Advanced Activities

Your Own Domain Name

At some point, you may decide you want your own "dot com" address. You may already have a domain name (web address) that you are using for your e-mail and would like to have your web site carry the same name. You may just be tired of typing a long web address name, or find that it just won't fit on your business cards.

Instead of this as your web address:

You could have this:

Fast Track: Customized Age Verification Page

Once you have your own domain name ("katcefbros.com" or "countydistributing.com"), and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) who has set up a web site for you, just let us know that you would like a Redirect Page for your personal domain. We will send you a Customized Age Verification Page that is the only page you need to put on your web site.

The customized Age Verification page takes you to your ABWholesaler.com Home Page once you click on the "Card Me" button.

To get a Customized Age Verification Page, write to ABWholesaler@Anheuser-Busch.com and request one. You can help us out by including your name, your wholesaler number and your company name in the e-mail. We will e-mail you the page, and you merely e-mail it to your ISP to include in the root directory of your web site.

If you already have a web site set up and just needed to know how to get the Customized Age Verification page, you're done with this page. Otherwise, read on...

Start here if you're new to this: What's an Internet Service Provider?

An Internet Service Provider (an "ISP") provides basically four services for you.

• Access to the Internet, either dial-up or broadband (DSL or Cable)
• E-mail
• Hosting your domain
• Hosting your web sites

There are many other services an ISP can provide, but these are the big four.

There are big companies which will provide all or some of these services, and there are small companies which will provide all or some of these services. Sometimes it is easier to work with a smaller local company, particularly if you know them and feel confident of their abilities and stability. Or you may prefer to contract with a large provider, where the interactions are less personal but possibly more reliable.

It is important to shop around. Ask the people you know if they are happy with their providers. You can go online and get reports on the larger providers. Don't choose an ISP solely on the basis of price, but don't let yourself pay a premium, either. You should be able quite easily to find out the range of prices being charged in your area.

How Do I Get My Own Domain Name (Web Address)?

This is the fun part. Go to www.netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois. Type in the name you'd most like to have ("mycompany.com"), click "GO" and see if it is available. If it is not, you'll find out who owns it, and the website will suggest several variants that you might like. Look for a name until you find an available one that you like.

If you do find one that you like, it may be a good idea to register the .net version of the name as well if you have any concern about competitors or others acquiring it.

These days, it is possible to register for a domain name before you have an ISP who will host your domain, but if you do already have an ISP, you can save some time by telling the domain registrar where your sites will be hosted at the time of registration.

You may prefer to have your ISP register your Domain Name for you. If your ISP registers your domain name for you, be sure that they make someone at your company the Administrative and Billing Contacts. This is important!

If you do it yourself, go to an online registrar. You can find one by typing in "domain registration" in a search engine like Google, where the most popular sites sort to the top of the list (just below the paid spots.) If you already have an ISP, you'll need the following information from them (they'll know what you mean):

• The names of the (two) Domain Name Servers (DNS)
• The IP addresses of the (two) Domain Name Servers (DNS)

(An IP address (Internet Protocol address) has four numbers separated by periods. It looks somewhat like this: 180.34.135.10)

Have your ISP Set Up a Web Page

There are lots of ways to set up a redirect page to a web site on another server. The one that works best with your ABWholesaler.com site is a link from an actual page. Have your ISP actually set you up a web site, then put the Customized Age Verification Page mentioned above on it.

When you tell your ISP you plan to put only one page on your site, they may suggest some other solutions. These other solutions may not work with our system. If they need more information, please call the HotLine at 1-877-422-4636 (1-877-4AB-INFO).

If you have your own web site already, and want to link it to your ABWholesaler.com site, please be sure that your visitors have already passed through an Age Verification Page if you link directly to your ABWholesaler.com Home Page (http://www.abwholesaler.com/yourcompany/home). Otherwise, link to your ABWholesaler.com Age Verification Page (http://www.abwholesaler.com/yourcompany).

Get your Customized Age Verification Page and Put it on your Site

Send an e-mail to ABWholesaler@Anheuser-Busch.com to get your Customized Age Verification Page. Put it in the root directory of your web site and you're ready to go!