Registering a Domain Name—Selecting a Web Host

One of the most important decisions to make when deciding to start your online business is setting up a Web site. Now, the term Web site can refer to a set of pages dedicated to a product or service. This concept is what you think of in the business or corporate world. A site specifically dedicated to a single business purpose.

But Web site also refers to a Blog. That is a set of pages that can not only be dedicated to commercial use, but that can also be used for private or personal expression. Blogs have been around from the very early days of the Internet but they really took off after the introduction of software such as WordPress in 2003 and have had a huge impact on how information gets presented on the Web.

For the first time internet marketer, setting up a blog or more traditional Web site will involve two key steps: establishing a domain and finding a host or home for that domain.

Establishing Your Domain Name

The first thing you need to do is develop your business plan and then decide on a name for your blog or site. A domain name will be your unique Web address that people will use to type into their browser to find your business online. If you are setting up a tile business and your business name is "Italian Tiles", you might select Italian Tiles.com as your domain name. A domain name is by definition unique, so no one else can have it or use it. That is where registering your domain name comes into play.

Register Your Domain Name

Once you’ve selected a prospective domain name you will then want to register that name through a service that specializes in domain registration—a domain registrar. These are services certified and approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). There are many registrars available. Some of the more notable are GoDaddy, Register.com, Network Solutions, NamesDirect, NameCheap to name a few.

Once you have selected a service you can then sign up and do a name search to see if your prospective domain name is available. You are now at step 2. You can check to see if the name is available using different extensions such as .com, .net, .org, .info or extensions using country identifiers such as us, fr, uk, etc…

With your domain name checked out and confirmed available, you then can purchase the name for a specified period of time. The cost varies depending on the service you use and the time frame selected. You can pay a yearly reservation fee or go out to five years. Fees can range from $9 on an annual basis to $45 for a 5 year lock in. Whatever you choose, once you have made the purchase of the domain name, you are then ready for the next step, finding a place to host it. Finding a Host

With a domain name registered and ready to go, you now need to find a place to put it. That means you need a Web host. A Web host is a business that provides a black box called a Web server that will house your domain. It allows you to have the space or bandwidth to transfer files, or Web pages, and does it all for a monthly fee of between $3 to $10 per month to start.

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