Register a URL – Take the plunge with your own site

One of the main responsibilities of owning a website is registering a URL website domain name. The domain name is the actual name by which your URL website will be referred. In other words, it is the name that you want people to type in to get to your website for viewing. You register as an individual, company, or organization and with minimal costs.

If you want your URL website is seen, there are several reasons and uses for your domain name. Your domain name will help get you great advertisers, for promoting your website. This will eventually enable you to build a respectable reputation on the internet and have advertisers clamoring to promote your site. When you register your domain name, you must go through a registrar and pay a registration fee. The registration fee will usually range from $10.00 to $35.00. You are given the right to own this name for one year and renew each year or for multiple years as offered by your registrar.

If you would like your business to be deemed credible, your domain name communicates that attribute to other businesses, allowing for strong business relationships. Choose a name that describes your business or the subject of your URL website. The costs of doing business online can very depend on the goals that you are trying to accomplish. This way, visitors can remember the name easier and refer to your site without calling on you or someone else for the correct website name. A good domain name may even be identifiable by your product or service, which will make it easily searchable.

As a bonus, should you ever decide to change your web host, you can keep the same URL website domain name, and your frequent customers or visitors will have the ability to access your new site with the existing domain name. In some instances, you may find a commercial web host that will pay for and register your domain name; however, you will have to pay those of whom you will have to pay to have it done for you.

As a precautionary measure, when registering a URL website domain name, deal strictly with the registrar. When registering through a web host, you may incur unnecessary costs, as they will be the name’s owner. This could later lead to additional fees that the web host will have the exclusive right to charge you. By dealing directly with the registrar, you are the owner and administrator of your URL website and domain name.

If you do not get your domain name choice for some reason, an amicable solution is to buy the name over from the current owner. This will require gathering the owner’s information and contacting them to determine whether they would be open to selling you that particular domain name. If you have the ability to express your level of commitment to that name, they may be willing to sell it. However, be prepared to pay a higher fee than normal for the domain name if they offer it an option. A more economical option that will save you time is to choose an available name when registering a URL website and then name your business or website. Your brand name and domain should match so that people will type it in their browsers and still have the ability to access it when you advertise. When you make your domain name obscure, it causes difficulty in finding your site.

The length of your URL website domain name should be no more than 67 characters. If you need more characters to express a concise statement in your name, please don’t be afraid to do so. For instance, instead of the name “evht.com,” you can say “EveryBodysHereToo.com” or “EveryBodysHereTooSubs.com.”

There is some debate as to which is best, long or short domain names. Some say that short domain names are best because shorter names leave room for fewer typing errors and are easier to remember than long domain names. Others say that the expanded domain names are easier on the memory, as the shorter names are made from random letters (i.e., evht.com) that may be transposed and entered incorrectly. Should you prefer the shorter version, be sure that the letters have some memorable sequences to create a more meaningful domain name.

Believe it or not, most search engines attract longer domain names because they include more keywords that may be found on your website. You should avoid the use of too many characters as this could make fitting the title on your website page a bit more difficult.

When the time comes to pay for your domain, normally, a PayPal account or credit card is required by the registrar. This allows you to claim your domain name immediately. When dealing with a web host, you must obtain the primary and secondary name servers from their FAQs or the information on their site that may read, “Domain name transfer” or DNS. If you’re not familiar with this terminology, save the information somewhere on your computer for later reference. Please contact them if you can’t find this information. You must obtain it so that you can have your domain name to refer to your website.

Should you find yourself without a web host, give your registrar permission to set up a temporary URL website for you to park your domain name. This allows you to secure your domain name quickly before it is taken. You will have time to construct the other pages of your site. It is a possibility that your registrar will do this for you automatically, along with a free email address, thus relieving you of that responsibility.

There is an abundant amount of registrars for domain names, which makes for a highly competitive industry. The prices for domain names experience high fluctuation levels, so it is best to check the various sites for current pricing.

HostOtter.com is considered the best and most popular registrar of domain names. There you can register your URL website domain name for about $11.00 per year; however, the cost is $8.00 if you’re transferring your .com from a different registrar. Their services include hosting, email, websites, search engines, security, and of course, domains. They also offer free web redirection, free sale, and park pages, and you will have the ability to manage your domains. Domain extensions are offered in .com, .biz, .net, .tv, .org and many more.