Registering A Domain Name – Made Easy!

Once you’ve decided on a domain name for your website you will need to register it at one of the online domain registrars. There are many to choose from but i personally like to use GoDaddy or Namecheap.

For the purpose of this how to register a domain name tutorial we will be looking at registering a domain name with GoDaddy, as they are the registrar most people choose to use. To follow along  i suggest opening the GoDaddy website in a new tab so you can flick between this tutorial and GoDaddy’s website. To open GoDaddy in a new tab click here.

When you click the link above, a new tab will open in your browser and the page should look like the image below.

GoDaddy Domain Registrar Homepage Image

Type your chosen domain name in the box and use the drop-down arrow to select your domain extension. Click the GO button to check if your domain name is available to register.

If the domain name you chose is not available you will be presented with a list of alternatives. You can choose one of the suggestions or try a different domain name yourself.

If the .com is not available you could try .net or .org – just avoid the .info as these have historically been abused by spammers due to the reduced cost, and are associated with websites of low quality.

If you are really struggling to find your chosen name you could try using hyphens to separate the words but i normally only do this as a last option as i stated in my post how to choose a domain name.

When you have found a name which is available to register, make sure there is a check in the box next to the name and click the Continue to Registration button.

A pop-up window may appear asking you if you’d like to add other domain extensions to your order. This is not really necessary unless it is your business name and you want to snap up all the variations and redirect them to your main website – a good way to protect your brand and stop others registering a domain with your name.

1. Domain Registration Information

Everyone who registers a domain name must have an account first (this is the same for any domain registrar).

It is important that you fill out the form with your correct details as these will be used for your domain and any future domains you may wish to register in the future. Click the Next button when you’re finished.

2. Your Domain Settings

Check to make sure the domain name is correct and change it if necessary using the View and Edit All Domains link. Select the length of time you wish to register the domain for (minimum of 1 year for .com) and make sure your contact details are showing properly. You can also choose whether you want a certified domain (not necessary unless you’ll be doing ecommerce). Click Next when you’re happy with everything.

3. Privacy and Domain Protection

You will now be given options to hide your personal details by upgrading to a privacy protection package. I usually don’t bother, but if you’re a little paranoid about prying eyes then feel free to select one of the domain privacy options.

Just bear in mind that these options do cost extra money, so take that into account when you’re deciding.

If you choose an upgrade press the select button and follow the instructions, otherwise just click the Next button to continue.

4. Activate Your Website, Email & More

GoDaddy are a great registrar but they do like to try and sell you stuff! The only option worth considering here is the SSL certificate – but only if you’ll be building an ecommerce site, otherwise leave everything unchecked.

You will be getting your hosting from Hostgator so ignore the hosting section. Also ignore the email section as you’ll be getting unlimited email accounts with your Hostgator hosting.

Click the Next button at the bottom to continue to the checkout.

Review Your Shopping Cart

Check that the details are correct and go back if necessary to correct them, then click the Continue to Checkout button.

Create New Account

Check the information already contained in the form and add anything that is missing. Choose whether your domain name is going to be used for personal, business or both, receive a monthly account summary and select the default currency you would like to use.

On the right-hand section you will need to create a password and enter it twice. You will also be asked for a password hint (used in case you forget your password) and a 4 digit Call-In-PIN.

Make sure your email address is correct and then fill in sections 3 & 4 as appropriate.

When you’re happy click Continue to Checkout.

You will now be asked for payment, and there are 4 choices – credit/debit card, gift card, check and Paypal. Go ahead and enter your details for your chosen method. If you choose Paypal you will be taken to a secure Paypal processing page and then returned to the checkout page to finalize your order.

For added security there is a final step asking you to enter an access code. Simply type the code into the white box and click Verify Code.

That’s it!!!

You should now see a confirmation page telling you that your order is complete. Within a few minutes you should also receive two emails with all the details of your purchase. These are usually titled “Your Log In Information” and “GoDaddy.com Order Confirmation”.

You are now the proud owner of your first domain name! Our next post will detail how to buy hosting from Hostgator.

Did you find our how to register a domain name page useful? If you did, please take a few seconds to spread the word by sharing on Twitter or Facebook – thanks.

You may think learning how to choose a domain name does not warrant a tutorial, but there are actually many aspects to choosing a domain name that may not be immediately obvious.

Once you have chosen a domain name, there is no turning back. Of course you could choose another, but then you will have to build a new website, and you will be starting from scratch trying to get listed in the search engines again – so it’s best to get it right the first time!

This tutorial will arm you with all the information you need to choose a good domain name.

How To Choose a Good Domain Name

There are a few factors to consider when choosing a domain name, but the main thing to consider is how your visitors will find you. There are really only three ways to get found:

1. From a listing on a search engine such as Google, Bing etc
2. From a link on another website
3. From an offline source – word of mouth, print advertisement etc

The main things to consider here are sources 1 and 3.

Keyword Rich Domain Names

To get good rankings in the search engines is a massive topic on it’s own, but one way to rank more easily is to have a keyword-rich domain. Examples of keyword-rich domains would be:

• CheapElectricianInPeterborough.com
• BasketWeavingClassesInArizona.com

It would be relatively easy to get ranked highly in Google for the search phrase “Cheap Electrician In Peterborough” if you had that exact phrase as your domain name.

There are a couple of problems with this approach though. If you want to expand, you might find that your domain name has suddenly become less relevant. Also it’s a very long domain name, and people don’t like typing in long domain names.

If you want to go down this route you should first check the search volume for your chosen phrase. Being number one in Google for a phrase that nobody is searching for is a futile exercise.

The best way to check search volume is by using Google’s own keyword tool. This is currently the most accurate data available to you, and it’s completely free.

Brandable Domain Names

Perhaps a more sensible option (long-term) is to go for a brandable domain name. These are getting harder to find, especially short catchy names, but there are still opportunities out there.

You can still incorporate a keyword into your name, or just go for something catchy and memorable.

Examples of brandable domain names would be:

• Google.com
• Twitter.com

These names don’t really mean much, but everyone has heard of them and they have immense value. You could combine brand and keyword to give you something memorable, which also conveys what your business is about, such as StorkChildminders.com or RhinoConstruction.com.

Domain Name Extension

You should almost always opt for the .com version of your domain name wherever possible. There are still many technophobes out there who automatically assume all websites end with .com, so if yours doesn’t you will lose out on potential customers.

If your business is local to a specific location (ie, UK) then my suggestion would be to buy the .co.uk version for your website. Country-specific domains will feature better in local searches (in this case Google.co.uk). If possible i recommend you also buy the .com version and set-up a 301 redirect to your .co.uk website. This means that anyone typing yourwebsite.com would be automatically redirected to yourwebsite.co.uk.

If you can’t get the .com, other TLDs to look for are .org and .net – i personally prefer .org as i have found them easier to rank than .net – just steer clear of .info as it is associated with low quality spammy websites.

Domain Name Length

Simply put, the shorter the better. This is important for type-in traffic and is easier to remember. DenverPlumber.com is much better than TheBestLocalPlumberInDenverWithNoCallOutCharge.com!

Choose A Memorable Domain Name

If you can find a short snappy domain name then you will be onto a winner if you can drive traffic and turn it into a household name. If your website has great content which people are likely to want to share with their Facebook friends etc, then a memorable domain name will pay dividends.

Consider Google. A few years ago nobody knew what Google was, but now almost everyone with a computer knows the name. People don’t say they’re going to search for something on the internet, they say “i’ll Google it”. If Google had chosen a keyword-rich domain name such as TheWorldsBiggestSearchEngine.com, the results wouldn’t have been quite the same.

Domain Names With Numbers

Substituting letters for numbers might seem like a good idea but it leads to confusion so please don’t do it. You will lose potential business because your customer typed plumbersforyou.com instead of plumbers4you.com and ended up at your competitor’s website!

Similarly, deliberate mis-spellings like plumbers4u.com, or plumbersforu.com suffer the same fate.

This can work sometimes (toysrus.com) but for most people it’s just not a good idea.

Domain Names With Hyphens

Domain names with hyphens were popular a few years ago because the consensus was that search engines found it easier to see the individual words that made up the domain. Search engines have evolved a lot since then, and can now pick out words even when there are no hyphen separators.

Hyphens are generally a bad idea. They now have no value over non-hyphen names, and people forget to put hyphens in the name when they type them in.

The only time i would ever buy a domain with a hyphen is if i desperately wanted a keyword-rich name and the non hyphen version was already taken in every TLD. Even then i would probably not buy it unless i had done extensive keyword research which proved that there was huge search volume, and the keyword had commercial intent plus the competing websites were all weak.

Choosing A Domain Name – Conclusion

There are many factors to think about and the decision to buy a  brandable name vs a keyword-rich name can only be made by you. To summarize the main points you should consider:

• Keep it as short as possible
• Don’t include numbers or hyphens
• Don’t use mis-spellings such as “u” to replace “you”
• Don’t buy a .info extension – stick with .com, .org or .net

The next tutorial will teach you how to register a domain name with the #1 domain registrar GoDaddy.