Buying Domain Names

Before you jump right into buying a domain name, you should do a little self-educating.

Why? Well, the difference between knowing about domain names (choosing a name, going through the registration process, prices, etc.) and not knowing can be as much as £30.00. Take it from me, someone who purchased their first domain name for a whopping £18.00.

Had I known more about domain names, I would have realised that a basic .com, .net or .org registration should not cost more than £9.00.

A domain name is like your house. If someone wants to visit you, they come to your house. If you want to keep a journal, you write it down and store it in your house.

Likewise, a domain name is where your visitors find you on the web. If someone wants to send you an email, they’ll come to your domain.

If someone would like to read your journal, they’ll come to your domain. And on the commercial side of things, if someone would like to purchase your product or services, hopefully they’ll come to your domain too.

A domain name consists of the hostname, which can be comprised of letters a-z, digits 0-9, and hyphens. It is followed by an extension.

The most common known extensions are .com, .net and .org. They fall into the category of top level domains, which means that in theory, these domains are used by a particular class or organisation. They are three or more letters long, and are named for the organisation they represent (.com for commercial, .net for networks, .org for organisations).

So, why should you take time to choose a domain name for your website?

Two good reasons include having a simple web address to point your visitors and customers to (www.example.com/ as opposed to www.example.com/business/welcome.html), and always having that same address!

You may find that the hosting company you are with now doesn’t meet your needs, and you’ll want to move elsewhere. By using a domain name, no matter where you go on the web, your visitors can use the same address to come and see you!

The first step in registering a domain is to pick a name. This name can be anything: a name, a term, or several keywords put together. It can exist in the dictionary, or it can be made up. So long as it hasn’t already been registered, it is available to you!

You’ll then need to pick an extension. The three top ones are .com, .net and .org, but there are over a dozen others. Domain registrars such as 1and1 and UK2.NET can provide detailed lists of all available domain name extensions.

Once you have decided upon a name and extension, it is time to register it! Default registration periods for a lot of domain extension are one year, but some may require two years or more.

You can register a domain for as long a period as you like. Some choose to register their domains on a yearly basis, and then renew each year there after. Others register for periods of five or even ten years at a time.

It’s up to you to choose the registration length, but you’ll have to mark your calendar at least a week prior to the yearly expiration, or your domain name may be unavailable until it is renewed.

When registering a domain name, take care to choose one that you can write as well as say without too much difficulty.

Be careful with choosing words that don’t jumble together, or that when looked at too quickly, represent something else than what you would want them to represent.