How To Buy And Register A Domain Name

It is not surprising that as the internet continues to attract online users at an alarming rate there is a plethora of options available when it comes to choosing a domain name. The domain name (or website address) has to be totally unique to enable internet users to identify you from the hundreds of millions of other websites and the thousands of other domain names being added on a daily basis.

You may have good plans to make money online but nothing can be done until you register a domain name. Because of the options available, this may seem confusing and somewhat worrying for the average internet user. In reality, the steps needed to register a domain name are relatively easy and straightforward.

There are ways of getting free or cheap domain names. However before we look at the steps required, take a step back and think why do you want to go online, why do you want an internet presence? What type of domain name do you need?

If you know that your online activity will be purely personal and privacy or security is not an issue, you may want to consider a free domain name. This can be done through creating a free blog (Blogger or Wordpress for example) or utilizing the services of any company that provides a free domain name.

Although your website or web address will be unique, this is achieved by adding your “domain name” as such after the company’s domain name for example: 

www.domaincompany.com/yourwebsitename

Note that the prominent domain or website is the company’s and is not yours. Why is this important?

If you know that you want a professional presence on the internet through putting your current offline business online, or setting up a new work-at-home business online for example, using a free domain name lessens your credibility significantly as well as being limited by the restrictions imposed by the free domain name provider.

So, how do you buy and register a domain name?

Fortunately, with the number and range of domain name registration companies on the internet buying your domain name (which is not a one-off cost) is really inexpensive and the overall cost can be reduced even further should you choose to register the domain name for a number of years in advance.

The first step is to visit a domain name registration company’s website. Enter the name you have for your website and check the domain name availability. If it is not available you will be notified and oftentimes given a range of other options to choose from.

Whatever domain name you eventually decide to use, do not go for something obscure because you want your website domain name to be easily found and easily recognizable.

From your own internet surfing experience you may have noticed that websites have a variety of domain name extensions such as .com, .net, .org, .info, .us, .gov, and so on with .com being the most common. This extension is also used during domain name availability checking. Although the .com extension may be regarded as the most appropriate for business purposes, choose a domain name extension which suits your website profile best. For example you may choose a .info extension if you are providing the general public with an information service or perhaps .org, if your website is a profile of your organization.

One tip when making this decision. Let’s say your domain name choice was www.mydietwebsite.com and the name was already taken. The registration company may suggest that you register www.mydietwebsite.net or www.mydietwebsite.info

This is not a good idea because if the .com version already exists it may be well established already and you will find it difficult to compete for visitors with the original website and its domain name.

If your first choice is available the registration company will also offer you the option to register all of the most common domain name extensions at a discounted rate. If you have the funds available this could be a smart move because you are protecting the brand name of your website and preventing others from copying it.

When you are registering your domain name, you can choose for how long. If you are low on cash flow, you can decide to register for the minimum of one year and then renew the domain name annually, or you can take advantage of the multiple year discounts available. There used to be a risk attached to single year domain name registration, especially if you forgot to renew it. Today most registration companies provide an automatic renewal service, giving advance notice that the domain name registration payment is due.

Of course, registering your domain name is only the first step in the process of getting your website live on the internet. You need to find and pay for a website hosting service with which you can load and publish your web pages.

The major domain name registration companies often also provide this web hosting service. If this is your first venture online this may be the better option for you since all the technical details will be managed for you. The charge for web hosting is most often a monthly charge but there may well be more cost effective alternatives available to you. It is always worth checking these out rather than automatically hosting with your domain name registration company.