Registering a Domain Name
Getting a domain name is the first step in launching a website. It plays a central part – it’s what visitors use to reach your website. It has to be unique (and hopefully easy to remember) and once you start a website, you won’t usually change it’s domain name for the website’s lifetime.
The most popular domain name extension (the ending of a domain name) is .com (“dot com”). There are a whole lot of other domain extensions like .net, .org, .co.uk and so on. Formally, these domain extensions are called Top Level Domains (TLD).
Each of these domain extensions carries a meaning: .com stands for ‘company’ or ‘commercial’, .net stands for ‘network’ and .org stands for ‘organisation’. There are also extensions which represent country or geographical regions. For example, .co.uk represents UK, .com.au stands for Australia, .de stands for Germany, co.in stands for India and so on. These country/region specific TLDs are called ccTLDs (“country code top level domains”).
You should decide on what extension you want before you register a domain name. For example, abc.com is a different domain from abc.net or abc.co.uk and hence each of these domain names could lead to different websites and could be owned by different people. For this tutorial, let’s assume you want to register ritasjewellery.com.
Though .com represents ‘company’ or ‘commercial’, it can be used for any type of website. It is not necessary to be a company in order to have a .com web address – you could very well be an individual (and most .com owners are actually individuals instead of companies).
There are thousands of domain registrars out there, some good, some bad and some in between the two. Whenever you choose a domain registrar, do research a little about its reputation online. Personally, I prefer Namecheap for domain names and will be using them for the illustration below. The process should be fairly similar with any registrar that you choose.
Step 1
Visit the domain registrar of your choice.
Step 2
Find the domain search box and type in the domain name you want to register.
Domain Registration at Namecheap.com
Choose the domain extension.
Choose One or More Domain Extensions
In our case, .com is the default option, so we’ll let it remain as it is. If you want to look for multiple domain extensions, check the boxes against as many extensions as you are interested in. And then click on Search.
Note: It is not necessary for every domain registrar to offer all possible domain extensions. In fact, most registrars offer only the most popular domain extensions for registration. If your chosen registrar doesn’t offer an extension you are looking for, you’ll have to find another registrar who does.
It is possible that someone else already owns the domain name you are searching for. In that case, try searching for a different extension or start the search over again with a different domain name.
If the domain name you search for is available, you’ll see something like the following:
Domain Name Can Be Registered
Some domain registrars show a list of other domain extensions for which the domain name is available. If you are interested in grabbing other extensions as well, choose them here and then add them to the shopping cart.
You’ll see the following for Namecheap.
Domain Added to Cart
Note the add-on that says Free WhoisGuard. Namecheap is among some of the domain registrars that give this service for free. Most registrars charge anywhere between $2 to $15 for this add-on. While not absolutely necessary, it is generally a good idea to get this service.
Here’s why:
While registering your domain name, you will be required to provide your contact details (you’ll do this in the next step). These details will include your real name, you contact address and phone number. According to the ICANN regulations it is necessary for you to provide accurate information. If you are found to intentionally provide false information, you could potentially lose your domain name. So that’s definitely not advised.
These contact details will become public and are available for anyone to see using what is called a whois lookup service. This opens the doors to potential problems like people spamming your email, or sending you unsolicited requests offering to buy your domain name or worse, potentially using the information to steal your domain name.
If you sign up for domain privacy, the registrar will hide your personal information (while keeping it in their internal records) and mask it with the registrar’s representative address on the publicly available whois records, thereby saving you a lot of trouble. So that’s it – it’s advisable to opt-in for the Free WhoisGuard service.
There are also other services and upsells on offer in the above screenshot. None of these are really required and you can safely ignore them all at the moment. Web hosting is something you’ll require later, but you can skip even that right now. Besides, it is recommended to get your domain names and your web hosting from separate firms.
Click on Checkout.
Step 3
If you don’t have an account with the domain registrar, you will be required to create a new account. If you already have an account, you can login using your username and password.
Needless to say, choose a very strong password. Real passwords sound less like your cat’s name and more like “re6435n21$%#)dsfs”. Be informed that anyone with this password will be able to take control of your domain name.
Namecheap Account Creation
You have to provide your real first and last name. The newsletter isn’t really important, so feel free to not subscribe to it. Agree to the terms of service and then Create Account.
Step 4
You are almost done. However, one important step is left – payment.
Most domain registrars accept all the major credit cards. Some accept paypal as well as other modes of payment.
Fill in the details for your chosen method and make the payment.
You now own the domain name for the duration you just signed up for.
In order to retain continued control over your domain name, you will have to renew it (pay for the next duration) before it expires. If you forget to renew it, you will lose control of the domain name and someone else will be in a position to grab your domain name.
It might be a good idea to setup the domain for auto-renewal or better still, setup a reminder on your phone or online calendar to renew it at least a fortnight before it expires. Most domain registrars send an email reminder at least a month prior to the date of expiry as well.
If you already have a web hosting account, you might want to change your domain name settings to update the nameservers so that they point to your web hosting account.
Hope that was an easy to follow guide. If you have any doubts, feel free to ask in the comments below. And don’t forget to share the article with your friends!
Related Reading: Creating Websites – A Beginner’s Guide
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