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Municipal Domain Name Guidance

Many Massachusetts cities and towns have contacted the Massachusetts Executive office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) for guidance on registering domain names for use as the municipality's website address and/or for email addresses. As you are likely aware, the purpose of a domain name is to provide an easily remembered word address instead of a numerical address for an Internet resource, such as a website or email account. We hope this information will help municipalities make sound decisions about acquiring and using domain names.

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How to request and use a .GOV domain name

Use a .GOV domain name

In 2002, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that local governments would be able to use the .GOV domain. Government organizations are strongly discouraged from using domains that do not end in “.gov” because anyone can buy one. Private websites masquerade as government websites in order to steal personal information or trick constituents into paying unnecessary fees. This breeds distrust. Read more about why to use a .GOV domain on GSA’s website.

GSA suggested naming conventions

The GSA issued suggested naming conventions for local governmental units, which include the city or town name as well as the state postal abbreviation, e.g. www.actonma.gov for the website and @actonma.gov for the email address. Using the "ma" format will distinguish the Amherst, Massachusetts site and email addresses from those of Amherst, New York, New Hampshire, or Ohio.

We strongly recommend that municipalities adopt this naming convention as it will:

  • enhance the likelihood of approval by the GSA
  • formalize your preferred "brand name"
  • make it easier for your citizens and other users to remember and benefit from your website
  • provide assurance to your citizens your website is an official government website and that associated email addresses for your city or town resolve to municipal employees

Mass.gov suggested naming conventions

For consistency, we are suggesting an additional guideline. Official city or town names should be used rather than informal or popular abbreviations, for instance, marlboroughma.gov, rather than marlboroma.gov.

Even if your municipality is already using another domain name or you have no website planned, we strongly urge that you reserve the domain name convention appropriate to your city or town for future use. You should also consider reserving any variations as well, for example:

  • northattleboroughma.gov
  • northattleboroma.gov
  • nattleboroughma.gov
  • nattleboroma.gov

Getting and using a .GOV domain

To obtain a .GOV domain, go to the GSA's website and follow their registration instructions. You may need to ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for some of the required technical information to complete the registration process for the .GOV domain.

If you are using another party for your email service, you may need to coordinate between your ISP and your email provider as well. If your current email provider does not allow you to use your own domain name, you could consider switching to a provider that does.

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