Setting Up a Domain For Your Website

July 31. 2020

Do you want to make a website? While this is something that could be very beneficial for your business, it’s a process that requires some knowledge or experience. And the first step on your way is setting up a domain for your website. Before getting to it, let’s go over the basics.

The basics

Simply put, a domain name is the web address of a website. For example, the domain name of a famous search engine is google.com. When we’re talking about a domain name, you can imagine it’s front door address, but for a website.

And then we have the important question: What domain name are you going to choose?

Since anyone can buy a domain name, the options are limited. There’s a good chance the name you want is already busy, so finding a free name that will suit you might be more challenging than you think. So, you’ll need to be creative and come up with an interesting combination.

• you can base your business name on the available options
• from the SEO aspect, it would be good if you could squeeze a keyword that’s relevant to your business into your name
• After you choose your name, buying it will be the easier part.

  

The suffix or  extension

Domains can have various suffixes or extensions. That’s the .org, .net, .edu, and .tv and other suffixes. However, it’s obvious that the most wanted extension is .com. It’s been around the longest, and if not sure what your extension is, people will try this extension first. The other option they will try is .net, so this is also considered as a good extension. However, there are examples of other extensions ranking well, so don’t think that you can do well with a non.-com extension.

Buying a domain name or hosting

When setting up your domain, you also need to buy hosting. However, you can host your website with another company’s website and avoid buying a name. You’ve heard what bloggers do when starting a WordPress blog.

However, having your own domain gives you more control and ownership over your content, so it’s well worth it.

The only thing left – setting up a domain

What if you already have to host? This situation is not uncommon since not all web hosts offer the option of buying a name. In this case, the only thing left for you to do is to set up a domain for your website. In order to do this, you’ll need a Domain Registrar, a company that will register your domain. Basically, you pay a fee and get a domain. A domain registrar will ensure that when anyone puts your address into a bar, it will lead them to your site.

When you buy a name, you should give it to your host company, so that they transfer the domain to your host.

The easiest way

Buying the name along with hosting is probably the easiest way to do this. When signing up with Bluehost, for example, you can buy the name along with hosting and make this process easier for yourself.

Free domain name

When signing up for hosting, you’ll find that some hosting services offer a free domain name. However, you should keep in mind that these are only free for some time, usually a year or two, and afterward, you’ll have to pay a fee.

Registration durations

Registration duration can go from one year to ten years. However, you should be careful when registering for more than one year. In case the registrar goes out of business, you don’t want your domain to be left without a host. Also, remember to read the policies carefully. You could find restrictions regarding your ability to transfer your domain name.

Transferring

You don’t want to have restrictions regarding the transfer of your domain name to another registration service. If you’re not satisfied with your current provider, if you find them unreliable, if you find a better deal when your registration is coming due, there’s an option of transferring your domain name to another provider. Of course, this is common in the situation when you’ve already signed up with a certain hosting service, and you want the name transferred to their site.

First, you need to deal with the registrar whose services you no longer require. Usually, you can’t transfer a domain name during the first two months after registration, but it depends on the transfer policy and could be longer. And you won’t be able to get a refund for the time you of the service that you won’t need anymore.

Now when dealing with your new service provider, you need to check what the transfer requires and how much they charge for it. Will your new provider handle the task completely, or will you have to set up the name manually?

The Contract

As you can see, not everything is fixed in stone with domain names and hostings. You can migrate your WordPress website to a new host, or any other website, for that matter. And one of the other things that can change is your domain name becoming someone else’s. In order to prevent this, before you pay, make sure you know what you’re getting and read the contract carefully.

You might find in the contract that registrar reserve the right to revoke your name, usually in case that you use it for spamming, or in other specific cases. However, many contacts allow registrars to delete your name for no reason, or make changes to the agreement. These are all reasons to check out your new registrar carefully, before signing up.

Be patient

After registering and buying your domain name, you’ll probably have to wait before you can actually use it. This is the time it takes for the domain to propagate, and it can last from a couple of hours to several days. The usual time is around 48 hours.

Know you know the important steps required for setting up a domain for your website. However, in order to keep everything running, you might still need some help. Luckily, our team is more than willing to give you a hand, so don’t be afraid to ask.