you. And there is a lot of overlap. There is a huge number of of sites that will help you find a hosting company; check out Cheap Web Hosts and Multi Domain Hosting.

If you do not have the time to research for the best domain registration company or web hosting, then here is our recommendations:

Best Domain Registrar:

Netfirms for the cheapest .COM domain registration
Godaddy for cheap $1.99 .INFO domains

Best Domain Hosting:

Hostgator for most comprehensive DIY hosting including Sitebuilders with 4000+ unique templates, one-click-installer for lots of web applications, shopping cart, forum, and much more. You can easily install the photo gallery application such as 4images, Coppermine, and Piwigo or choose a more popular platform such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal to create an online photo gallery. Click here to try for a penny.
Weebly for simple website builder with beautiful templates. Nothing fancy but straightforward easy-to-use website creation tool. Click here to try for free.