One of the most basic and essential parts of building a website is domain name registration. Once you’ve decided to make a website for your brand, you need to register and purchase a domain name. Your domain name will consist of your name plus the extension. Moreover, the domain name will be your website address which will be used by your customers to search for you and identify your brand name.
Furthermore, since your domain will be the name of your website, you want to make sure that it’s perfect and easily identifiable. You will also need to make sure that the extension that you use categorises your website. There are a number of domain name extensions that you can use. The most common extensions include .com which is the primary website extension. However, if you are an educational institution you can use the .edu extension that can be used to identify you.
Regional extensions like .in, .ae, .eu, etc., can be used if you wish to identify your website’s contents, products, and services as specifically for certain countries only. However, it is not necessarily the case, regional extensions do identify your domain name as presence and establishment in a certain country, but you can cater to customers globally. The extension belongs to a specific top-level domain and is the best way to identify your website.
What is a Domain Name?
Every computer, smartphone, and tablet has an IP address. Websites too have an IP address which is a number that represents a unique internet protocol number. A domain name is nothing but an IP address that interacts with other IP addresses. For example, an IP address looks something like 102.117.92 however, when you want to visit a website, it’ll be difficult to remember these unique numbers. Hence, the domain name helps in easy identification as well as remembrance of the website name.
Domain Name Registration Guide
Purchasing a domain name is easy and anyone can buy a domain name. There are a number of domain name registrars like GoDaddy, A2, and Namecheap. All you have to do is type the domain name that you want and type it in their search bar. If it is available, the registrar company will display relevant searches and the price attached to it. Similarly, you will also get suggestions on the extensions that you can use. Each type of extension has its own price. Some may be cheaper than the other so it is important for you to make the right choice.
As the digital age is ever increasing, finding the perfect domain name can be a challenge. Moreover, in the world wide web, there are chances that the domain name that you want to purchase is already taken. So, keep an open mind and list out a number of domains that you may want to consider if your primary choice is not available.
A domain name has to be catchy, represent the brand name or image, and should be SEO friendly. For example, having a short easily recognizable domain name can help your customers type in the brand name and your website should be listed in the initial search results. This in turn will help you gather maximum reach. You should also do keyword research that represents your brand. For instance, if your company provides hospitality services in a particular city, it is important to have at least one keyword in the domain name. So, if your customers are searching for hotels in that city, your domain name is highlighted in the search engine results.
Registering Your Domain Name
Once you have decided which domain name you are going to purchase, you can go ahead and make the payment. You don’t always have to go through the domain registrar, many webpage hosting companies also offer domain name registration. However, it is important to do research to make sure that you are not overcharged for the domain name you have selected.
Furthermore, some companies may offer you free domain registration, but remember that they are mostly free for a particular time period like a year or two. Thus, go through the contract that your domain registrar or the web hosting company is offering. Nonetheless, mostly every web hosting service or domain registrar offers you annual domain name charges. As long as you continue to pay, your website will not be affected.
Finally, once everything is set, you will have to wait for around one day to seven days to use the domain name. While the purchasing process is simple and does not require much time, each domain name has to be registered with the official domain name registrar with your company’s domain name system. Although you do not have to do anything, the domain registrar company or the web hosting company will make sure that your domain name is registered within a few days.
