step by step guide to domain name registration

As I have already pointed out in my previous article on protection of your domain from hijack, it is best if you are the contact person of your domain name. Usually, the contact person details for a domain name are provided during the domain name registration process. The contact person is the person that “owns” the domain. I put that in quotes because domains are actually not owned. We don’t usually buy them - we hire them. That is why if you don’t renew it on time, you domain can expire and it will subsequently be put in the database of expired domains which will make it available for any one interested to register it

Anyway, back to my point. You need to register your own domain instead of leaving that to someone else. Even if you want to hire a web designer to develop your website, you can still register the domain and give him the passwords. That way, you are less exposed to the threat of your designer hijacking your domain. So how do you go about it? Most people are scared about the whole procedure but if you ask anybody that has ever registered a domain, he/she will tell you it is probably the easiest thing you can do online. Let me give you a step by step guide on what you need to do.

1. Settle on a name

Obviously, the first thing you need to do is to settle on a domain name. There are two ways to settle on a good domain name

• Product/service

This approach is good for you if you want to setup an ecommerce store. Let’s say you want to set up an online company that sells fresh flowers. Your product is flowers. Having that in your domain will be a plus as far as search engine optimization is concerned. For example, this is a domain that actually exists - buyflowersonline.com. It’s a domain based on the product that they are selling. Here is how it works, what do you think someone will type in Google when he needs to buy flowers online? Most probably, the phrase will be “buy flowers online” right? And am sure you guessed which website will be the top result.

• Business name

Sometimes, using the product to get a domain name is not always the best way to go. This is especially true if you have already built a strong brand that your customers identify with. For instance, supposing you are a fashion designer called ronhi and your have christened your five year old business ronhi designers, it would be better to use your business name as your domain name. That way, the customers that are already loyal to your brand will not get confused when they visit your website because you will not be using a totally different domain name from what they already know as your business name.

2. Get some alternatives

As at June this year (2011), there were at least 346,004,403 websites. Am sure the number has greatly increased by now. With all those domains out there registered, it only makes sense that you don’t have an hundred percent surety that your desired domain name is available. However, you shouldn’t register a bad domain name just because your favorite one was taken. At the same time, you don’t call it quits on blogging or on your eCommerce store just because you can’t get a suitable domain. After settling on a possible domain name for your business, the next thing you need to do is get a writing pad, or a keyboard, and come up with some alternatives. With some creativity, you will still get a good domain that is available for you to register. All you need to do is to think of at least four alternatives for your desired domain name. Let me stick with my earlier arbitrary example of ronhi designers and show you the alternatives I would think of.

Ronhidesigners.com

Ronhidesings.com

Ronnydesigns.com

Ronniedesings.com

Ronhifashiondesings.com

The idea is to have as many options as possible but still maintain the relevance to your number one choice as much as possible. Before you settle on the top five list, you need to make sure that the suggested names adhere to all the qualities of a good domain name. For instance, your domain shouldn’t be too lengthy, you should avoid hyphenating the domain, it should be void of ambiguities, etc.

3. Do a search

Now that you are ready not only with you number one choice but with at least four alternatives, you can now go to browser and start your search. There are various domain search tools and the one you choose to use largely depends on the suggestions you have come up with. For instance, if you have two words that you want to combine into two, then you will find bustaname.com very useful. If you are trying to get four letter domain, then dyyo.com is your tool. For more details on using the domain search tools, check out the top ten domain search tools here.

4. Get a reliable registrant/host

The next thing you want to do is to get reliable registrant/web-host. In most cases, your registrant will also offer hosting. Of course you can register a domain somewhere else and have the name servers pointing to your desired webhost but who wants to go into all the trouble? A one-stop shop is the thing for my generation. Getting a reliable webhost is important because you might need technical support among other things. For instance, what happens if you lose your Cpanel password? You request your webhost to reset it for you. What happens if you want to move your domain to another webhost for whatever reasons? You request for an authorization code from your current host. There are many other scenarios but the bottom line is; it pays to have a good reliable webhost. I recommend blue host any time. I don't mean to say its the only good one, am sure there are many other very good ones too - maybe even better.

5. Register the domain!

The next step is to register the domain. It is a simple process and your webhost should have an easy to use shopping cart. Before you checkout and click on buy, double check to make sure your domain is spelt correctly. You can chat with your webhost customer support for clarification if you get stuck- but I highly doubt you will get stuck anyway. After you click on buy the domain will need some time to propagate but if it takes too long, you need to worry and consult your webhost for clarification. Ideally, your webhost will send you a confirmation email of your order and a confirmation of your payment and a welcome email which will also have the Cpanel login information. The Cpanel details is what you will need to login in to the back end in order to install word press or make other administrative functions like creating of email accounts. Obviously, this password should be kept safely to make sure your domain is secure.