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

December 14th, 2011 | Tags:

Who else wants unique last-minute gift ideas for the special occasion?

Our favorite gift idea, if the Someone You Love does not already have one, starts with a domain name. From there, you can make it into a web photo gallery, beautiful custom website, personalized email address and much more. It can be a great gift by itself or can be combined with a web photo gallery to become the most amazing unique gift.

Here are some reasons why it is a good idea:

It is easier to find a good domain name than a reasonably priced passive 3D TV.
It’s more personal than a camera or smartphone.
No assembly required. (No instructions in Chinese to go through.)
Save a tree — you don’t have to wrap it!
No chance of receiver getting the same gift (domain) from somebody else.
Give someone the secret identity they’ve always wanted.
Domains are cheap; you can register one for a year for as little as $6.95
You won’t shoot your eye out with it!
It can be passed down from generation to generation like a great framed portrait.
You can buy it at 11:59pm on the day before the birthday, wedding, anniversary or any 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.

More Gifts Ideas

But when you in fact wish to use the domain name for a website, email, etc., you have to have the domain hosted. Owning one without hosting it can be referred to 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 intangible that you may want something solid to go together with it. As well as the obvious choice could possibly be a set of beautiful business cards using the new domain details on them. VistaPrint will print 250 business cards in color for 20 dollars (or no cost for new buyers, with a nominal $10 shipping-handling charge).

Best Companies to Use

There are about 92 gazillion websites that let you register domain names, and another 30 gazillion that will host that name for you. And there is a lot of overlap. There are also plenty of sites that will help you find a hosting company; check out Hosting Comparison and best hosting services.

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.