How To Get A Domain For Your Website

Find A Credible Domain Registrar

A domain registrar is a company that is responsible for registering and managing domain names. Its accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers , a non-profit organization that controls the rules and regulations of website domain name registration.

Choosing a reliable domain registrar is crucial because it can impact a project or business for years. Pick the wrong one and you might end up paying hidden fees or even get scammed. For example, there have been cases where a domain registrar pressures users into purchasing domain names similar to the ones they hold under false pretenses.

It can be challenging to pick from hundreds of domain registrars out there as they all offer similar services. Therefore, consider the following when choosing a registrar:

As we mentioned earlier, people can also purchase a custom domain from a hosting company that offers domain registration services, like Hostinger.

In order to make a website, it may be more convenient to buy web hostingand domain name from the same provider.

Here at Hostinger, we offer low upfront and renewal costs for the most popular domain names and a dedicated 24/7 support team ready to assist you.

If you buy a domain name at Hostinger, it comes with free domain privacy protection. This feature can help hide specific details from being discovered through WHOIS domain lookup tools.

Whats more, we have a web domain checker the perfect tool to buy a domain.

Can Someone Make A Website For Me

The Website.com website builder is easy to use, and is great for a DIY approach. If you would rather have someone create your websitefor you, we can take care of it! Our Website.com designers offer web design and marketing services so you can focus on your business.Your website will be published on the website builder, allowing you to easily make future tweaks to your design at no additional designcharge. Or, feel free to reach out to our team if you need design services after launch.

Check If Your Domain Name Is Available

To find out if your proposed domain name is available, use our Business name check tool. You can also use the tool to check if your business name is available.

Note that a domain name doesnt give you protection of that name. It simply secures you the url. You should always register your business name first and consider protecting it with a trade mark. If you use a business name or domain name that someone else has already trademarked, you could face legal action.

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Our Top Recommendations For Getting A Free Domain

If youre looking for an all-in-one website builder, a Wix paid plan is the best way to get a free domain name. However, if you want to go the self-hosted route, Hostinger and DreamHost are excellent choices for most users.

Equipped with your free domain and affordable web hosting, you have everything you need to get your new website up and running in no time.

How To Get A Free Domain Name For Your Website

No-cost domain names come with a few caveats, but they’re useful options if you’re on a tight budget.

My career has taken me through an eclectic assortment of fields, and connected me with people from all walks of life. This experience includes construction, professional cooking, podcasting, and, of course, writing. Ive been typing up geeky takes since 2009, ultimately landing a freelancing position at PCMag. This blossomed into a full-time tech analyst position in 2021, where I lend my personal insight on the matters of web hosting, streaming music, mobile apps, and video games.

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Why Is Websitecom The Best Choice To Make My Website

With Website.com, experience the freedom to create a unique and professional website on your own. You can start with a designer-templateand personalize it, or hire our design experts to make your website for you.

When you choose Website.com, youre choosing the best tools to create a professional website: a drag and drop website builder, royalty-freeimages and video backgrounds, free secure web hosting, and a committed support team. You can even make an online store entirely for free.

With over 1 million websites built with Website.com, youll be in good company.

Two Ways To Get A Free Top Level Domain Name

We also understand that beginners are always short of budget, so they are looking for the free or cheapest domain names. Now everyone has different prescriptions about free domain name registration and its consequences. Some say that having a free domain name will cause the most considerable credibility effect. While others say the domain name is just the website address, it doesnât affect your credibility. The only thing that affects your online credibility is your website content or business quality.

However, according to experts, you can get the free domain name for your website and register it. So here we will share the top 2 ways to get a free top-level domain name and start your online business.

You can choose your required or suitable method as we all know everything also has some pros and cons. So go through each process and choose a convenient way to get the free domain name for your website.

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How To Choose The Right Domain Name

When choosing a domain name, it should be:

• Relevant to your content, service or business
• Easy to remember keep it short and catchy
• Easy to pronounce
• Not a violation of someone elses trademark

Shorter names make better domain names they are easier to type and less susceptible to mistakes. Longer domain names, on the other hand, have an advantage when it comes to keywords and search engines give preferences to keywords that are also found in your domain name.

How To Get A Free Domain Name In 6 Simple Steps

Want to just get started?

If youre ready to launch a new website, the first place you need to start is with the domain. The domain is the address people will type in to go to your website, so you can see why this first step is crucial. You need to start with finding and registering a domain name, which can be a bit confusing if youve never done it before. However, I am here here to show you that its actually quite easy to find a domain name and register it for free.

Yes, you read that right. Whether youre starting a blog, building an online portfolio, or creating a personal or business website, Ill show you the quick and easy way to get a free domain name.

• Free domain name included with your hosting plan
• 24/7 live chat support

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What Is Domain Name Hosting

When you buy a domain name, you are purchasing the right to use that name exclusively for a certain predetermined length of time. On the back end, your domain name host will register that domain name using the Domain Name System , so that you can use it for websites, email, or other domain services.

Domain name hosts usually offer more than just domain name registration services. Many of them will offer hosting for websites as well as domain names. They will also provide data storage services and security features to protect your domain name from theft.

The most common way to use your domain name is for a website, but many hosts also allow you to use it for one or multiple email addresses, or to forward users to another domain.

Domain name hosts typically offer technical support, since you might need their help to set up security features for your site, connect a website builder, or do some other technical task.

Why Whois Privacy Is Important

Without going too in-depth to what ICANN and WHOIS are, suffice to say its the nonprofit corporation that is responsible for keeping the internet secure and the naming structure of websites as it is. It requires anyone who registers a domain to provide accurate identifiable contact information, including name, address, email and phone number. Not everyone is comfortable with that information being public.

Domain registrars have found a way to keep your info safe and still provide ICANN with the info they need. These domain privacy features replace your information with the registrars info, at least publicly. Anyone can look up who registered a domain name, so having domain privacy can reduce spam for you, and keep you safe.

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Adobe Spark From The Makers Of Photoshop

Youve certainly heard of Photoshop. Maybe youve even heard of Adobe Dreamweaver, which was one of the first big WYSIWYG editors. While its powerful, its everything else but free . Probably for that reason, Adobe created a free solution called Spark.

Spark is pretty much the anti-Dreamweaver in that its as easy as it gets. But that has mainly to do with their limited feature set. Rather than building websites, it allows you to create a single web page. Theres no blog, store or any other business features. It does offer nice design possibilities and lets you create really nice galleries. But be aware Adobe puts its brand top and bottom. To get rid of their ads youll have to pay around $10 monthly. Frankly, for this kind of money you are much better off with site builders like Wix or Ucraft.

Free plan: spark.adobe.com

Secure Your Social Media Accounts

Before you get too involved with one particular social media network it makes sense to secure all the relevant social media accounts for your website/business.

In the short term you may only plan to use Twitter or Facebook, but whos to say later down the line you might not look to use other platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram as you expand your social media footprint?

For branding purposes its wise to ensure your social media accounts all have the same username/handle. Theres nothing more frustrating than going to sign up to a social network only to find someone else has beaten you to the punch.

When you find out all the best usernames are taken

For instance, at LCN.com we use the handle lcndotcom for all our social networks

• com/user/lcndotcom
• you get the idea

While this sounds like a terribly laborious task, its actually pretty easy to check the availability of your preferred name without signing up to each network individually.

Check out a tool called namechk , then just pop in your desired username/handle and hit enter. All of the social networks that are available will show in green.

This kind of preparation at the beginning of a website and/or business launch is vital for your long-term branding prospects. Get it right from the get-go.

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Verify Domain Name Ownership

The final step is to verify the domain ownership through the email address you used when registering the domain. The email usually arrives within a few minutes after finishing the domain setup. Simply click the verification link in the email to verify your contact information.

If the email doesnt arrive, resend the request from the control panel. We recommend doing it immediately, as waiting for 15 days or more will lead to a temporary suspension from the registry.

Thats all there is to it. Now you know how to buy a website domain name and complete the initial registration process.

Expert Tip

To make the most out of your newly acquired domain, consider authorizing it with the Google Search Console. This will provide you with important analytical insights and make it easier for Google to crawl the content of your site.

First, log into your Google account and head to the Search Console page. If you want your entire domain to be crawled, enter the URL in the bar on the left. Once thats done, click Continue and youll be presented with a code. Then, copy it and do not close the tab.

Now, log into your Hostinger account, head to the hPanel, and on to the DNS Zone Editor. Under Manage DNS Records, select TXT as the Type. Unless youre only adding a specific subdomain to the Search Console, leave @ as the Name. Next, copy the code youve received previously as the TXT Value. We recommend leaving the TTL Value as the default. To finish it all off, click on Add Record.

Darius G.

What Is A Domain Registrar

A domain registrar is a service that sells and manages domain names. Domain registrars are approved and overseen by theInternet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers .

Your website cannot exist without a domain name, so it is essential to be registered through a domain registrar.

There are hundreds of domain name registrars, but each one offers different services and might even have some limitations depending on your needs.

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How To Get A Domain Name For Free

To get a free domain name, you just need to purchase one of our Premium or Business shared hosting, WordPress hosting, or Cloud hosting plans. Free domain registration is available for the first year. The free domains include .com and other professional extensions to help establish your sites credibility.

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How To Register A Domain Name For Your Website

If you want to build a website, you need to buy a domain name. Registering one can be a daunting task for newcomers, but our helpful guide walks you through the process.

Since 2004, I’ve penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including the late, great 1UP Laptop Parenting Sync Wise Bread and WWE. I now apply that knowledge and skillset as the Managing Editor of PCMag’s Apps & Gaming team.

My career has taken me through an eclectic assortment of fields, and connected me with people from all walks of life. This experience includes construction, professional cooking, podcasting, and, of course, writing. Ive been typing up geeky takes since 2009, ultimately landing a freelancing position at PCMag. This blossomed into a full-time tech analyst position in 2021, where I lend my personal insight on the matters of web hosting, streaming music, mobile apps, and video games.

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Renew Your Registration On Time

At this point, youll have a domain name registered and ready to go. However, your registration is only valid for the time period that you selected, which is usually one year by default. After that year expires, youll need to renew your domain name to continue using it.

Some registrars hold onto your domain name for a period of time before auctioning it off. As we mentioned, NameCheap offers nearly a month grace period to renew. Most domain registrars will notify you by email at the 30- and 7-day mark before expiration, and you should think carefully before letting a renewal period lapse. Domains can be difficult to reclaim once theyve expired.

The best way to keep on top of this is to set up automatic renewals. In fact, youll often find that its set by default. In our opinion, you probably dont want to auto-renew all of your domains, but for the most important and permanent, letting your registrar handle renewals is going to save you a potential headache down the line.

Use A Free Domain Name Registrar

Freenom claims to be the worlds first free domain provider. Free domains work exactly like any other domain name with URL forwarding, free Freenom DNS Service or your own domain name service or name servers. Domain extensions currently available for free registration are .TK/.ML/.GA/.CF/.GQ. Unlike paid sites, owners of Freenoms free domains do not have transfer rights.

GetFreeDomain.Name and Dot TK also provide free domains with DNS support, so you can host them wherever you prefer. The free domain registrars are not recommended for anything other than personal use. The lack of security and email addresses as well as the websites unprofessional look does not make free domains a suitable option for business sites.

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Pay For A Premium Site Builder Plan

A free name is usually included in the premium plans of website builders. For example, Wix, Squarespace, Zyro. When you buy a premium plan, you get a free site name and the opportunity to create a website on a reliable website builder using a wide range of features.

Its a good way to simply and quickly get a domain name, not in a subdomain.

Usually, website builders offer fairly expensive premium plans, which can nullify your savings in getting a free domain. However, here you get a domain and the ability to create a website based on templates and get support from the service team.

Which Free Website Builder Is Best For Ecommerce

Now that weve seen its possible to have a website at no cost, you might be wondering if you can also create free online stores. Weve taken a look at these four tools and checked their offer:

Find more alternatives in our guide to the best free ecommerce website builders.

In a nutshell, if youd like a really simple, free ecommerce site, our recommendation would also be Square. Feature-wise they offer much more than all the other store builders in this test. Another option to sell online is Ecwid, but youll need to already have a website to add this ecommerce plugin.

Also, we would only recommend a free store if you have means, other than Google, of getting traffic to your website. Without being able to use your own domain name, it will be rather difficult to receive organic search engine traffic. You can find low-cost options in our best ecommerce website builder guide.

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