Initially, it was a bit easier as the only requirement for registering such domains and emails was a government organization's letterhead. Federal processes on dot gov domain were updated in late 2023 and it has become tricky to register a dot gov domain or get an email.
As a website design for government service we often come across the question: can anyone buy a dot gov domain or email?
Initially, it was a bit easier as the only requirement for registering such domains and emails was a government organization's letterhead. Federal processes on dot gov domain were updated in late 2023 and it has become tricky to register a dot gov domain or get an email.
Lucky for you, Town Web is here to simplify the process. But, before we get into how we can help you, let’s break the whole process of registering a dot gov domain and getting its email. Here’s what we’ll cover:
To clearly understand the dot gov domain and email requirements, we’ll be breaking them down into three distinct sections.
Only the U.S. government and public sector organizations can get a dot gov domain and email. This bracket of organizations involves federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and other publicly controlled entities. The detailed explanation of who comes under the government or public sector is explained by the United States Census Bureau.
The dot gov domain is only for United government and certain public sector organizations: it's used as a security measure. The dot gov domain is seen as more secure than the earlier used state.co.us domain. This domain was especially susceptible to "phishing" scams. This means that individuals use this email address to trick people into revealing information or clicking on a dangerous link. It also means individuals can send information to members of the public, posing as a governmental employee and spread fake or false news. This can be done because the dot us domain is publicly available on domain registrars.
As many of you would know, domain names need to be globally unique. The same is the case with dot gov domains. However, in addition to being unique, the government agency domains must have identical or, at least, similar names to the organization or service. Other requirements are as under:
There are certain requirements and prohibitions concerning government agency domains and emails. They are:
Maintain current and accurate administrative and technical contact information with the dot gov’s official organization.
Similar to the general commercial websites, the dot gov agency domains come with dot gov emails, which you can provide to the various employees of the organization to conduct their business. However, ensure they don’t use it for illegal content, political promotion, or commercial purposes.
By now, you would have gathered what dot gov means in a web address and that getting official government agency domains is no easy feat. Lucky for you, Town Web , a website design for government organization, is here to secure national domain services for you with its over 15 years of experience.
We started in 2007 to make Clerk-life easier by building website design for government with tools that local governments love like a meeting repository, alert scrollers, notifications to residents. We expanded our business by providing website design and development services (including assistance in national domain services) to hundreds of municipalities and small communities.
Town Web offers affordable, ADA compliant, and easy-to-use custom website design for government with fixed pricing and unlimited support.
If you’re looking to get an official .gov domain and email address for your organization without going through the long process or falling for scams, then get in touch with us for further information. You can call, email, or fill out our online form to receive personalized services.
What could be better than getting your dot gov domain and email registered and your whole website designed and developed with the necessary SEO protocols all at once?
If you're interested in Town Web hosted emails and archiving, contact us at support@townweb.com
