Following are the 5 Most Important things you need to know when you are buying a Domain Name:
- What is a Domain Name
- Why you need one
- How to choose a great Domain Name
- How & where to register your Domain Name
- Things to keep in mind about Domain Names
So let’s begin…
- What is a Domain Name
Domain Name is simply put - the name of your website! (Eg: www.AmitDesaiOnline.com)
It is sometimes also called the URL – Uniform Resource Locator
It is a unique web address or name, that you give to your site.
- Why you need one
This is easy! You need a domain name so that you can create an unique identity of your own products or services that you choose to offer or sell on your website.
- How to choose a great Domain Name
To find if a Domain Name you wish to buy is available, you need to go to WhoIs . It’s a great free service to check if the Domain Name you wish to buy is available or not!
Note: Use the WhoIs service only to search for Domain Names. Do not buy any domain name from them. (Do not worry because, I will also be telling you below as to where you can buy your domain name!)
Try different names in different combination & see which best one’s are available! Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind for choosing a good domain name:
- Identify the most widely used keywords that best describe what your site is all about. (Eg. If your site is let’s say – on dog training, good keywords maybe dog training tips/tricks/secrets/strategies. You can also add prefixes or suffixes to it such as cool or free or new etc. viz. cooldogtrainingtips.com )
- Use different combination of the same keywords to see which ones are available. (Eg. If dogtrainingtips.com is not available, then you may try trainingtipsfordogs.com or trainingtips4dogs.com etc)
- Always look for a .com extension & try to avoid .org or .tv etc. domain names. If you want a particular name whatsoever & the .com is unavailable then you may go for a country specific extension viz. .in (Indian) or .au (Australia), .nz (New Zealand) etc. But preferably always choose a .com Domain Name.
Once you finally decide on the domain name that you want to buy (it must also be available of course!), the next step is to register your Domain Name.
- How & where to register your Domain Name
There are many popular Domain Name Registration sites online & I have used quite a few of them myself. But the only site I recommend is NameCheap . It’s a very good site for buying Domain Names & they also have a great Customer Support which is critical these days!
Go to NameCheap & do the following:
- Enter the domain name you want in the box provided.
- Choose your preferred extension(s) (viz. .com or .in etc) & click search
- On the next page, there will be a button that says – Add To Cart. Click on it.
- On the next page click on standard checkout.
- On the next page, click on the link that says – Sign up for a free account now!
- Enter all the details & also keep in mind the login details of your account.
- Follow the steps mentioned & once you have signed into your account you can enter your credit card information for registering the domain name!
That’s it! You are done! Once your transaction of registering your domain name is complete, you will receive an email from Namecheap.com & you will get all the important information about your Domain Name in that email.
Remember to store that email carefully. Also print it out to have a hard copy for your personal record keeping! Yes, it’s that important!
- Things to keep in mind about Domain Names
Here a few things you need to keep in mind about domain names:
Most Internet Marketers highly recommend GoDaddy for registering Domain Names. I highly & strictly warn you to avoid them completely!
I have been their customer & I can tell you that their support is pathetic. Also they are all the time selling you something or another. Even their registration process is a pain & it’s extremely user unfriendly. To top this, the worst thing is, they will keep selling you other addon services at the time of registration & am sure no one likes that.
If you don’t believe me. its ok. Try them out at your own risk.
You may probably have this question….
When everyone (most top internet marketers) are recommending to use GoDaddy for Domain Name Registration, why are you telling us to avoid GoDaddy?
Psst… I wanna let you in on a secret….
Most of these big Internet Marketers are affiliates of GoDaddy & when you buy a domain name from GoDaddy, they earn a commission. That’s why they recommend this crap service!
Namecheap is a great service but they do not have an affiliate program & therefore these marketers do not recommend this great service. It’s that simple!
Now here is one thing….
In my case, it’s completely different.
I truly care about my readers & I would never ever sell or recommend something to my readers which I personally do not approve of. I would not recommend something just for making a few quick bucks at the cost of losing my readers. I love & respect every single one of you 
I am sure, you will certainly keep in mind all of the above, when buying domain names in the future!
I wish you great luck & success!
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Best Wishes,
Amit Desai.
