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Several articles on this subject could be found on the net but the advantage of this write-up is that it's simple and easy to understand. This article provides you with great info on domain name registration.
What is a domain name anyway?
Domain names are the familiar web addresses (i.e. http://somename.com) that web browsers use to locate a particular website. Domain names, in fact, are pointers to a particular IP (Internet Protocol) address (it is an address servers use to locate each other) and we use them for a simple reason. They are more descriptive and easier to remember than an IP addresses which are presented in just a bunch of numbers (i.e. 125.416.28.7)
The Domain Name Registration process
If you want to purchase a domain name, first you need to find a registrar who will process the domain name registration.
Currently there are hundreds of registrars you can use. To see the full list of accredited domain name registrars visit the InterNIC website (http://www.internic.com/regist.html). When you go to a website of the registrar you selected you can use their domain name search tool to verify that the domain name you plan on buying has not been taken yet. If it is available you can proceed with the registration.
Now as you go ahead with the registration you have about 3 more steps to complete the purchase. The domain name registration process may slightly differ from registrar to registrar but the next 3 steps should be pretty much the same for most of them.
1. Decide how many years you want to register your domain name for?
2. Choose Public or Private registration?
3. Enter domain name contact information
Now let me go through the steps listed above in more detail.
1. When you are registering your domain name you can choose the time period of the ownership which is usually from 1 year to up to 10 years (of course you can extend it just before the domain is about to expire so you don't loose it). Some registrars may even require minimum of 2 or more years for selected domain names.
So how many years should you register the domain name for? Well, it depends on what you are going to use the domain for. If it is for your business and you intend to be in business for at least the next five years, I would register it for five or more years. If you are not sure about the future of your website 1 or 2 years should be fine and then you can just extend the registration if your website is doing fine. Nowadays many registrars give you the option of having your domain name renewed automatically so you don't have to worry about it. Using this option will allow you to avoid loosing your domain name just because you forgot to renew it.
2. Choosing public or private registration is another step you will go through, however, some domain registrars may not offer this option. Public registration is the one where you use your personal information in the domain name contact. This type of registering is more convenient but also less secure than the private one simply because your detailed contact is widely and easily accessible including your address, phone numbers and email address which would make you an easy target for email spammers and fraud.
Private registration is on the other hand giving you the security but at the same time it could cost you some extra money over some period of time. The way it works is basically that your registrar is registering your domain name on your behalf. So you are not directly the owner but you have the right to use it. In this case the domain name has the contact information of your registrar rather then yours. Any mail received to the address listed under your domain will be forwarded to you and here is where the extra expense comes in since most of the registrars will charge you extra for this service. If you are choosing private registration I would definitely recommend to closely read the service agreement before you proceed with the registration. You may save yourself some headaches.
3. The last step is fairly simple. If you have chosen private domain name registration you don't have to worry about this step. In case of public registration all you need to do is to enter your detailed contact information. The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) records 4 types of contacts for each domain name. 1.Owner's contact 2.Administrator's contact 3.Tech person's contact 4.Billing person's contact. You can just have the same contact information for all four unless you have other people managing different aspects of your domain name.
That's all. Now you can just complete the checkout process. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain name registration to be finalized. Once the registration is complete you've got yourself a domain name. Of course there's more than just a domain name registration you need to do in order to get your website online using the domain name you've just purchased. You need to build your site, find a web host, and publish your site to your web host's servers but those topics are beyond the scope of this article.
Now that you have read this article, we hope that all your doubts regarding domain name registration must have been resolved.
When choosing a domain name it is better to use a term that is going to stick in the mind of prospective customers, something that your visitors will remember after reach you.
For example 'wholesaleclothing.com' would be an example of a relatively short and catchy domain. Unfortunately a greater % of two word domain names have been taken up by the 100,000s of online businesses but if you persist you can get something suitable.
If you don't know what you're doing, you may be buying a domain name that only a fraction of the Web can reach - or one that has no real existence outside a database and an accounting entry, one that cannot be used for an actual site!
To avoid being caught out with the wrong kind of domain name, it's important to understand what different types of domain name extension exist.
• .Com - company/commercial, pretty much be used for any website. Most popular extension.
• .Net - network and is ordinarily used for a network of sites.
• .Org - organization and is meant to be for non-profit entities. Don't use for any commercial activity.
• .Us, .In, .Es, .Eu - Are country specific domain extensions that may require the registrant to be a national of the said country.
• .CC, .Biz, .Info - These and other like them are domain extensions that have been added as there are barely any little and plain domain addresses left to apply for.
What to considering when you choose domain name?
• As short as possible,
• As generic as possible, but related,
• No hyphens, numbers or misspellings as possible,
• First letter as close to "a" as possible,
• Easy to remember (Try to hear a sound of domain)
• Easy to spell (especially for international clients)
• .com is universally recognized and remembered – try to find your name at this extension. The new extensions such as .info etc will take a few years to be accepted and sometimes when they are new search engines recognize them like spam,
• No doubling up of letters - e.g. jeweleryyoung.
A domain registrar is a company that allows you to use a domain name contained in its database for a fixed amount of price. Domain registrars have an extensive database of domain names that they sell out or rent out in exchange of necessary fees. You can register your domain name and make sure no one else uses it.
So,here is a basic description of the process you or your representative will go through on most registrars to do this:
• Type in the domain name you want to buy. The registrar will cross-reference your choice with a worldwide database of domain names to verify that nobody else currently owns it. If someone owns it already, you will be asked to try another name or be given a computer-generated list of similar alternatives to the name you wanted. This goes on until you have found an available name.
• Next you will be prompted to create a new account with a username and password. Some registrars will automatically create an account name and password for you and email it to you when your registration is complete, while others allow you to create your own username and password.
• After you create an account, you have to fill in all of the required contact information for the domain. The four contacts, which will be explained in more detail below, are the Registrant, Administrative Contact, Billing Contact, and Technical Contact.
• Now it's time to pay for the domain. You select the number of years you want to register the domain for, which ranges from 1-10 years, enter your payment information and submit it, and you are done. At this point you are now the proud owner of a new domain name.
After you have finished checking out your domain, your next step is to link your brand new domain to your web host's name servers.
If you don't have an affordable web host, then that means you won't have a website, however, DOMAINS WORLD can solve also problem with your hosting.