change of web site domain name

[flatcap]

Hi looking for advice i've used www.flatcap.biz for years but i want to have a new domain name but worried i'll lose so many old customers if i did there is also the stationary thats out their in the public domain for instance i get new customers who have come across my card and kept it for a year or more before using me
The more i learn about web promotion and stuff i realise flatcap.biz does not really say what i do and feel that flatcap-caricatureandcartoons.co.uk would be of more benifit but as i say i've got a pretty well known as flatcap.biz
advice please
Also in the beginning i built my own web site for flatcap.biz with software called web easy it was pretty basic but god did it work well for me i knew it inside out
last year i had a web designer build me a site and it is not working for me that great it is a joomla software im not a web designer and i'm fed up having to read helpfiles to do anything hence i have a lot of work not uploaded because its just hassle and time consuming to do
so i'm thinking of getting serif webpus 5 to go back to building my own site anyone here use serif

[Leah-Admin]

All you have to do is buy your new domain and either keep your existing name as the main name and redirect the new name to your site or do it in reverse. I have a few domain names redirecting to my site, it's not problematic.

[flatcap]

Thanks leah sounds like a good idea but im not up to redirecting domains etc the hosting company i'm with for www.flatcap etc is about £6.00 a month so it would not be to expensive to keep and just put a message on telling to click on a hyperlink with my new domain but i think if i get a new domain i may get a new host as justhost who i'm with their control panel is a nightmare and support is terrible i wish lycos had not gone belly up their hosting was so simple

[Leah-Admin]

You don't need to keep existing website

I have a wordpress.org site, self-hosted. I had a domain name, then I changed it and I have a variety of domain names (old ones) redirecting to it. It simply means you won't lose any customers who use your old domain name. Unless you don't own it? In which case you need to get the people who do own it to sign it over to you.

[flatcap]

sadly i don't own it or i don't think i do i know i get billed for it every 2 years but then apparently its my name and address in the whoisit list i think thats what it is called and contacting just host is a nightmare there in america they take for ever to respond and it just seems a lot of hassle and time which could be spent drawing i think i'd only need the old site up for a year to catch any straglers and then ditch it which will cost about £40.00 which is nothing compared to the grief i'll get trying to move it or redirect it life is to short going to get enough grief from my web designer when i tell him i;m ditching his site i'llput it down to an expensive folly
i should have stuck with my kitchen table site i built, it will teach me to be vain

[Leah-Admin]

If you're paying for it and you're listed as owner in the whois then it is yours and you own it. I know these things are a hassle but imagine you ditch this name and when it is expired some savvy toony comes along and buys it (it's happened to me already) and they benefit from all your link juice and clients! A couple of my old domain names have been bought by others and it's a real pain in the butt.

[flatcap]

mmmmmmmmm never thought of that i think ill bite the bullet and contact them but i dont have much hope about getting a reply so it seems i own it so i think ill have to get a new host first but then i dont what as i said my host are very unhelpful maybe my new host can get it for me
do you know of any british host firms to use must admit even as i write i'm going of the idea i hate web site stuff .

[Leah-Admin]

I guarantee if you pop along here (business forum) and post for advice in the IT section, they will help you with this. They have helped me with all sorts!
Website savvy peeps

[flatcap]

Thanks leah that is a really great link