Where Should I Register My Domain

Equally a freelance author and/or chapter marketer, your domain name is i of your near important assets.

Hence, how and who to register it with shouldn't be taken lightly. There are two ways to annals a domain name – with your web hosting visitor, or independently of it.

It's my personal conventionalities (and do for the most part) that you should always register your domain name independently of your web hosting company.

Here, I'll talk over what I think is 1 of the 1 of the best (and cheapest) domain registration companies around.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate link(s), which means the site owner may earn a commission/referral fee — at no extra cost to you — should you make a purchase.

Cheap Domain Name Registration: A Tutorial for Online Newbies

I've been registering domain names with Namecheap.comsince 2007. They have some of the most affordable rates around, and I'one thousand in love with their easy-to-maneuver control panel.

Domain: Definition Of

In case you don't know, a domain is simply the name of a web presence – that you lot may or may not start someday. And this is why a domain is not exactly a website, although the terms are used interchangeably.

The Difference between a Domain and a Website

As stated higher up, you tin annals a domain (name), but not turn information technology into a website (ie, by not getting web hosting, for example).

For example, I have several domain names that I've registered. Merely, I don't take a dedicated website for them .

So simply know, a domain name is unlike from a website. Y'all need a domain name to have a website; in fact, it's the first pace in getting 1.

Why Bother to Register a Domain Name if Y'all're Not Getting a Website Yet?

There are a few reasons you lot might desire to do this, eg:

You think of a great name

If you lot accept a neat idea for a business and you recall of a name that would exist perfect, y'all might desire to register it before someone else does.

You can check to meet if a domain name is available by just logging onto Namecheap.com (run into instructions in the next section).

Short names

Shorter domain names tend to go rapidly, so once again, if you think of a practiced one and information technology'south non taken, you might want to register it.

Control over your own proper noun

If yous accept a common name (or even a not so common i), and yous want to annals it, if it's available, I'd suggest getting it. Even though my proper name (Yuwanda Black) is not common, I registered it.

When I first registered it, I used it for my personal commodity directory. Now, it's redirected to the nearly page of this site. One twenty-four hours, I may turn information technology into a personal "lifestyle" site.

I live a somehwat unconvential life (mobile career/living in a foreign country as an American), then the possibilities for this are endless.

As this highlights, the web is such an integral office of our lives these days that literally having command over your own name well-nigh only may come up in handy ane day.

Yous're just non ready

If you know you're going to start a business and are going to get a website, but for whatever reason are just non fix to get-go yet, you can still register a domain proper noun.

Let'due south say i only comes to you out of the bluish ane day and you log onto Namecheap and run across that it's not taken yet. Annals it – and it'll be at that place for you for when yous are prepare to start.

These are just a few of the reasons you might want to register a domain name even if you're not fix to plough it into a website still.

How to Really Register a Domain Name

Go to Namecheap.com and enter a domain name in the search box on the home page, ie:

I went and typed in GetMyDomainNameNow (merely a exam proper name) and striking the carmine button to the correct. It will search the web and tell you if the domain name you lot typed in is available, for how much, and offer alternative extensions if the one you want is taken.

One time y'all find one you similar, simply add information technology to the cart, like so (click image for larger view). Now you lot're ready for the check-out procedure.

Click to "View Cart" push button, and you'll be taken to the next page, which looks like this (again, click image for larger view). Run into your total is there, but earlier you lot check out, see the "WhoisGuard" highlighted department? What is this, you may exist wondering.

When Registering a Domain Proper noun, Do You Demand WhoisGuard Protection?

First, WhoisGuard is a privacy protection service that prevents people from seeing your proper name, accost, telephone number and electronic mail when they do a Whois search on your domain.

Information technology puts its address information to the public Whois instead of yours to protect you from potential spam and even identity theft.

How Much Does WhoisGuard Protection Cost?

FYI, the cost is usually less than $two per year. Namecheap commonly gives you the starting time year free when yous register a domain proper name, as the graphic above shows.

Did You Know That Anyone Tin Find Out Personal Info Well-nigh You From Your Domain Name?

You tin can go to WhoIs.com and see who owns any domain name. In add-on to seeing personal info (proper name, address, telephone number), you lot tin can besides see when a domain name was registered, when it expires and who information technology'due south hosted past.

ICANN requires updated data on all domain names registered, and if you work from dwelling house and enter your dwelling house accost and DON'T sign up for WhoisGuard Protection, this information will be visible to anyone who researches your domain proper name.

So unless yous accept, for example, a PO Box or other business address that'south non associated with your dwelling house, I suggest signing up for WhoisGuard Protection.

If y'all practise sign up for it, the domain name registrar puts its address information in the personal info sections; keeping yours individual.

See, here'southward what you lot see when you do a search on WhoIs.com for this site, which has WhoisGuard Protection.

Once yous select whether or not to go with WhoisGuard Protection, so y'all but complete the checkout process.

If yous don't accept an business relationship with Namecheap, it'll take y'all to a screen where yous create 1. If you already oasis an business relationship, you'll have to log in to complete your purchase.

Then, you're done. You are now the proud possessor of a domain name, which is the start of your "beingness mobile" online empire! 🙂

Ok, at present that you know how to register a domain name and all the of import data surrounding the procedure, let's talk over why yous register information technology separately from your host visitor.

Why Register a Domain Proper name Separate from Your Web Hosting Company?

"Why non just bundle them together?" y'all might be thinking, particularly equally most web hosting companies offer both services (web hosting and domain name registration).

To put information technology succinctly, if for whatever reason you ever need to switch web hosting companies, it will make life ever and so much easier. And not for nothing, it'due south unremarkably cheaper too.

Almost spider web hosting companies charge anywhere betwixt $10 and $xv to register a domain proper noun. With Namecheap, y'all tin can annals ane for less than $one, depending on the extension you choose (eg, .website, .online, .site).

Y'all should know that the longer yous register a name for, the cheaper it will be (the same with web hosting). But if you're cash strapped, simply outset with 1 yr, which is the least amount of time you tin annals a domain name for past the way.

What Is a Domain Proper name Extension?

Domain names end in unlike ways. The most common are .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .united states of america, .cc, .bz .tv, .edu.. These are known equally domain name extensions, and there are many more of them.

Extensions are used to place organizations past type, e.chiliad., .edu for educational activity (schools, colleges); .org for nonprofit organizations; .us for firms located in the U.Due south., et cetera.

Top-level extensions (eg, .com) are always going to be the most expensive while you tin can pick up lower-level ones for literally pennies at Namecheap. See?

You can try to get a top-level domain name extension, but information technology's not the exist all and stop all it used to be.

I take several sites that cease in other extensions, eg, NewMediaWords.biz (my online writing company site), and FreeAdsSell.info (a site I ready for a p opular ebook I sell).

The web has grown to the point where people don't care whether the site ends in a .biz or .info or .net; all they care about is the info on the site. FYI, s ome companies will register all extensions of their proper name. However, you only need one.

At present here's what happened that really brought domicile to me why you shouldn't annals your domain proper name with the same visitor you use to host your site.

My Domain Proper noun Nightmare Story

In 2010, a company I was doing business with falsely accused me of copyright infringement. You can read that whole sordid tale here. I get the ticks just looking dorsum over that mail.

Yet, I'll always discover the silver lining in any state of affairs and that nightmare underscored for me the need for diversification as a web-based entrepreneur. And really, this is true no thing what kind of business organization y'all operate – online or off.

Why I Switched from Bluehost to HostGator

I cruel out with Bluehost when the whole debacle described in the link above happened.

I had intended to move away from them birthday, merely I never got around to moving all of my sites – and now that I'm no longer madder than a one-legged cat in a room full of mice, I'm glad I never got around to information technology.

I discuss why in the department entitled "Web Hosting Companies: A Monopoly?" below.

FYI, about hosting companies will move one site for you for costless. That'due south what happened when I moved this site from Bluehost to HostGator. And thank goodness, because it has hundreds of pages and is manner across my technical skill.

Also, I realize how good it is to be diversified across spider web hosts, so it all worked out. Speaking of beingness diversified across spider web hosts.

I've been with HostGator since 2010, when I moved my main site (this one) away from Bluehost. Bluehost is endemic by Endurance International Group. They also bought HostGator in 2012. Who are they and why is this important? Read on.

Web Hosting Companies: A Monopoly?

According to Wikipedia, Endurance International Group (EIG), formerly BizLand, is a web hosting company.

The visitor was founded in 1997, and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. It achieved its size past acquiring a large number of smaller companies , which information technology continues to operate under the original brand names.

Many report service going down by companies that were independent and then bought past EIG.

And as a webpreneur, it just makes me nervous to think of one visitor being in charge of so many what used to be smaller, independent web hosting companies. It'south almost like a monopoly, which has never boded well for the "little guy" (ie, you and me).

Online Entrepreneurs: Why Diversification Is And so Of import

You don't want all of your income coming from one source, or to take all of your resources housed under 1 roof. It'due south why I:

(i) Have more than one stream of income: I write and publish my own lines of fiction and non-fiction ebooks; I develop and market due east-courses; I am an chapter marketer; and I still write content for clients as a freelance author; and

(2) Use more than 1 host company: This, my principal money-making site, is hosted with HostGator. But I as well have sites hosted with Bluehost, and recommend A2 Hosting.

How I Came to Know about A2 Hosting

With all of that existence said, I'1000 nonetheless happy with the client service I become from HostGator and haven't had any bug with them, but I have several domain names parked.

When I become to brand the next one live, I wanted to go with a web hosting company that's not under the EIG umbrella. That's how I found A2 Hosting.

FYI, at whatsoever given time, I have virtually a dozen sites up and running; most are for affiliate products, but this is my main site and I moved it abroad from Bluehost immediately when that whole debacle with that backpage software guy happened back in 2010.

It's Incredibly Easy to Accept Your Site Yanked Offline, If …

It's amazing how easy information technology is for some i to take your site taken offline – if yous're with the wrong spider web hosting company. That's because, all some of them require is a simple email.

FYI, here's A2 Hosting's take-downwardly policy; information technology's very similar to HostGator's. Note that a proper procedure has to be followed.

You lot accept to file an official DMCA observe;* fill up in your real information and send information technology to a dedicated department. Someone tin can't just willy nilly fire of an email and have your site taken offline.

*A DMCA accept-down observe is a notification written by someone to a web hosting company letting them know that someone is infringing on their copyright in some way. It asks the web hosting visitor to inquire the website/blog owner to remove the copyrighted work(s).

How to Switch Web Hosting Companies

Switching hosting companies is alike to moving from one house/apartment identify to the adjacent. Y'all're giving your domain proper noun a new "abode address."

You exercise this by telling it which new address (ie, "NameServer") you're moving to.

Following is how like shooting fish in a barrel it is to switch from ane hosting company to the other when your domain is name registered separately from your spider web hosting visitor (via Namecheap.com).

Note: Click graphics beneath for larger view.

Entering Your Domain NameServer Info

Log into your Namecheap account and click on "Domains," and the "Manage" push button of the domain you lot want to movement to a new web hosting company.

That'll become you lot to the post-obit page, where you lot'll but type in your NameServer information, which you get from your new web hosting company.

FYI, here's how to find HostGator (my preferred hosting visitor) NameServer info.

How to Discover HostGator NameServer Information

When you purchase hosting from HostGator, you're going to get two emails from them. One is a "Welcome" email and the other will comprise important business relationship info.

Access the electronic mail that has your account info in it. You will find a link to your HostGator Command Panel, as well as your NameServer info. This is what you'll enter into the spaces highlighted in yellow in the above graphic at NameCheap.

OR, you can …

Log into your HostGator Control Panel and click on "Server Stats" from the left-paw bar. The following screen will popular upwardly. The yellow highlighted portion is your HostGator nameserver info.

Once you transfer your pages over – which you should have backed upwardly on your computer or through a backup cloud service like Carbonite – your site will be live with your new hosting visitor normally within 24 hours; although some can take 48 hours (this is rare).

At present see that wasn't so hard, was it? 🙂

Keep Your Blog Upwards & Going (and Earning)!

If your domain proper name was registered with your spider web hosting company and it went down for some reason, you'd have no pick simply to expect until information technology was support again to become dorsum online.

But when your domain name is registered independently of your web hosting visitor , and you accept backup of your site'south files (which you should at all times), then you could exist back up as presently equally you lot signed up with a new host company.

And that's the dazzler of keeping them carve up.

Most Domain Proper name Buying

As stated above, a year is the to the lowest degree amount of time for which you can register a domain name. But as long as you pay the renewal fee each yr, information technology's yours forever.

Namecheap will start sending you lot reminders two to iii months out from when your domain proper name is about to elapse. They'll continue to do and so every few days to a week until it expires.

About Domain Name Expiration

You commonly get a grace period to renew your domain name when it does expire. According to ICANN* rules, once your domain expires you'll have an Auto-Renew grace period of anywhere from 0-45 days.

This is followed by what's known as a 30-twenty-four hours Redemption Grace Menstruum. At the end of this time, you volition non exist able to renew your domain name, and it will exist released b the registrar and someone else can buy it.

I always renew mine during the calendar week they expire. For a site you know you're going to have or a long time, register for 5 or 10 years, this mode, you lot not simply become the cheapest rate, you don't have to worry about annual renewal.

FYI, ICANNis "a nonprofit organization that is responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces of the Net, ensuring the network'south stable and secure functioning."

Think of it as a governing body for the web. One final matter before we wrap this upwards …

Can Yous Annals a Domain Proper noun for Free?

Many web hosting companies, eg, Bluehost, will sometimes run specials where they'll allow you to register a domain name for free — IF you sign upward for hosting with them. And, information technology's usually merely for the first yr.

After that, you're charged somewhere the neighborhood of $fifteen/twelvemonth to renew it. Not a lot, for sure, merely it'southward not complimentary.

There is no way to register a domain name for complimentary. Unremarkably, it's arranged with spider web hosting, for instance, so you still have to pay something.

As I said in the showtime of this post, Namecheap is ane of the cheapest domain proper noun registration companies around. Click below to get yours now.

P.S.: What do you want to know virtually registering a domain name?

Leave your question(due south) in the comments section beneath, and I'll get dorsum to you.

Where Should I Register My Domain,

Source: https://inkwelleditorial.com/how-to-register-a-domain-name-quickly-and-cheaply

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