Think up a name and check if yourname.com is available. Personally, I like to use http://www.whois.com to check if a domain name is available. You may also check the registrant contact information using “whois” service if you want to negotiate about purchasing the domain you like from people who registered it first.

To register domain name for our customers we use:

http://www.godaddy.com

We are not affiliates with Godaddy in any way, but I think this is the best online company which provides this service. Their rates are low and you will have 24 hours access to your control panel to change the domain name information in case your office moves or phone number changes. This is very convenient.

If you can't get that exact name as a dot-com, choose another name. Your site title MUST be the same as your domain name. People won't remember your domain name, but they will remember your site title if they choose to add your website to their favorites. It will also help to provide better place in Google listings. There are several rules to follow when you choose the domain name:

1. It must be as short as possible but don't make it something like abc.com only because this domain is available. Be reasonable.

2. Make it memorable. It must represent your company and it is not a bad idea to make your company name as a domain name.

3. Make it include your keywords, something like allwebdesign.com if your website is about web design. This advice is related to search engine optimization issue. Most of search engines like to get "main" keywords in the domain name, title and website description.

4. The domain name must be first level domain, not the sub domain of a bigger website. For example, it is not a good idea to use http://mydomain.somebigsite.com as your website name. The first level domain costs about $ 9 dollars and it not an excuse to have business website on a free sub domain. Search engines also do not like such domains and you automatically will be placed lower then your competitors in the search engine listings.

5. It is better to buy a domain name separately from the hosting plan. A domain name is much more important then a hosting provider. As I noticed, the average duration of a web hosting company life is one or two years. If your hosting provider disappears from the web, it may be a problem to get your domain name transferred to your new hosting provider.

It is not difficult to buy and register a domain name at all. You will be given a number of questions related to your location, position and contact information. All this information will be used during the domain name registration and any person who uses “whois” service will have access to that information, so it will be wise to enter only your business information and not to use personal data. When you buy a hosting plan, your hosting provider will send you the letter with the name server ips. You will need to send those numbers to your domain name registrant.

Now you are ready to select a web hosting provider and buy a hosting plan.

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