How Do You Get A Website Domain

Next Step: Build Your Website

Your domain is safe, the technical part is done, and now you can start building your website. This is the fun part!

• And then design your website in all the colors of your brand

Step by step youll bring your website to life, showing the world the story of your business!

Bring your business online with Jimdo.

How To Set Up A Free Domain

The leading web hosting companies offer a free domain name with competitively priced hosting plans. To get your free domain name, simply choose which web host you want to use , and select a plan. Youll then be prompted during the account creation process to create a new domain name. Input your desired domain, and complete the prompts.

Here are the best overall web hosting providers that come with a free domain:

• Bluehost: Best for getting everything you need to start a small business website, from a free domain to free business email for as low as $2.95 per month.
• DreamHost: Best for affordable, short-term plans that are feature-rich.
• GoDaddy: Best for low-cost, high-storage web hosting plans that include extras like a free domain.

Not sure which web host is right for you? Get the complete breakdown on the best web hosting companies or answer a few questions to find which is right for you.

Domain Registrar Vs Web Host

Theres a lot of info out there about this, much of it convoluted and confusing mostly because most registrars provide web hosting services, and most web hosts also register domain names. And you dont have to get your domain from your web host . The hardest part is keeping everything straight.

So keep this in mind

A domain name is an address on the World Wide Web. And a website is like the building at that address. You can usually get both in the same place, but not always.

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How To Buy A Domain Name With Bluehost

Bluehost is a web hosting provider. In fact, they are one of the most reputable and reliable web hosts on the market today. More than two million sites across the globe are hosted by Bluehost.

But Bluehost also provides domain registration services. If you use Bluehost for web hosting, youll get a free domain name for one year.

Since you need a hosting plan anyways, you can use Bluehost as a one-stop-shop to bundle hosting and domain registration into a single package. This is a great option for beginners starting a new website from scratch.

What Are Domain Name Extensions

Domain name extensions help categorize different domain names. Its a special hierarchy, invented for the Internet.

You can choose among popular top-level domain extensions such as:

• .com
• .org
• .net

Or go with a local domain extension such as if you want to focus on building a presence in a specific country:

• .co.uk
• .fr
• .au

Also, theres a bunch of creative domain extensions, launched recently. You can try playing around with them to create a shorter, brandable name. For example:

• Alchemi.st
• Handma.de

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Check For Trademark Infringement

Both major and minor brands alike take issue with others using their trademarked names. Even if youve just made an innocent mistake, the legal hassle involved in a lawsuit and having to rearrange your web presence could be costly.

You can avoid these situations by using a trademark lookup tool before you finalize your choice.

Tips For Choosing A Registrar

Determine which services you require

You may want services like email hosting or support offered in French, so find out what each registrar offers. Remember, if you registered your .CA domain name as an individual you have free WHOIS privacy protection already included.

Check references

Seek out customer reviews and testimonials, and ask friends or colleagues for a recommendation. You may find that some registrars come highly recommended by your peers. If you make a mistake, you can always transfer your .CA domain to another registrar.

Shop around

Shop around to get a good understanding of how much your domain name, and additional services, will cost. Registrars may offer bundles, packages, or special promotions. Keep in mind that cheapest isnt always necessarily best.

Read Also: What To Do After Buying Domain

Which Domain Extension Should I Buy

Usually, you should buy the .com domain names as it is easy to remember. It is also easily detectable on mobile devices for users. Moreover, the other extensions are also available, including .com, .net, .org, and many more. Ensure that it is easy to remember your domain extension for the visitors and represent your brand well.

How Do I Purchase A Domain Name

To find a domain name or obtain a website address is a very simple process nowadays – but there are a few important points you need to bear in mind in your search for domains.

The first point is to remember that you aren’t actually buying a domain name – no-one can buy Internet domains outright as registration is just a license you get from the registry to use the web name – a little like renting a house as opposed to purchasing one.

Getting your own website address can be done entirely online and is a fairly rapid exercise – but you should check your eligibility before searching and commencing the registration process. While domains ending in .com, .net, .org, .info and .biz have very few requirements you’ll find that to register a .au domain name does have quite stringent eligibility criteria as set down by the .au registry – so check the guidelines first before your purchase. These guidelines are a very good thing – they help maintain the integrity of the .au space which benefits all.

After ensuring you’re eligible to register a website name, then it’s just a matter of running a domain name search at a registrar to find out if the name you would like to get is available to acquire. A search feature is also available at the bottom of this page.

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How Do You Buy A Domain That Isnt Available Anymore

If your desired domain is already taken, you generally dont have the option to buy it from the provider even if the address isnt being actively used. However, you can try to locate the domain owner to make an offer to buy the domain. For information on the entire process, from locating to purchasing to the final transfer of the domain, see our article Domain already registered? Heres what to do.

Option A: Get A Free Domain Name With A Web Hosting Plan

If youre planning to build your site on WordPress, then youre going to need web hosting. Get the most out of your web hosting plan by choosing one that includes a free domain. On top of that, you will also get a one-click WordPress installation, making your life easy by automatically connecting your domain and web hosting to WordPress.

On the fence about WordPress? If youre not sure if you have the time or aptitude, see how easy it can be and learn how to make a WordPress website.

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Make It Brandable Not Generic

Creative, memorable domain names are always better than generic ones. After all, your domain name is how people will find, remember, and spread the word about your business on the internet. Its much better to have something that aligns with your brand instead of a domain name thats made up of a bunch of general keywords.

For example, can you tell the difference between cheapcarinsurance.com and affordableautoinsurance.com? Which one would you trust when it comes to buying insurance? Probably neither. Both sound a little spammy, and theyre terribly generic.

On the other hand, youll probably know where the domain names progressive.com or geico.com are going to point you to. Those companies have invested in their brands, and theyve used them in their domain names. You can trust that these sites are legitimate.

Even if you havent built up trust and loyalty yet, you can start by choosing a strong domain name that fits your brand.

Where To Buy A Domain

If you want your site to run on your own domain, you should purchase a domain from a domain registrar. Use any domain name registrar that you are comfortable with. Ecwid doesn’t sell nor host domain names.Some of the most popular domain registrars are:

General steps of buying a domain:

https://

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Registering A Domain Name With Ionos

Headquartered in Germany, Ionos is one of the oldest players in the information technology industry, having been around since 1988. Ionos offers domain registration along with website hosting plans.

To register your domain with IONOS, go to the IONOS homepage:

After completing your order, your domain registration is complete.

When Should I Buy A Domain Name

The best time to register a domain depends on your project and urgency. However, its better to purchase it right away before a competitor claims the address.

According to Verisign, there were over 363 million domain registrations across all TLDs at the end of the first quarter of 2021. This figure is likely to grow each year as the number of people and businesses that compete to get a great domain name is increasing.

Moreover, many entrepreneurs consider domain names to be digital assets they buy plenty of good URLs as investments and wait for their value to increase before reselling them further down the road.

If you want to start a new online business but have no time to build an eCommerce site, then register a domain now and make a website later to reserve your brand or business name for the future. A domain name will be yours as long as you keep paying for it.

Also, consider purchasing a domain that includes your name even if youre not ready to create a personal website or portfolio yet. Doing this can give you control of what potential clients, employers, and other people see when they search for you on search engines.

All in all, purchasing a domain name should be a priority for those who are serious about building an online presence or starting a new business. It will help protect a brands identity and future business ideas.

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Start A Website In 5 Steps

For the remainder of this post, well cover everything you need to know to build a highly effective website from getting started by establishing achievable goals, to creating a content-rich website that both visitors and search engines will love. Well take a look at what you need to know to sell online. Well introduce tools that will help you achieve your website goals. And well divvy out tips and best practices to make your website work at maximum capacity.

Now that you want to start a website, we want to help you succeed. Ready? Lets go.

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Why You Need A Custom Domain For Your Website

Yes, it is true that you dont necessary need a domain name for your website. In fact, there are many website builders that offer free plans with free website addresses. But these free website addresses come in the form of a sub-domain. For example, if your website builder is example.com , they may create a sub-domain called john.example.com for you to use on your website. Visitors typing in http://john.example.com will end up at your website.

The sub-domain is free and it is not owned by you, but rather by the website builder and they can create and delete any sub-domain they wish. When a website builder decides to delete a sub-domain, the website that is associated with it is deleted as well. You may say, Simple enough, Ill just build a new website on another website builder.

But you may not realize its not that simple.

When you lose your website address, you lose all your regular visitors people who bookmarked your website and return frequently for updates and new information. When they click on their bookmark link, they will end up at a browser error page.

Not to mention all the marketing work you have to do to publicize your new website and get your visitors back. It will be awhile before your website gets back to what it used to be.

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Free Domains From Website Builders

Website-building platforms typically offer a free domain name when you sign up to their services, however the website domain usually includes their brand name in the URL and, unlike paid domains, they are not transferable to other service providers.

For example, when you start a Shopify store, youll be provided a free .myshopify.com domain that can be used as your stores primary domain. WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly offer free domains that contain their own business name as well.

These default domains provide the same basic function as a custom domain, but come with a lot of downsides theyre harder for users to remember, they look less professional, and they dont come with features like email forwarding or the option to create subdomains.

You also wont be able to use these domains outside the platform theyre affiliated with. That means that even if you wanted to use a third-party service provider to add features like email hosting, you wouldnt be able to.

Generally speaking, its a good idea to purchase a custom domain. Domain registration isnt too expensive, and the charge is worth it for the advantage of being able to customize, transfer, and manage your own domain.