Domain Name Registration Explained

Registering a domain name is a pretty straight forward process. In fact the hardest part of registering a domain name is coming up with a name that has not already been registered. There are some people who have never registered a domain name, they have left it up to a third party or have always used free hosting. Here is simple explanation of how to register a domain.

The first thing you need to come up with is the name itself, this believe it or not is the hardest part. As there have been so many domain names registered there are not many choices left for keywords to use in your domain name. There are two routes you can go down for choosing your name, using keywords or thinking up your very own word.

Which ever route you choose you are going to need several ideas for a name so jot lots of ideas on a piece of paper first. Write down a list of keywords that you can use in any combination or come up with a list of your own made up words. I chose NameSearchDomain for my site but only because most other combinations of the words that I wanted to use had already been taken. You could of course try making up your own word such as Google, it's both catchy and memorable.

Once you have a list of possible names you will need to find out if they are available. To do this you will need to visit a domain name registrar. I use Godaddy but I would not recommend them to a first time user as they offer too many extras which could easily catch out a newbie during registration. I would suggest you check out a few forums such as DN forum for recommendations, visit a few sites and see which you feel comfortable with. For dot com names look to pay around ten dollars.

Having found a domain name registrar then you need to go through your list of names to see if they are available. To do this just type the name into the search box and select an extension, it is usually best to use .com because of it's popularity. If a domain name you have chosen is available for registration then you will be given the option to register it. All you need to do now is follow the on screen instructions and the brand new domain is yours.

Once you have registered a new name you will need to point it towards your web space, this is presuming you are purchasing the name to create your own site. To do this you will have to provide some DNS information, you can get this from your web host. You should have two addresses, probably both starting with NS, probably NS1 and NS2, you need to add this information into your domain name registration account under Domain name servers. You will usually need two, a primary server and a secondary server. This will take a while to propagate through the internet servers, usually anywhere up to 72 hours. Once the DNS information has propagated then you will be able to type in your domain name in a web browser and arrive at your web site.

This is pretty much an overview on what you need for domain name registration. It should provide you with a grounding for being able to register your own domain. An important word of advice before you register your domain, all sales are final, that means once you have purchased a domain name there is no refund. A final tip, the longer you register as domain for the more discount you usually get. I would advise only registering for a minimum of 1 year initially in case you get cold feet later, you don't want to be stuck with a useless domain name for 10 years.

Allan is the webmaster at NameSearchDomain.com where you can find out all about Domain names.