Starting a new business? Gone through the checklist? How about your presence online? To begin with start on with finding the right name for your business and see how flexible you can be to change it in case you don’t find that domain name available. Not ready to agree on the importance of this statement? Read on, perhaps the points below will change your mind.
Before getting into the finer details involved in the process of registering a domain name, it is important to start by explaining the meaning of a domain name. A domain name is a very important part of an online business. It is the name that potential as well as existing clients or associates will type into the search bar to access a website. It is the registration or identity of your website. Just as human beings have names for identification, the same applies to websites and the domain name is a registered identity of a website. That is why it has to be registered to make sure there are no other similar domain names because this will cause serious conflicts in your identity online.
What You Need To Do To Register A Domain Name?
Before registering a domain name, one must identify a domain name registrar. This is an organization that reserves the right to reserve and register a domain name for an agreed duration of time. There are many domain name registrars and many of them also double up as web hosting companies. It is worth pointing out at this moment that the costs of registering domain names also vary from one registrar to another. There are several suffixes and they also cost variably. Some common ones include .com, .net, .org, .info, .co.uk, and .us, just to name a few. The .com and .net suffixes tend to cost more. One must decide on the type of suffix to use for their domain names. It is good to note that the suffix is in some cases a determining factor for the region or country where the domain name targets to get most of its traffic.
After Choosing the Domain Name and Suffix
As soon as one makes a choice of a domain name, the next thing in line is the suffix. After deciding on the names and suffix, choose a domain name registrar. They are all available online. Visit their site and check whether the domain name is available. This is easily done by simply typing the suggested name in a search box that is available on the domain name registrar’s website. The search box will check online and from the data bases of all other existing domain name registrars to find out whether the name has been registered before. If the name is free, the search system will indicate its availability. The client will then click on a link to register the domain name.
Reserving and Paying For the Domain Name
When the client clicks on the link to register the domain name, the link should redirect the client to a page that includes payment options. This is because a fee will be paid for the registration and reservation of the chosen domain name for a period of time. One can choose to reserve the name for one year or more. A good tip is to choose more years because it always comes with huge discounts as opposed to choosing one year. There are always many payment options to choose from. Common methods of payment include paypal, debit cards, direct bank transfers or ETF (electronics funds transfers) among many others. At this point, the client is given a choice to choose their preferred payment method. Once the payment is made, the domain name registrar will process a receipt for the payment and a receipt will be sent to the contact address given by the client. These details are important and should be kept securely because they will be necessary the next time a renewal of the domain name is needed.
Here’s a cool infographic about The art of choosing a domain name:
