How to Buy a Domain Name

A domain name is one of the first and most important things to consider when you start trying to make money online.  The domain name of your website is like the name of your shop; it’s how people will identify, find, and remember you.  A domain name is also how the search engines will find you and the closer your domain name is to what you’re trying to sell, the easier it is to reach the top of the search engines (though it’s only a bit easier).  With this in mind, it’s no wonder that choosing the right domain is one of the hardest things you’ll do for your website and online company.

When choosing your company name, make sure to have a few on hand and make sure the name is as short and descriptive as possible.  Try to minimize the use of things like hyphens as these things are more difficult to remember and to describe.  Once you have a list of a few domain names, go searching for a place to buy the domain.  These sites are sites that are built solely on the idea of selling out space on the internet, kind of like the real estates companies of the online world.  Some examples include hostgator.com and godaddy.com.  These businesses will be able to do several things for you:

• Check the availability of your chosen domain name and offer up alternatives if yours aren’t available.  For example, while you may not be able to get your domain name with .com, you may be able to get it with .net, .ca, or .biz; and there are a dozen more.  Keep in mind that a few of them, such as .org tend to be reserved for info sites and if you’re selling something, .org will not be suitable.
• Register your domain name (make it YOURS so no one else can use it)
• Host your website (give you a place to put it)
• Email address for your website, security, maintenance and back-up
• And some may even give you a template to fiddle with or other perks; you can check out the various hosting companies for yourself.

Once you have your domain name set up, you will have to pay a monthly fee for it.  These fees tend to be very low as there are a lot of hosting companies out there and they all compete for business; for example, if you only want a small site to start with, you will likely pay under $5.00 a month for hosting and you can always upgrade later as circumstances demand it.  Domain names are usually a small amount of money per year to secure; between twelve and under forty is common, depending on the domain name.  So, all in all, you’ll probably be paying under $100.00 a year for your corner of the internet, which is why making money online is so popular; low start up costs means anyone can try it for themselves.

It’s incredibly easy to set up your domain name and start hosting it; the hardest part will be to come up with the name in the first place!  Remember to keep as close to what you are trying to sell as possible, keep it short and simple (under 63 characters is best) and try to have several alternatives to increase the chances that at least one will be open.  This is the first thing you’ll be doing for your website, so make it a good one.

One of th best places to buy a domain in www.namecheap.com! best of luck!