Web Hosts And Domain Names
You needn’t go to a dedicated registration service to buy a domain name, though. The best web hosting services, such as DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds routinely offer a registration mechanism as part of the sign-up process. Hosting services typically offer a free domain name when you sign up for a web hosting package.
Keep in mind, however, that free domain names are usually free only for one or two years, after which the registrar will bill you for the annual or biennial fee. In other words, the provider of the free domain name pays only for the first billing from the registrar. Also take note of whether or not the provider charges a fee for setting up a domain name. Most services offer to transfer an existing domain name to their servers at no cost, but sometimes you’ll find a setup fee over and above the registrar’s fee.
Please note that not all web hosts give you the option to register a domain name. Cloudways, for example, is a solid web host that requires you to purchase a domain name from elsewhere.
Registrars offer a wide variety of registration durationsone year, three, five, and even ten. Be careful about registering for more than a year, though. First, there might be restrictions on your ability to transfer the domain name should the registrar give poor service. Second, the registrar could go out of business, leaving your domain name without a host. Check the policies closely.
Determine The Domain Name Registrar
The domain name registrar for a domain name can be determined through a WHOIS lookup. Take, for instance, DomainSherpa.com. If you wanted to purchase this domain name, you can visit www.whois.sc/www.domainsherpa.com and find out that the domain name registrar is Moniker .
Sample Results from WHOIS Lookup
Claim Your Free Domain
After youve completed checkout and payment, youll be taken to your Hostinger control panel, hPanel.
There, youll see front-and-center an option for claiming your free domain.
Click Claim Domain to search for your preferred domain name. Once you see it, click the purple box next to it.
Id encourage you to select a .com extension as it looks more professional and helps you appear more reliable to your visitors.
The only time that Id consider an alternative domain extension is if the .com extension is already taken and you are absolutely set on the name.
Having a .com domain is particularly important for businessessmall blogs, personal sites, and side hustles may be able to save a few bucks by going for an alternative extension.
After that, youll just have to enter some basic information to register it. Fill out the form and submit it. Hostinger will take a few minutes to verify your registration information, then send you an email which will have a link to complete the verification.
With that, youre all set on securing your free domain name!
Theres just one more thing I recommend.
Make sure to enable WHOIS protection. After youve completed verification, youll be taken to the section of your dashboard for your new domain name. Then, just look for the slider button under WHOIS Privacy and click it so it becomes purple and enabled.
Doing this will conceal your name, email, phone number, and address from appearing on a public database.
And youre done!
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Option : Using A Free Domain Name Registrar
Im only discussing this option for the sake of comprehensiveness of this article and wouldnt recommend it.
You can get a domain name from a free domain registrar, but its still unsuitable.
You see, the truly free domains use untrustworthy-looking extensions. For instance, you get .tk instead of .com. Your prospective customers would much prefer working with a domain name that reads yourbusiness.com instead of your yourbusiness.tk.
While it is entirely free, it looks unprofessional and untrustworthy and is even susceptible to hackers. Plus, you dont own the domain name, which also defeats the purpose of launching a blog or a website.
However, if you do decide to take this route, you can check out Freenom, GetFreeDomain.Name and Dot TK.
Several domain registrars will give you a free domain in exchange for running ads on your website. There is nothing wrong with running ads, but this just isnt the best way to do it.
You dont have any control over the ads or their placement. As a result, your visitors may not have the best experience on your website. This may even damage your SEO ranking as well.
In fact, even if you view the situation with a more optimistic viewpoint, it still isnt viable.
Suppose youre successful in driving high traffic to your website, and the ads get one million views. You wont receive a single penny from those adsall you get is a free domain.
Not a fair trade, right?
How To Register Your Website’s Domain Name
The first domain name in history was Symbolics.com, which was registered on March 15, 1985. Today, there are more than 300 million domain names, with millions more added each year. A domain name is essentially the address that visitors will type into their browser address bar to arrive at your website.
Domain names allow users to easily connect to other computer IP addresses by typing in an address like “Google.com” instead of Google’s numerical IP address of “74.125.239.116.” In other words, domain names make our lives a lot easier.
Your domain name is an important part of establishing your brand. No two domain names can be exactly alike, although they can be similar. Ideally, your domain name will be unique and distinctive, so users don’t confuse it with other domain names or different businesses.
You might be wondering isn’t a domain name, then, simply a website? Although they are similar, domain names and websites have important differences. Your domain name is the address for your website it is what people use to find your website, which consists of pages, images, and other files.
Choosing and registering a domain name is often the first step when building a website. Read on to learn how to register a domain name.
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Why Domainscoza For Your Domain Names
We are the only operational ICANN Accredited Registrar in South Africa and currently the largest ICANN Registrar in Africa.Some of the largest companies in South Africa look to us for solutions because of our expertise and extensive experience in the domain name industry.With each domain name registration or transfer we include a range of free services including Domain Parking, URL Forwarding and DNS Management on our globally redundant nameservers.
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.
| PROS | |
|---|---|
| Free domains with plans WordPress users will need anyway | Must purchase a web hosting plan |
| Free .com domains | Plans usually require a 12-month contract to get a free domain |
| You own the domain | |
| Looks professional and credible |
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Determine The Auction Partner
There are three major auction houses:
| Pool |
On April 11, 2016, SnapNames and NameJet combined resources on pending delete/dropping domains to better compete with other drop catching services. Going forward, backorders placed on either platform for pending delete names will go into a common backorder pool and will be fulfilled either by NameJet or SnapNames depending on which platform the backorder was placed. Pending delete names that have multiple backorders will be placed in a common private auction accessible to bidders from both platforms to participate in the live auction. Minimum bid increments and proxy bidding rules for NameJet will be modified to match those of SnapNames. Registrar expiry, and direct lister inventory will not be affected by this integration. Another major registrar is sending expired domains to GoDaddy, November 22, 2016.
Always track your expiring domain name at the auction house that is partnered with the registrar on record for that domain. It is your best chance of acquiring the domain name.
Note that expired domain names at registrar resellers, such as through the Go Daddy Reseller Program, will be auctioned at the same auction house partner of the registrar.
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.
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How Do I Buy A Domain Name
Congrats! You found an available name and youre ready to make it yours. Simply add the domain name to your cart and start the checkout process. During checkout, youll make some decisions like how many years youd like to register it for, if youd like to add site hosting, email, advanced security, auto-renewals, and other features.
- DOMAIN NAMES
Start Your Business With Shopify
Try Shopify for free, and explore all the tools and services you need to start, run, and grow your business.
Whether youre starting a blog, showcasing your portfolio online, or opening an online store, your domain acts as the primary reference point for users looking to find your website, making it inseparable from your brand.
Registering a domain name doesnt take very long, but that doesnt mean you should rush through it. Domain names are hard to change once youve launched. Doing so can negatively impact your search engine rankings and make it harder for users to find your website.
Thats why its crucial to consider your domain name carefully, pick one with long-term potential, and make sure that youve registered it correctly.
If youre looking to register a domain name for your website, heres how to get started.
How to Register a Domain Name in 4 Steps
Also Check: Transfer Shopify Domain To Another Host
Search For Your Domain Name’s Availability
Once you have found the right domain registrar for you, you’ll need to search for your domain name using the registrar’s search bar. There are millions of domain names out there, with thousands more added daily.
If you have your heart set on a domain name before doing a search, you might be disappointed to find it is already taken. Keep an open mind and incorporate important keywords into your domain when appropriate.
What Type Of Domain Names Can I Register At Domainscoza
We offer all South African ccTLD and gTLD domains International TLD’s and gTLD’s domains are also available, including all the most popular .com .net .org .biz and .mobi.With more than 1000 new gTLD domains being added to the internet, we will constantly update our list of available domain extensions.
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Add Domain Id Protection
When you register a domain name with ICANN, you must provide your contact information including your name, phone number, physical address, and email address.
As soon as your domain name is registered, this contact information becomes available to the public unless you pay for domain privacy through your domain registrar. This domain privacy will shield your information from view keeping your personal information safe from spammers or worse, identity thieves.
Once you’ve got the domain name in hand, you’re ready to find hosting and build your website. Consider a free CMS, like HubSpot, to design your website, strategize for SEO, and create a blog.
It’s A Common Practice
Reserving domain names is actuallya more common practice than you may think. Many experienced webmasters do it automatically long before they start a website.Most even register multiple variations of a name for a single idea, since at that early stage in the planning process, it’shard to be sure which name they might finally settle on. And as everyone knows, domain names sell like hot cakes, so a namethey think of today might not be available tomorrow.
What I’m trying to say is that you’re not alone in reserving domain names that you might want to use. Like many otherwebmasters, I too believe that it’s a good idea to do it. It’s just too easy for someone to beat you to adomain name, even if that name is some weird made-up word that doesn’t occur in the dictionary. If you want tobe sure that a name is available for you to use in the future, the only way is to get it while you can.And as you can see, it’s actually quite aneasy process, since you don’t really need to do anything else, other than getting the name from the registrar.
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How To Buy A Website Domain For Ever
As we explained, domain names are not for complete sale. Essentially, you are reserving domain name usage for a set period . But you can keep renewing your domain name as many times as you want to.
While you cannot buy it out for good from a registrar, you can hold on to your domain name for as long as you are paying your renewal fee.