Steps to Register a Domain Name

Getting a domain name for your website narrows down to two approaches:

• Purchasing a new domain
• Purchasing an existing domain which is owned by someone

As already mentioned, the price of a domain name depends on how old it is, so if you want to purchase an old but well-known domain then it will cost you a lot higher as compared to a new domain and not a well-known domain.

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Step1: Brainstorm a Name

Your domain name basically represents your company so make sure to find the one that goes perfectly with your business goals.

Tips on choosing a good domain name

• A domain name that matches your brand name is very important. Always make sure to register domain names after your business/brands or yourself if you are planning to launch your blogposts.
• Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters.
• Try not to include any special characters like hyphens in your domain name.
• Be creative! You can make up a word like FaceBook, YouTube, Google, LinkedIn etc.
• You can also use domain name generators to look for a good domain name. Here are a few tools to help you find the right domain name: domainr, wordoid
• You don’t need a keyword in your domain name to rank on Google. But it’s a good practice to keep the main keywords in your domain name as this will help get a lot of traffic.
• If your brand is a local business then TLDs like .net, .org seem to be acceptable but if you think your brand would get international acknowledgement someday, then we suggest you take the .com TLD.

Following TLD conventions must be kept in mind while choosing a domain name:

Suffix	Intended Use
.com	For commercial purposes
.biz	For business purposes
.net	An alternative for .com domain if it’s not available
.org	For Non-Profit Organizations
.edu	For Educational institutes

In addition to these domains, there are country code level domains as well, for example, .nz for New Zealand or .au for Australia, .uk etc.

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Step2: Check for domain availability

Now that you’ve decided on a really awesome domain name, it’s time to check whether the domain name you want is available or not.

Checking on whether a domain name’s availability is easy enough. You can do a simple search with one of the domain registrars; or, use a Whois search engines such as DomainTools to verify whether your domain name is available or has been taken. If the domain name you want is not available, try to see if different extensions are available instead.

Since there are a plethora of pre-existing websites, finding an available domain name can be tricky. Most web hosts have a free domain name search tool. If the name you want is taken, often times these sites will suggest similar domains that are available. Domain names with a “.com” extension (what the domain name ends in) rather than a “.us,” “.org,” “.net,” or any other extension, are often more trusted by users and could lead to more traffic to your site.

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Step 3: Register your domain name with a domain registrar

Once you have found an available domain name, you must register it so that no one else can take that name, and so that it can be linked to your actual website. You can either register your domain name through your web hosting company or through a third party domain name registrar.

There is an annual registration fee that must be covered whether you choose to register through your web host or a third party registrar. Some web host plans include the annual registration fee as part of your overall package, while others list it separately.

The domain name you’ve chosen is perfect and you’ve verified that it is available, now it’s time to actually register the domain name itself.

But, how do you do that exactly?

The easiest way is to go to a domain registrar service sites. These sites will let you register your domain name either through yearly contracts or a long-term contract. Here are a few that you can check out:

Domain registrar sites will charge you a small fee that typically ranges between $10 – $15 per year, however, domain names that are high in demand will cost more in the initial purchase.

The expensive domains can reach up to thousands of dollars but after that, the renewal fee is fairly nominal ($10 – $15 per year).