Who Sells Website Domains
A cornerstone to learning how to purchase a domain name is understanding who sells them.
Domain registers sell domains.
When registering or buying your domain name, you do it through a domain registrar. One of the oldest and most well-known registrars is GoDaddy.
Others include:
Instead of using one of the above registrars, you can also register a domain name through your content management system , if you use one. In that situation, your CMS WordPress, for example will handle the registration for you.
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 Name
When you buy a domain name, you do so through a Domain Registrar that manages the registration of that domain name. For most registrars, youll buy the domain from them and then use a hosting provider to manage the website. Some companies provide both services.
is a great tool for finding domains and integrates well with Googles mail services. Namecheap and Hover are other great options and offer good DNS support and mail hosting in addition to low prices on domains.
You can also buy directly from your hosting provider , but if you want to switch providers, its generally more difficult as youll usually have to transfer the domain to another registrar, sometimes even having it locked down to that specific host.
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S To Take After Your Domain Name Registration
Your domain name registration is the first step towards having a website that can generate business revenue. After doing a domain name search and agonising over possible names for your website, domain name registration makes sure that nobody else can swoop in and steal your perfect domain name. But youre not done yet. Now, its time to start building your online presence by taking 6 easy steps.
You Know How To Buy A Domain Name Now Lets Build A Website
Ready to get started on your domain purchase and then begin building your site?
WebFX has your back!
With over 25 years of web design experience, we know how to buy a domain name and set up web hosting and thats just the beginning.
With our web design and development services, well help you do everything from buying a domain name to fleshing out your web pages.
Well also assign you a dedicated account representative to keep you informed of all that we do for you.
To get started with us, just give us a call at or contact us online today!
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Set Up The Blank / Naked Version Of Your Domain
When we think of the web, we tend to assume all websites start with the www prefix. However, the chances are you probably visit websites on a regular basis without using www at all.
For example, you can visit LCN by either using www.lcn.com or simply lcn.com the latter address without the www is often called a naked domain.
What is actually happening here is lcn.com is merely redirecting to our proper www.lcn.com address. However, without setting this up, users will just get an error page when visiting your sites naked domain variant and this isnt a good experience for anyone.
lcn.com naked domain redirecting to www.lcn.com
You should be able to do this easily enough at most domain providers. Naturally, here at LCN its super straight-forward.
Simply find your domain name from the Domains section of your account, look for DNS settings, and from here selectAdd an A record.
When adding your new A record, ensure you leave the hostname field blank, and add the IP address for your server .
As with everything at LCN, if you get stuck, just give us a call or get us on LiveChat and well have the problem fixed in minutes.
What Happens After I Buy My Domain
The first thing to know is that your domain is not a website, its just the name of your website on the Internet. Youve reserved the name, but youll still need the actual site. If youve bought your domain through your hosting provider, you should already have it set up, but if youve just bought the domain, youll need to point it to a hosting provider by changing the DNS settings.
If you dont know how to build a site, you can read our guide on the best code-free website builders. These services let you build your site without coding, often just by applying a premade template. Weebly and Wix are easy to use, and both have free plans to get started.
RELATED:How To Accept Credit Card Payments On Your Website
If youre planning on building a blog, youll probably want to use WordPress, which is a content management system that handles all of your blog posts with a nice editor and powerful templates. Youll still need to host it, so you can read our guide on the best-managed WordPress hosting providers to find whats right for you.
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Design And Develop Your Website
Its time to build your online presence when everything else is in place. Having an online website is similar to owning a physical shop but in the virtual way. Websites are used by different businesses in different ways. It can be a way for people to find your business, an e-commerce site for online shopping, a lead generation or blog. You may need to create some articles or a link to your site. Figure out how to use yours.
Many businesses will choose to hire professional web developers to customize a high quality website. If you decide to do it on your own, consider using user-friendly platform like WordPress to figure out the way to customize your website to what you like. It is important to have a good quality website for your target prospect.
Read
Most hosting packages do come with WordPress one-click installation. It takes less than 30 seconds for the installation. It provides several free themes with good design for your website.
Connecting Your Domain Name To Mailchimp
Whether youve bought your domain through Mailchimp or a third party, you can transfer your domain name and connect it to your Mailchimp account. Once connected, you can use that domain with a custom landing page or Mailchimp-hosted website. If you dont already have a website, Mailchimp offers a free website builder that you can use to make your brand stand out with no coding skills required.
Also Check: How To See When A Domain Was Registered
Faqs About What To Do With A Domain Name
1) Now I have my domain name and an idea of what I want to do. What is next?
If you have an idea of what to do with your domain, the next obvious step is to get started with it. I have listed 10 ways to use your domain. The best use of a domain is to start a blog or website with it.
2) How do I permanently buy a domain name?
You cannot buy a domain name permanently. However, here are 3 ways to keep a domain name permanently:1) You can register it for as many years as you want while you are registering it.2) If you have already have bought a domain, you can login to your dashboard of your domain registrar and renew it for as many years as you want.3) You can also setup auto-renewal so that you dont have to pay the total amount at once. Your account will be auto debited for as long as your bank account has money for it.
3) I bought a domain name and hosting now what?
If youve already bought a domain name and hosting the next logical step is to set up a website or blog on it. Here is how to do it:1) Login to your domain registrar and point the domain to your hosting2) Login to your hosting dashboard3) Install WordPress
Go to a domain lookup tool like this one from ICANNAdd your domain name and fill in the captcha if anyYou will then get the name and full details of the new owner of your domain name.
7) What can I do with a domain name?
Create Email Accounts With Your New Domain
Using an email address with your new domain name, such as email@yourdomain.com,will increase your credibility, whether you use it as a contact address or to communicate with business partners.
If you use Hostingers hosting service, you can easily create an email address:
If youre looking for a more premium email service, feel free to check out Titan business email hosting here.
Pro Tip
Use a password generator like LastPass to create a random and secure password for your business email address.
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What To Do After Buying A Domain Name: 6 Key Actions
Moving is so relaxing said no one ever. On top of having to physically move all your stuff, theres a ton of admin tasks to handle like changing your address, forwarding your mail, setting up your home phone, letting your friends and family know your new address, changing your address on all of your essential documentsthe list goes on.
Buying and setting up a domain can feel eerily similar to buying a house and moving all your stuff. Once youve finally chosen your domain name and purchased it, it may feel like the hard part is over, but theres still a lot of setup and admin that needs to be done.
If youre feeling overwhelmed, dont worry. This post will cover the six key actions you need to focus on once youve bought your domain. This list will guide you through the most important steps, like figuring out a domain-specific email address and setting up a dedicated business phone system.
Lets get started!
Find Your Domain Name A Home Aka Find A Web Host
First things first youve bought a domain, and now you need someplace for it to live. In other words, you need to choose a host and a hosting plan.
You have two options. Look for a stand-alone web hosting service or use a domain registry and web hosting combo service.
Odds are you purchased your domain name from a service that also offers hosting plans. There are a lot of companies that offer combined web hosting and domain name purchase. Buying both from the same service offers a lot of advantages.
First, you wont have to worry about connecting your domain and your hosting service theyll sync from the get-go. Second, a business that offers combined domain and hosting services will often include extra package perks that will make your life easier in the long run.
For example, Namecheap is a popular web hosting and domain registry service.
You can register or transfer a domain name, host your website, and even create business cards all on a single platform.
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Reasons Domain Names Might Expire
It is all too easy to overlook the fact that a domain name registration is a temporary thing. Even though at the time, the domain name is yours, and could be for years, there is still a chance for that domain to pass out of your control. There are a variety of ways this might occur:
- Renewal reminder notices: If you have switched off renewal reminder notices, you could be setting yourself up for disaster. While auto emails and notifications can clutter your inbox, they can also be lifesaving. Even if you manually switched off renewal reminders , Domain.com will begin sending reminders by email to your listed email address approximately 30 days from the domain expiration date. We guarantee you will receive at least two reminders before the expiration date and one within five days after expiration. So, pay attention to your inbox, or alter your settings to flag the words, expiration, or renewal, to ensure you dont miss these important reminders.
- Auto-renew is not enabled: By going by your account information and switching your domain name to auto-renew, you save yourself from possibly forgetting. When auto-renew is in use, it will automatically renew your domain name prior to the expiration date, generally a day before expiration. This feature will continue to run and auto-renew unless changes are made or if there are issues with your billing information.
Sign Up With A Web Host
Buying a domain name does not automatically give you a website. A domain name is just a name that you can attachto any website you want. It’s like in the brick and mortar world, where if you want to open a shop, you first have toregister a company name. Getting that business name doesn’t mean that you automatically get shop premises. You have todo that separately, by looking for a place to rent , then setting up your shop there.
In the same way, on the Internet, registering a domain merely means that you get a name to use for your site.You will still need to get a place on which to put your website.This “place” is usually obtained by signing up with aweb host. The latter are companieswith computers that are set up in a special way so that any document you place there can be viewed by people on the Internet.You can find a list of web hosts here,from which you can choose one, to place your site.
Incidentally, some domain registrarsare also web hosts. If you have already signed up for a web hosting account with them when you bought your domain,you can skip this step. You already have a web host.
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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.
What Happens After Your Domain Name Purchase
Once you have your domain name, the next step is to choose a web host.
Web hosting is slightly different from a domain if your domain is your street address, your web host is the actual building located at that address.
Its where all the files that make up your site are stored.Fortunately, the two elements often go hand in hand. Most domain registrars also offer web hosting services, allowing you to get them both in one place.
If for some reason you want to host your website elsewhere, you can do that too. You can get web hosting from sites like:
in a variety of industries.
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Search For Your Domain Name
In this example, I searched for createitmarketing.com. The URL name would align with my brand. . GoDaddy is having a sale at the time of looking at this offering the URL for $.99 for the first year and $17.99 after the first year. GoDaddy also lists why the URL you chose is a great name, offering good recommendations as you go. Please see my article How to Choose a Domain Name to get choose the right domain name for your business, blog, or website. Choose Add to Cart to add the URL to your cart to purchase.
For the reasons Ive outlined above, I implore you to avoid GoDaddy and instead aim to use any of the providers you see above.
Namecheap even offers a discount to GoDaddy users who transfer their domains away to make their transparent, good value prices even cheaper.
Just use the coupon code Switch2NC and you will get a year added to your domain for a discount.
Depending on your level of understanding, switching providers might also be a bit difficult. We help clients move away from GoDaddy to other platforms all the time.
So if you need help feel free to simply send me a message. Would be happy to help.
Got any ideas for a blog topic youd like to hear about? Send me a message with a suggestion.
Secure Matching Social Media Handles
Getting social media handles that match up with your website will help to establish your brand online. Even if you dont plan on using the social media platform right away it can be helpful to lock down specific usernames.
If the branded version of the username is already taken, then trying adding a qualifier to the end of it. Getting an exact match isnt the most important thing, but try and get it as close as possible.
For every social media profile, it can be helpful to try and match your usernames across various accounts. This will make it easier for your fans to find you across different platforms.
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