You have great ideas for a new website, but you’re stuck on the domain name.
“What name will best represent my website content?“, you ask, “And how much will this domain name cost me when combined with hosting?”
These are legit questions. But they should keep you in fear and lead you to stasis.
You should act— NOW! Before the domain name you’ll find out you want to register gets taken.
But let’s cover the basics first— where and how to register a domain name. (If you’re a newbie, please don’t skip this section!)
Registering a domain name– Where?!
There are thousands of domain registrars out there but the number shouldn’t scare you— in that big ocean, there’s a registrar that will just suit your needs.
Are you on a low budget? Then you’ll want to use NameCheap, Dynadot or Name.com, as they offer some of the lowest prices on the market.
Do you need a free domain with your hosting package? Then Bluehost or 1&1 may be the right solution for you.
Do you want to invest in domain names and run more than 50 of them? Use Name.com– when you reach 25 domains on your account, you can activate your Investor Club membership and get almost $2 in discounts on .COM and .NET registrations and renewals.
How to register a domain name?
Every domain registrar is different, but generally speaking all you need to do is input your domain in the domain search field, see if the domain is available and, if it is, register it. The checkout process comes with a wizard and the last steps are generally automated.
Make sure your registrar of choice accepts payment methods that you use, though. For example, most registrars don’t accept payment via Payza (Web4Africa.net does!), but almost all of theme use PayPa.
Choosing your domain – 6 best practices
1. Understand what kind of website you want to build and what message you want to convey to users
Your domain name will reflect your website scope. Don’t understestimate this best practice, as it deem your site a success or a failure.
2. Grab a piece of paper and brainstorm names that reflect that message and the type of website
In other words, your domain name should work closely with your mission statement. Don’t forget this simple rule– registering a domain name means sending out a message to users. Do it well.
See best practice #1, too.
3. Choose a domain extension that doesn’t sound weird with the domain name when pronounced
Your domain name, as a whole, should be pronounceable and your users should be able to remember it easily. Registering a domain name that can come up to mind easily means getting more return visitors more sooner.
4. Protect your domain WHOIS records to keep your privacy safe
Cybersquatters, hackers and scrapres often use WHOIS information to put your site in trouble. NameCheap offers one year of free WHOIS privacy when you purchase a domain and other registrars like Name.com price WHOIS privacy at about $4. It costs so little than you really have no excuses to not use it. ;)
5. Use the tools of PR and social network to announce your domain name and the site that goes with it
Announce your upcoming site on social networks, add it to Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools, check Archive.org to see if the domain was previously owned by someone and get in touch with their old contacts, if any. Write a press release on PRlog (it’s free!) to announce your upcoming website.
You should build traffic before your site even goes online!
6. If your budget allows for it, register more domain extensions to protect your brand
If you registered a .COM, see if you can add a .ORG, .NET and .BIZ to it. If your budget allows for it, invest in as many extensions as you can to protect your brand from cybersquatters and blackhatters.
You may want to setup these additional domains as redirects to your main website, or just park them on a free web hosting account that you will use for landing pages.
“What name will best represent my website content?“, you ask, “And how much will this domain name cost me when combined with hosting?”
These are legit questions. But they should keep you in fear and lead you to stasis.
But let’s cover the basics first— where and how to register a domain name. (If you’re a newbie, please don’t skip this section!)
Registering a domain name– Where?!
There are thousands of domain registrars out there but the number shouldn’t scare you— in that big ocean, there’s a registrar that will just suit your needs.
Are you on a low budget? Then you’ll want to use NameCheap, Dynadot or Name.com, as they offer some of the lowest prices on the market.
Do you need a free domain with your hosting package? Then Bluehost or 1&1 may be the right solution for you.
Do you want to invest in domain names and run more than 50 of them? Use Name.com– when you reach 25 domains on your account, you can activate your Investor Club membership and get almost $2 in discounts on .COM and .NET registrations and renewals.
How to register a domain name?
Every domain registrar is different, but generally speaking all you need to do is input your domain in the domain search field, see if the domain is available and, if it is, register it. The checkout process comes with a wizard and the last steps are generally automated.
Make sure your registrar of choice accepts payment methods that you use, though. For example, most registrars don’t accept payment via Payza (Web4Africa.net does!), but almost all of theme use PayPa.
Choosing your domain – 6 best practices
1. Understand what kind of website you want to build and what message you want to convey to users
Your domain name will reflect your website scope. Don’t understestimate this best practice, as it deem your site a success or a failure.
2. Grab a piece of paper and brainstorm names that reflect that message and the type of website
In other words, your domain name should work closely with your mission statement. Don’t forget this simple rule– registering a domain name means sending out a message to users. Do it well.
See best practice #1, too.
3. Choose a domain extension that doesn’t sound weird with the domain name when pronounced
Your domain name, as a whole, should be pronounceable and your users should be able to remember it easily. Registering a domain name that can come up to mind easily means getting more return visitors more sooner.
4. Protect your domain WHOIS records to keep your privacy safe
Cybersquatters, hackers and scrapres often use WHOIS information to put your site in trouble. NameCheap offers one year of free WHOIS privacy when you purchase a domain and other registrars like Name.com price WHOIS privacy at about $4. It costs so little than you really have no excuses to not use it. ;)
5. Use the tools of PR and social network to announce your domain name and the site that goes with it
Announce your upcoming site on social networks, add it to Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools, check Archive.org to see if the domain was previously owned by someone and get in touch with their old contacts, if any. Write a press release on PRlog (it’s free!) to announce your upcoming website.
You should build traffic before your site even goes online!
6. If your budget allows for it, register more domain extensions to protect your brand
If you registered a .COM, see if you can add a .ORG, .NET and .BIZ to it. If your budget allows for it, invest in as many extensions as you can to protect your brand from cybersquatters and blackhatters.
You may want to setup these additional domains as redirects to your main website, or just park them on a free web hosting account that you will use for landing pages.
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