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Beginners Guide To Registering Your First Domain Name

Believe it or not, the process for registering your first domain name is pretty simple and straightforward – provided that you follow the inside information we highlight below.

 

With more people today looking to build up their own little corner of the internet today than ever before it’s become more important to know how to register a domain name (and register one quickly and inexpensively). That’s why we’ve put together this quick guide.

Let’s dive right in!

 

Figure out the exact domain name you want to register

 

The first big piece of the puzzle for registering any domain name is obviously coming up with the EXACT domain name that you want to register in the first place.

 

The cool thing about domain name registrations today is that there aren’t a whole bunch of technical rules, regulations, or restrictions that stop you from purchasing any domain name currently available.

 

You have the opportunity to register pretty much ANY domain name as long as it hasn’t yet been registered by someone else and that it contains nothing but alphanumeric characters and hyphens.

 

Plenty of people in the “Wildcat West” early days of the internet registered domains like Walmart.com with absolutely no affiliation whatsoever with that retail giant – and many of them were paid pretty big bucks to transfer ownership of that domain later down the line.

 

It’s also a good idea to think about the following key criteria before you register a domain:

 

• The exact domain you want to register, keeping it short and sweet but relevant to your site
• The Top Level Domain (TLD) extension you want attached to your domain name
• How easy it is to memorize and recall your domain name in full
• How crystal-clear it is to express and write it down in a variety of different mediums

 

 

Verify that your domain name is currently available to be registered

 

After you have settled on the domain name and the TLD you’d like moving forward it’s important to check that the domain and this TLD combination is actually available to be registered in the first place.

 

Most people find that their first few choices of domain names are already registered, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering just how many websites are currently out there as well as how many new ones are being registered and built on a daily basis.

 

Domain name check tools are available 100% free of charge at all of the major domain name registrar services as well as through a number of independent entities you can find with a quick search on the internet.

 

Pick a domain name registrar to move forward with

 

The next big piece of the puzzle forgetting your new domain name registered is actually finding the right domain name registrar service to move forward with.

 

A lot of people are under the impression that one domain name registrar is the same as every other, but nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Sure, they all can help you register your new domain – but some are going to provide better services, better extras, and a better reputation that you can trust for a variety of different price points (which may or may not fit your budget going forward).

 

It’s critical that you move forward with a domain name registrar that you know you can trust. Legitimate operations are not hard to find, and those that have a global presence as well as at least a decade of service under their belts are the ones you want to move forward with most.

 

Purchase your domain

 

The last thing you want to do in securing your new domain name – your first domain name – is actually going through the process of purchasing and registering that domain with your new registrar.

 

You will usually have an opportunity to choose just how long you want to register this domain name (the standard option is usually two years, though you can obviously register your new site for much longer – or even shorter – than that if you’d like) as well as have a chance to add all kinds of extras to your registration, too.

 

We’re talking about security tools and features available through your registrar, privacy protection options you can take advantage of, premium DNS tools, and a whole host of other add-ons that you may or may not be interested in.

 

It’s definitely worth looking into these extras and figuring out whether or not they make sense for you before choosing to just skip right over them.

 

What’s next?

 

After you’ve gone through this entire process the only thing left to do is build your new website on this domain for attach it to a website that has already been built.

 

This is going to involve securing web hosting, redirecting that hosting to your new domain, and then flushing things out (like building email accounts, etc.) so that your new web platform is up and running the way you want it to be!

 

How to Choose the Right Domain Name

Over the last 36 months alone more than 1000+ new Top Level Domains (sometimes referred to as TLDs) have become available for people to register new websites with.

 

Before that, there were only 22 different options – with choices like .COM, .NET, and .ORG the far and away most popular options (and it wasn’t even close).

 

But because so many people are building websites these days, and because those “traditional” TLD options are starting to get used up, more were necessary to allow the internet to continue to grow and expand at the pace it does today. People are getting used to writing different TLDs into their browser address bar in a way that most people never thought possible even just five short years ago.

 

Back then if you didn’t have a .COM address the odds are pretty good that potential prospects and clients were punching it into the address bar anyways and heading to your competitor’s website!

 

If you’re registering a new domain name today, however, you need to really think through a number of key factors before you sign on the “digital” dotted line and make this the new permanent home for your online platform.

 

Below we highlight some of the most important things you’ll need to consider before you take the plunge!

 

Choose a relevant TLD

 

We aren’t going to tell you that there’s a better TLD to go with them .COM if the domain name you are interested in is available with that TLD – because there isn’t.

 

Over the last 30 years or so, the overwhelming majority of influential and credible websites have had this TLD attached to them. It’s so prevalent that it is almost second nature for people to punch this TLD into their address bar at the end of a domain without even thinking about it, just assuming that websites on the internet and with a .COM suffix.

 

If you’re going to go with a different TLD you’ll want to make sure that it is relevant to your domain name, that it is easily remembered, and that it is distinct enough from .COM that people are going to remember it when they manually type your site into an address or search bar.

 

Avoid using acronyms or hyphens

 

There are plenty of different reasons you want to avoid using acronyms or hyphens, but the number one reason has to be that it can lead to a lot of confusion and plenty of misspelling when people go to punch your website into a browser bar – and that again is inevitably going to send potential customers and clients to other websites instead of yours.

 

It’s also important to remember that acronyms and hyphens aren’t going to help boost your search engine optimization the way that a more traditional domain name could. This is a big piece of the SEO puzzle that you want to get right, so really try and focus on creating a domain name that is easy-to-read, easy to write, and will improve your odds of ranking highly for the terms you are shooting for.

 

Keep things short and sweet

 

Shorter domain names are always easier to remember, always easier to type out, and almost always “stick” in the minds of your potential prospects, clients, and customers better than domain names that drag on and on (and on).

 

The cloud storage company Dropbox originally started with the domain name “getdropbox.com” but almost immediately recognized their folly and instead shorten things to “dropbox.com” – a domain name that is not only much easier to read and type into a browser, but it looks cleaner and eliminates a lot of confusion as well.

 

Keep things tight and organized when it comes to your main web address and you’ll be good to go.

 

Consider how you’ll use this domain name, too

 

Your domain is going to be the main way that your online visitors find your website, but the odds are pretty good you’re also going to be using your domain name and a couple of other places – online as well as off.

 

Look to choose a domain name that is crystal clear and easily understood when typed out and printed on business cards or merchandise, a domain name that can also be acquired on social media platforms, and a domain name that isn’t going to look gigantic when you have individual email addresses attached to it, either.

 

These are all big pieces of the puzzle that far too many people overlook when they go to register a domain name, but essential elements that have to be considered if you’re going to make the most of everything your new digital platform has to offer.

 

At the end of the day, as long as you focus on the key details we highlight above – and use some good old-fashioned common sense – you shouldn’t have trouble finding the perfect domain and registering it with ease.