Registering Your Domain

One of the most important decisions to make when deciding to start your online business is setting up a Web site and registering your domain name. Now, the term Web site can refer to a set of pages dedicated to a product or service. These are called static pages, since they typically don't change. This concept is what you think of in the business or corporate world. A site specifically dedicated to a single business purpose.

However, for this post, web site is referring to a blog. Blogs have been around from the very early days of the Internet and have had a huge impact on how information gets presented on the Web.

So for the first time internet marketer, setting up a blog is actually fairly easy.

 

Establishing Your Domain Name

The first thing you need to do is decide on a name for your blog or site. A domain name will be your unique Web address that people will use to type into their browser to find your business online. If you are setting up a pet store and your business name is “Pets R Us”, you might select PETSrUS.com as your domain name. A domain name is by definition unique, so no one else can have it or use it. That is where registering your domain name comes into play.

 

Register Your Domain Name

Once you’ve selected a prospective domain name you will then want to register that name through a service that specializes in domain registration—a domain registrar. Think of it as buying  or registering a small piece of land on the Internet.

Now, most people (as I did)  will ask, can I get a domain name for free or do I have to pay. Free is always everyone's first choice and there are certainly sites out there that offer this for free. However, the free stuff usually has limitations which doesn't do anything to help you. Limitations typically include disk space (discussed below)  and bandwidth (discussed below). This can be problematic since you want as much as possible. Another limitation of free domain hosting is, they may limit your traffic meaning once a certain number of people have visited, they wont allow more to see the page until the next month or whenever. Last, free domain hosting can (and sometimes do) just disappear without notice. Now you may get lucky and find a free one that doesn't have the limitations. However, my thought is, why take the chance and why let all your hard work go to waste.

So, most people choose to pay for domain registration. There are many registrars, and most are fairly cheap. Three (3) very common ones are are showing below...

GoDaddy

bluehost

HostZilla

...Verify these....

When researching registrars, make sure you check out the disk space, which is what the Web host will give you as your working space. What you will specifically need will depend on what your intended use is, so you should determine that, and order accordingly. However, most offer unlimited disk space.

Bandwidth is the second factor to consider. Bandwidth refers to the amount of information that will be moving through the pipes. A straightforward text document like a letter requires less bandwidth than a streaming video sales piece. As with disk space, most offer unlimited bandwidth, just make sure you check.

Continuing with the sign up process...

Once you have selected a service you can then sign up and do a name search to see if your prospective domain name is available.  You can check to see if the name is available using different extensions such as .com, .net, .org, .info or extensions using country identifiers such as us, fr, uk, etc… Your registrar will let you know what is available.

With your domain name checked out and confirmed available, you then can purchase the name for a specified period of time. The cost varies depending on the service you use and the time frame selected. Fees vary depending on what you choose and based on an annual basis. You can purchase one (1) year to several years. Whatever you choose, once you have made the purchase of the domain name, you are now ready to begin to create and install the content for your site and get your business underway.

If this is new to you, take some time and find a good tutorial to show you the steps for setting yourself up. Most registrars have a tutorial to guide you through each step.  If you signed up with a company to train your, then they should have provided you some information on how to set up your site. I got into Affiliate Marketing through Fast Cash Commissions which provided the training.

Another option is that you can outsource some of the work, however that typically comes with a price.

Whatever you decide, you are well on your way.

May your travels be prosperous.