Getting a Domain Name for Your New Website through 5 Simple Steps

According to some, getting a domain name is a difficult and tedious process, and you may lose a lot of time and money if you don’t do it right. This is not generally true, however, and you will find there are a lot of great options for choosing, registering and using a great new domain for the benefit of your IM business.

1. Think of a Good Domain Name in Line with Your Niche

Before even considering the idea of buying a domain name, you need to do some research on your website’s niche, and find out which are the most popular keywords people would be typing into search engines in order to find the type of business you want to put together.

Keyword research is the essence of internet marketing, and if done right it can bring you a lot of targeted traffic, driving people to your site who may become your first customers.

With the right content and keywords, as well as a new domain name that has a popular, easy to remember key phrase embedded into it, the task of promoting your business will become much less difficult as time goes by.

2. Choose a Domain Name Registrar and Check for Availability

Due to the high competition between registrars, domain name prices often fluctuate on a yearly basis, so you will have to search for the latest pricing information and compare at least 3-4 different offers presented by registrars in order to find the best deals.

The biggest, most well-known and overall best domain name registrar services can generally offer .com, .org or .net domains at prices somewhere between $7 and $15.

Most registrars will also provide you with a simple search box where you can type in your preferred domain and check for domain name availability. This will tell you whether the name is available as a regular or premium domain or if it is unavailable, expired or deleted.

3. Consider Getting a Domain Name That’s Expired

Some domain name providers also offer you the possibility of buying expired domain names. Depending on the history of the domain you choose and its current value, it can be slightly more expensive than getting a new one, however, there are a few important marketing benefits associated with these domains.

One of the most important of these is the fact that you can save a lot of money that you’d otherwise be spending on backlink building software or advertising services due to the fact that the domain you’ve chosen already has good online recognition.

Note that this is not a necessary step for selecting a new domain, and if you are not familiar with the criteria involved with selecting the best expired domains, it may be best to just start fresh with a new domain that has never been used before.

4. Compare Domain Name Extensions and Prices

Prices usually depend not only on the registrar you choose, but also on the domain name extension you want to get. So, consider carefully the type of extension you truly need, as even though .com domains may be more popular (and more expensive), you could also get .org, .info, .biz or .us domains at a more affordable price.

Of course, you need to think about what type of website you will have to promote, since, for example, .info extensions are usually intended for informational resources. So, if you own a company, and you want a promotional website, for instance, an affordable alternative to .com or .net could be the .biz extension – reserved for top level domain names TLDs used by businesses.

Keep in mind, however, that the price for domain name renewal or for transferring a domain will often be a different from new registration pricing. Even though registering a new .com domain name could require an investment of $10 for one year, renewing it may cost about $15, while transferring it will be cheaper (7-8 dollars, depending on the registrar.

5. What to Do after Getting a Domain Name

Once you get a new domain, you will also need a hosting account and the website itself – which internet users will be able to access by typing your domain name into their browser’s address bar.

There are many potential options here, as some hosting companies also offer you the possibility of purchasing a domain name as part of a hosting package, and many domain name registrars also provide hosting services.

Usually, however, it may be best not to mix things up and to get a good bargain from a popular registrar, while searching for a reliable host that can provide you with all the website storage, creation and promotion tools you need.

As you can see, getting a domain name is not that difficult, and after doing a bit of research, you will have everything you need in order to set up your new website and start promoting your online business.