Domain Name Registration
How To Make A Website > Domain Name Registration
Domain name registration is by no means a confusing aspect of making
a website. If you want to make a website you'll absolutely need to
have a website. Without it you'll have no way for visitors to find
your website.
In addition to the information below
please take the time to read my blog entry
on
domain registration tips. Some of the
information will be repeated below but I
figured that I would include it for those
who choose not to read the blog.
Domain names can be registered anywhere from
1 up to 10 years. Generally the registration
cost goes down when registered for multiple
years so if you feel that you'll be keeping
the website for quite some time it makes
sense to save some money and register the
domain for multiple years.
Domain registration fees vary among
domain registrars. There is no need to
pay over $10 for a domain name such as a
.COM, .NET, etc. WebsiteSpot.com offers
domain names from $8.95 per year and is
actually offering a promotion of $6.95
for new .COM domains.
Below you'll find the ability to search
and see if a domain name that you're
interested in is currently available. If
not, the results will give you options of
domains that are similar to your search that
are currently available.
The great thing with WebsiteSpot.com is
they offer a variety of tools for free with
any domain registration such as a free
starter page, email forwarding, photo
storage, etc so enter a few domains that
you'd like to check availability on.
Domain Registration Tips
Below you'll find some tips when registering
a domain name that will make SEO (search engine optimization) a bit
easier along with standards that you'll find important when
registering a domain name.
1. Don't Register Domain Names That Are
Too Long
Having a domain that's tool long serves
absolutely no purpose. It's difficult to remember along with site
visitors won't want to type in a long address each time that they
want to visit your website. Yes, you can register names up to 63
characters long, but that doesn't mean you should to use all 63
characters.
2. Try To Avoid HyphensAs I'm sure
you've seen while surfing the internet a domain name with a hyphen
again is difficult to remember. Think of it this way, your website
is Bills-Fishing-Gear.com, when someone wants to go back to your
site they type in BillsFishingGear.com because they forgot to use
the hyphens. This defeats the purpose of marketing a website if it's
difficult for visitors to return.
Now don't get me wrong, I personally own
many domains with hyphens but I do so as a
last resort. If I'm relying on search engine
traffic as opposed to traffic from people
typing in my website I'll consider using a
hyphen but I really don't like doing so.
3. Try To Reserve A .COM Domain
.COM is by far the most recognized domain
name and if it's available definitely register it. With this in mind
there is no advantage when determining search engine rankings based
on the domain extension so if a good .NET, .US, .ORG, etc is
available you should at least consider it but much like the example
in #2, you could lose traffic due to people automatically typing in
the .COM extension.
4. Protect Your Name
I would strongly suggest registering
multiple extensions (.net, .org, etc.). This keeps people from
registering the alternate domain name extensions based on the
brand that you've built. This causes confusion for your customers
and could cost you money in lost sales if you don't protect
yourself. Think of it this way, if you run FishingGear.com you can
also register FishingGear.net, FishingGear.org and any other
extension that's available.
5. Domain Name Privacy
Recently the option for private registration
has become a feasible option. You can find the owner of a website on
any registered domain by doing a
WhoIs lookup. The information provided would be your name,
address, phone number & email address. Adding domain privacy is like
an unlisted phone number with the phone company. There is always an
additional cost but these days it is almost becoming necessary.
Click here to read more on
private domain registration.That's about it...
You're ready to check if your domain
is available. You can
click here to visit WebsiteSpot.com which offers domain names
for as little as $6.95 for an entire year.
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