How To Register A Domain Name: Domain Registration Explained Easy
March 23, 2009 by Erich Mosier
Filed under All About Domains
How to Register a Domain Name
So you finally decided on the domain name you wanted, so now what do you do? Well now you need to register it and make it yours. “But how do I do that”, you ask? I am glad you asked. It just so happens I would like nothing more at this moment than to describe to you how you register a domain. It really is a simple process, and after the first time, you will be a pro. Before we get started, here is a short video describing how to register a domain name. You don’t need to watch it, and men may find it more interesting than women, but it is funny and will give you at least a basic idea of what the process of domain registration is.
Step 1: Is the Domain Available
If you are not sure whether your desired domain name is available or not, your first step is to check. Just type it into the address bar of your browser and see what comes up. If a site comes up, someone owns it. You can either look in to trying to buy it from them, or choose another name. If a page comes up saying something like “This page does not exist”, then you are in luck and you can proceed to step two. If you want to see who owns it you need to do a “WHOIS” search. You can use the Verisign WHOIS search for this.
WARNING: If you need to look for new domains, be careful who you use. There are a lot of websites out there that will let you do searches to see if a domain is available, but as soon as you search for it, they will buy it if it is available, and then you will have to pay a higher price to buy it throught them. And it is not only small websites that do it. A few of the bigger ones did it as well. Network Solutions, and GoDaddy were doing it for a while. I think GoDaddy stopped after a cry of outrage from the masses, but I am not sure if Network Solutions still does it or not.
If you are going to start registering a lot of domains, for instance if you were going to start making money site flipping, then you may want to sign up with a service domaintools.com. They have a free registration that gives you access to a lot of great domain tools, like whois lookups, domain suggestions, domain searching, domain monitoring, etc. I use them almost everyday. Even if this is going to be the only domain you register, it would still be worthwhile to use them. For security and piece of mind, if nothing else.
Step 2: Where to Register
Okay, so you found your dream domain name, you know that it’s available, so now where do you go? My first recommendation is that you stay with the big players. By this I mean, the larger companies that do its as their primary business. So depending on what your goals are will also determine where you should go.
Something to consider -Will you need hosting?
Almost all companies that do domain registrations also do website hosting. The range of pricing for hosting varies as much as the quality. I have worked with multiple hosting companies, and I have found it is better to pay a little more for better quality, and fewer frustrations, than to pay a little less to deal with the headaches that come along with it. Now my situation is a little different, because I have many clients and hundreds of domains that I maintain. Because I have to answer to other people when things go wrong, I tend to be a little more picky about my providers.
Your situation may be different. You may only have one site to maintain, and you may be willing to sacrifice a little quality for cheaper price. I’m not here to judge, you know your situation better than I. I’m just telling you what I do. If you are going to need hosting. I would recommend registering your domain with whoever does your hosting. In general, it just makes your life easier to have everything in one place.
So try to find somewhere that will give you what you need for the price you want to pay. I have hosting accounts with several hosts. For internet marketing, it is absolutely necessary to have separate “C-Blocks” for your domains.
Here are a list of some hosts that you may want to consider and my opinions on them.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is the top choice for registering domains and one of the best for hosting. I currently have an account with GoDaddy and have had no problems with them so far. Registering a domain with them is insanely fast and easy. Very competitive prices on hosting and domains. Especially if you buy a lot of domains like me. They have a “Discount Domain Club” that can save you a lot of money if you plan on registering a lot of domains in a year (more than 30). If you don’t do that many, I wouldn’t recommend it as it won’t save you any money.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP WITH GODADDY
HostGator I also have accounts with HostGator. The thing I like about HostGator is that their system is very easy to use. You can do everything from the control panel. They use CPanel, if you are familiar with that. I haven’t used them for domain registration, so I can’t give you a personal recommendation on that, although I haven’t heard any complaints from any of the people I know that have used them. This is a good recommendation if you are on a budget.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP WITH HOSTGATOR
HostMonster 
I do not currently have a hostmonster account, but they are the next on my list when I get ready to get another host. I have heard a lot of good things about them from other Internet Marketers who have had a good experience with them. Their prices are competitive with HostGator and GoDaddy, with unlimited space, domains, and transfers.
CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR HOSTMONSTER.COM NOW.
1and1 1and1 is a company that I also use for hosting and use for most of my domain registrations. Mainly because they have good prices, and that just happens to be where most of my domains are registered. Like I said before, much easier when you keep them all in one place, and when you’re dealing with hundreds of domains, it’s even more true. As far as hosting their prices are hard to beat, but their quality and their customer service leaves something to be desired.
Host unlimited domains + get up to 5 FREE domains with your 1&1 hosting account.
Must see monthly hosting specials!
Mosso Let me start by saying I LOVE Mosso. Since I started using them. I haven’t had any major hosting problems, and any of the problems I have had, their tech support team (which is based in Texas, not India or the Philippines) gets it done right away. I have also not had a noticeable downtime with any of my sites, or client sites, since I started using them. The bad thing about them is that they are much more expensive. As of this writing, I believe their basic plan starts at $100 a month. But again, for my business, it is well worth it.
Network Solutions I would tend to stay away from Network Solutions. Although their quality may be good. They are VERY overpriced, especially when it comes to domain name registration. I only deal with them becuase some of my clients use them, and therefore I have to. I do not recommend you use them.
In summary about hosting, if you are only planning on starting a couple of websites and price is a concern, I would probably go with GoDaddy, HostGator, or HostMonster . If you will be building sites for other people and stability is a concern I would highly recommend Mosso. In summary about domain registration, they are all within about a dollar of each other as far as price with basic domain registration. Most usually run some type of special, like $1.99 domain registration when you purchase hosting. As of this writing, you should expect to pay anywhere from $7.99-$10 for a domain. You certainly should not pay more than that. But keep in mind price increases do happen. In fact, one that just happened a couple months ago (as of this writing), and prices went up about a couple of dollars.
Step 3: Registering your domain
Once you’ve determined, what company you are going to go with. You simply need to register with them. Most of the companies will walk you through the process of registering the domain. The basic information you need to have on hand, is:
- the domain name.
- Your information (name, address etc.).
- Credit card information
When you register a domain, they will ask you for information on three people:
- the site owner.
- The site administrator.
- Technical contact.
In most cases these three people will be the same person. But in some cases, they may be different. If you are merely going to own the domain, but have someone else act as a webmaster, you will generally fill out their information for the administrator and technical contact. Again, it will all depend on your particular circumstance. I’m just telling you what information you need to have on hand.
They will probably also try to sell, or give, you other products like hosting, website building software, SSL certificates, privacy protection. Again, it will depend on your circumstances, as far as what you need. As far as keeping your domain name public or private, you will generally want to keep it public. This mayhelp you with Google ranking. You will only need SSL certificates, if you’re planning on doing online e-commerce.
Step 4: How long should I register my domain?
You also need to do add how long you want to register the domain for. Typically, the longer you register it for the cheaper the per year price, but you have to pay all upfront. It also reduces your concern with having to renew it. Most companies will auto renew the domain for you and you won’t have to do anything. But I would make sure and check with whichever company you go with that auto renewal is a service that they provide.
Again, it will depend on your circumstances. If your main business is just going to be site flipping (buying and selling websites for profit). Then you’ll probably only want to register the name for a year. If you’re starting a business and planning on being around for a while a longer-term may be more cost-effective.
Step 5: Pay for your domain name
The last step in buying your domain name will be to pay for it. It’s no different than buying anything else online. Once you’ve done that. It’s time to celebrate! You are now officially a domain owner. Welcome to the Internet.
Once your domain is created, it’s time to hurry up and wait. Your domain needs to “propagate” through the web. Basically, that just means it takes time for the servers around the world to be able to recognize your domain. This generally takes between 4and 24 hours, but can take as much a 72. There is nothing you, or anyone else, can do to speed up this process. So don’t waste time worrying about it. Take this time to sit back and think about all the stuff you will sell, or all the information you will give, or whatever it is you will do with your new website.
If you would like to find out more information on how you can make money flipping websites, see our other articles on this subject.
Please leave me a comment and let me know if this was useful.
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