Like a physical address, every website has its own unique address called a domain name (for example coremarketingnow.com). Just like purchasing a piece of property, you buy a domain name for your website through a Domain Registrar, who manages the domain registration of your name. Once a domain name is purchased and registered, nobody else is able to use the same website address. Securing your business name as your domain name is an important element of business marketing. Here's how to purchase your own domain name for your website.
Who are the Domain Registrars?
You’ve likely heard of them before. They include GoDaddy, Domain.com, NameCheap, Dreamhost, Bluehost, Google Domains, Hostinger and hundreds more. They will register your domain name with ICANN, the global organization that manages all domain names.
How do you select the best Domain Registrar?
You’ll find there are different rates involved in purchasing a domain name. Here are the top items to consider:
Does the domain registrar offer privacy protection? When you register your domain name, your address, phone number and email become part of the public contact details for your domain. This means every telemarketer has access to your info. Privacy services prevent this information from being used to spam call or email you. Some companies include this service in their rates while others charge for this service. From experience, I highly recommend (remember those car warranty calls?).
Some Domain Registrars will offer domain registration as well as website hosting and website templates. For many people, having a one-stop-shop with all services managed in one place is attractive.
Look at the offer. Most Domain Registrars will offer a first year deal which will automatically renew at their “regular rates”. Look at their rates to see if you are really getting a good deal.
Lastly, take a look at the customer service the registrar offers. If you have any issues or need help, will you be able to reach them?
REMEMBER: Some web hosting companies offer to register your domain name as part of their hosting service (sometimes even providing the first year registration for free). As mentioned above, look into their fees to see what you will be charged upon renewal or if there are any setup fees.
Now it’s time to find an available domain name.
Go to the website of the Domain Registrar you want to use and type in your business name in the Domain Search feature. Depending on your business name, this can either be very easy or it can take a bit of time if your domain name is already taken and you need to find an alternate.
Not only are you selecting the domain name, but you will also need to select the extension as well (.com, .net, .info, .org, .shop, .biz, .io, etc.).
If your domain name has already been purchased by someone else, but there is not a hosted site, you can reach out to the owner to offer to purchase the domain name from them.
Once you have selected an available domain name, purchase the length of time you’d like to own registration of that domain. Typically this is one year, but many Domain Registrars will offer two to five year bundles as well.
Once your purchase is complete, you will need to complete your contact information for registration. This is the information that will be stored in the official domain ownership database.
What’s next?
You likely won’t be able to use your domain name for a few hours (even up to a few days) while the registry gets updated. Typically it takes 48 hours.
You are able to transfer domain names to another Registrar. Usually this happens if you sign up for a web hosting service that will transfer your name to their site, aren’t happy with the service you’re receiving or you can get a better deal on your renewal with another service.
INFO: Sometimes people mix up the term domain name and URL (Universal Resource Locator). The domain name is the text name (vs the IP address) of your website (i.e. coremarketingnow.com). The URL is the complete web address used to find a particular web page (i.e. https://www.coremarketingnow.com/blog/domain-name)
PRO TIP:
To help you manage your site’s presence in Google search results and receive analytics on how visitors are finding your site, you will want to request Google Search Console to index your site. Visit the Google Search Console page to get started.
Make sure your site is published and wait 7 days after your domain is connected before proceeding.
Log in to your Google account and visit the Google Search Console page.
You will be taken to the “Welcome to the Google Search Console” page.
Enter your domain name and select continue.
Use the TXT as the type and copy your code provided.
Log into your website hosting account and search for Manage DNS.
You’ll see a location to paste the link under the TXT field and select Save. Note: each company will look different - if needed, use the Help or search fields to find the correct location.
Return to the Search Console tab and select Verify. If you receive an error, try again in 48 hours or reach out to your hosting service for help.
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