Xercel Blog

How to Register Your Domain Name

1. Where do I look to see if a web site address I want is available?
2. What if the domain name I want is already taken?
3. Who do I register it with and how much does it cost?
4. Do I get a .com/.org/.biz - what is the difference?

If you are just starting the process of getting your company an on-line presence - these are some of the questions you might need assistance with (if you don't have an IT person on hand to help). Let me see if I can get you started in the right direction:

1. You will need to go to a Registrar to see if your domain name is available. It is not enough to just type in the name you want and hope a blank page comes up. That is not a guarantee. Try one of the following (use their search tool typically on the home page):
1. www.godaddy.com
2. www.networksolutions.com
3. www.register.com
2. If you searched for your company name and it wasn't available - you have a few options.
1. Contact the owner of this domain (try the who is search to get their contact info) and see if the domain name you want is for sale.
2. If you aren't in a rush - you can register to "back order" this name - this would be in the event the name expires and the company does not renew.
3. If neither of those two option are working  - you could contact the company and make a bid to buy their domain. There are ways to determine value - obviously food.com is worth more than beets.com
4. Select another name that still reflects your business. To determine this - you could base it off a product that your company makes. You might consider asking www.xercel.com to help you figure this out if you aren't sure.
3. I'm personally a fan of godaddy.com (about $9 year)- it is pretty inexpensive and they have some great hosting plans. On the other hand if you want to pay more - networksolutions.com might be the place for you. They charge $34 for 1 year if you don't purchase one of their plans. If you hire a copmany to build your web site, they should be able to suggest several options to you
4. What is the difference between .org or .com and which one should I get?
1. .com: if you are a for profit company - get .com
2. .org: not for profit companies/churches etc. might consider this ending
3. .edu: this is for an educational institution
4. .biz: this ending came up more or less so that if you wanted food.com and it was gone - you might be able to get food.biz. Because .biz is less popular - you might still lose visits to your web site to those who just assume  you are .com
5. .net: was originally set aside for companies that were internet service providers
6. .tv: this domain ending has been recommended for those doing pod casts.

Ultimately, your domain name should make sense to your customer, be easy to remember, and have an ending that is relative to your business.

For more advice or to start building your web site, send me an email.

Posted at 01:00AM Oct 27, 2006 by Xercel Blog in General  |  Comments[9]