Registering a Domain Name
posted in Getting Started |Once you’ve settled on a domain name, registering it is pretty simple. Nearly all Web hosts offering domain name registration services, too, but many people recommend that you use a different company to register and manage domain names, one that ism’t the company you use for Web hosting. The reason is that if you ever change Web hosts and have issues with that, it’s much easier to resolve if you use a separate company for managing your domain names.
You should expect to pay between $5-$10/year for registering a domain name. Some domain name registrars offer you a discount if you pay for more than 2 years upfront, but I’d recommend against that. You’ll likely find yourself registering more than a few domain names, and sometimes projects don’t pan out and you never even get around to utilizing the name to begin with, so I find it’s better off to stick with registering the name for 1-2 years.
Domain name registrars don’t do much heavy lifting so there’s not much to shopping for a good one. If you get with a large, reputable company, you should be fine. All you’re really using the service for is to reserve the name, and then you’ll log into the control panel section you get access to so that you can renew domains in the future and to set your nameserver information, once you have a Web host lined up. Don’t forget the nameserver part, especially if you use separate companies for Web hosting and for registering domain names, as your site won’t display unless the nameserver info is pointing in the right direction.
Some people go nuts and also reserve the .net, .info, .biz versions of their domain names, but there’s really no point. The reality is that your site isn’t going to be the next Amazon so there’s no need to fear that someone will see how popular your site is and swoop in and steal the .biz version of it and try to ride on the coattails of your success. Most affiliates churn through tons of domains in their lifetimes so all yo really need is the .com version of your domain.
Below are some domain name registrars I’ve used which I’d recommend: