Domain Name

How To Buy And Register A Domain Name

As the internet continues to attract online users at an alarming rate there is a superabundance of options available when it comes to choosing a domain name. Your domain name is your website address and it has to be totally unique so that internet users can identify you from the hundreds of millions of other websites and the thousands of other domain names being added on a daily basis.

If your plans are to make money online, the first thing you need to do is register a domain name. Because there are numerous options available, this may seem somewhat confusing for the average internet user. In reality, though, the steps needed to register a domain name are relatively easy and straightforward.

There are basically two options available when it comes to getting a domain name. You can get a free or cheap domain name, or you can buy a premium domain name. Your first step, however, before deciding on the type domain name suitable for your purpose, is to do a little brainstorming and think about why do you want to go online, and why do you want an internet presence? Now hold that in mind, and lets explore futher to see What type of domain name you need.

If your online activity is going to 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 at http://www.blogger.com or at http://wordpress.com. Also there is an increasing number of other companys offering this service that you can locate by doing a search in google.

The disadvantage of using a free service for your domain name, however, is that, although the name will be unique, it will reside in a sub-folder of the company providing the free service. If you are using the free Blogger Service, for example, in order for users to access your website, they would have to type in http://yourdomain.BlogSpot.com, instead of http://yourdomainname.com.

In the above free domain name example, the prominent domain or website is Blogger, the company providing you with the free service. Whatever traffic you generate to your site, may end up, out of curiosity, checking out other parts of the company providing the free choice and this ultimately could result in lost revenue to you. Other than the potential lost of revenue, why is this important?

It has to do with creating an Internet presence, creating credibility for yourself and the products or services you intend to promote. If your plan is to build an online work-at-home business, a free domain name is not going to get the job done. It will not create the professional presence that you will need to build a successful Internet business. You will need your own unique domain name for this. A free domain name lessens your credibility significantly as well as imposes limitations and restrictions by the free domain name provider on the type services you can promote. So, how do you buy and register a domain name?

The first step is to visit a domain name registration company’s website. Type in the name you have for your website and within seconds, if the name is available, you will be prompted to purchase it, and if it is not available, you will be prompted to choose an alternate choice or to enter another domain name check. In some instances, you will be given the option to reserve the domain name, in case it should become available in the future. The options of choice are standardized for the most part, but may differ slightly depending on which registration company you choose.

Whatever domain name you eventually decide to use, make sure it is something that is easily identifiable with the product or service you intend to promote. For example, you have probably noticed while surfing the Internet 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 popular. Although the .com extension may be regarded as the most appropriate for business purposes, when you start your domain name check availability search, you will most likely find that most appropriate .com names have already been grabbed up by someone else. But don’t let this deter you, because you can still get a domain name using one of the other extensions that you can use to identify with the products or services you intend to promote.

When it comes to choosing an alternate extension, in the event that the .com extension has already been taken, it is not always a good practice to select the alternate choice suggested by the domain name registrar. Here’s why! Say for example your choice was www.mysoftware.com and the name was already taken. The registration company may suggest that you register www.mysoftware.net, www.mysoftware.info, or another extension. Although the alternate choice may work for you, the problem is, that oftentimes the .com version is already so well established that you will find it difficult to compete for visitors with the original .com website.

If you do choose an alternate extension because someone else has already purchased the .com domain name that it is already well established, and you start building a successful enterprise for yourself with the alternate extension, the .com company owner, upon finding this out, if they haven’t already done so, may start grabbing up all the available remaining extensions in an effort to prevent you from purchasing and using them, as a means to stunt your growth. The .com company may even put a reserve on the extension you have, so they can purchase it should it become available. So here’s the best advice when the .com choice has already been purchased by someone else. When you go to purchase the alternate extension, the registration company will not only offer you the option to register an alternate extension of the domain name, but will also give you the option to register several other extensions of the domain name. If you have the funds available this could be a smart move to purchase the other extensions as well.

However, a word of warning is in order. If the .com owner happens to be a well established company like McDonald Hamburgers, purchasing any extensions using their name, especially if you intend to sell hamburgers or any accessories associated with them, would most likely get you involved in a law suit, so exercise caution and avoid trapping yourself in this sort of situation.

When you are registering your domain name, most registrars will give you a huge discount if you choose to register your domain for the multiple number of years that is required to receive the discount. If you are low on cash flow, you can register your domain name for the minimal one year and renew the domain name annually. On the other hand, if you have the funds, you can go ahead and take advantage of the multiple year discounts. The risk that used to be attached to losing your domain name with single year domain name registration, especially if you forgot to renew it, is not a problem today. Most registration companies now provide an automatic renewal service that gives you advance notice that the domain name registration payment is due.

Of course, registering your domain name is only your first step in the process of getting your website live on the internet. You next step is to find and pay for a website hosting service with which you can load and publish your web pages. You can find information on how to go about doing this in my article entitled “What You Should Know About Web Hosting Before Making A Decision.”

Most likely, the domain name registration company proving your domain name will also provide you with web hosting service for an additional charge. If you are just getting started and this is your first online venture, you may find that this is the better option for you since all the technical details will be managed for you. The charge for web hosting can usually be paid monthly, but some companies require that you pay quarterly or yearly. Shop around and go with the most cost effective alternatives available to you, rather than automatically hosting with your domain name registration company.