The domain name, or vanity URL, is the address that you use on the web. For example, the League of Women Voters of California uses lwvc.org, and LWV Oakland uses lwvoakland.org. 

This domain name is registered by your League through a Domain Name Registrar such as GoDaddy or Dreamhost. There are many registrars out there, and all will have slightly different interfaces, registration lengths, and pricing schemes. GoDaddy is the giant in the industry, but no one registrar is necessarily better than another as long as the one you use is reputable and ICANN accredited.

MyLO URLs

MyLO will not be presenting content at a League's vanity URL, but rather under the following URL structure: 

https:// my.lwv.org / [StateName] / [LeagueName]

Where [StateName] is controlled by the State field within your League Contact Information, and [LeagueName] is controlled by your homepage title.

This is for the following reasons:

1. We are covering the entire system under SSL for security purposes (this also gives us an SEO boost)
2. Having the long-standing, reputable, and content rich lwv.org domain as part of your overall domain name will give your League a significant SEO boost
3. Having your state and location as part of the path structure, along with lwv.org, will also give your League an SEO boost

We suggest you still register (or renew) your vanity URL and redirect it to your MyLO URL.

Why should I still have a vanity URL?

It is always nice to have a customized URL, branded for you, that points to your content. For example, while LWV Oakland's URL will actually be https://my.lwv.org/california/oakland, being able to use lwvoakland.org on their marketing material, in their emails, and in common conversation will be helpful and more personal.

In order to have your vanity URL resolve to your site, you will set up domain forwarding on your registrar. This process will be slightly. different depending on your registrar:

• Godaddy: https://www.godaddy.com/help/forward-a-domain-12123?
• Dreamhost: https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/articles/215455377-How-do-I-redirect...
• Hover: https://help.hover.com/hc/en-us/articles/217282447-How-to-Forward-your-d...

How long should you register a domain name for?

Common wisdom suggests that you register your domain name for long periods of time rather than renew annually. 5 and 10 year terms are strongly encouraged. This is for the following reasons:

• Longer registration periods show that your organization is legit and therefore give you an SEO boost
• Longer registration periods usually result in small discounts
• You don't have to worry as much about forgetting to renew
• You are less vulnerable to domain squatters (groups that buy up domains during short lapses in renewal and then sell them back to the owners at inflated prices)