Today starts a new blog series Web Design 101 – Down to the Basics. During the course of this article, I am going to run you through the process of learning exactly what a Domain Name is, it’s purpose, the steps to finding a great domain name and then finally, how to register your unique Domain Name.

I realize that some of you are more internet and web savvy than others, so some of this might be a bit remedial. However if you follow me through to the end, you might just find a few nuggets of wisdom to add to your web marketing arsenal.

For those of you who are just learning about the process of starting a website, hopefully this will make the process as easy and painless as possible for you to understand.

Let’s jump in and get started.

WHAT IS A DOMAIN
Simply put, a domain name is the internets equivalent to your home street address. It is the method in which people locate you on the web just as they do in the real world by punching your home address into a GPS, instead your visitors will punch your domain name into their favorite web browser’s URL field.

When your domain name or URL is entered into a web browser such as Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari it looks something like http://www.photographershandbook.com, it can also be entered without the http:// in front of it, only showing www.photographershandbook.com.

The http:// portion of your domain name stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol and it’s the method in which the Web Server interacts with the Web Browser, I’ll leave that topic for another day as not to totally confuse you.

CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME
If you are a photographer, chances are you will probably want to use your own name or business name as your doamain name, given its availability. In the next section i’ll show you how to use the WHOIS system to verify the availability of your name, but for now let’s discuss some useful tools and techniques for coming up with a unique and memorable Domain Name that suits your business or website topic.

The first step in the process of coming up with a great domain name, usually leads me to a Keyword Research tool such as WordTracker or The Keyword Tool by Google, which I personally find to be the best solution since Google is the most used search engine on the interent, I believe it gives you the most accurate feedback. Try both and see which you like better.

With both of these systems you can enter a keyword Such as Photographer and each will return a list of alternate keywords. Try several different words that are relevant to your topic or business and start making a list of the words that stand out to you.

Once you have finished this exercise, it’s time to get out a pencil and paper or better yet a white board and start combining words together. You will eventually come up with what you feel are strong name combinations. Create several name combination choices as the chances your first pick may already be registered are usually pretty good.

Google Keyword Search Tool

2 REASONS WHY YOU NEED A DOMAIN NAME

1. It makes accessing your website easy and memorable
2. It’s more professional than using one given by a free service such as www.hostingcompany.com/yourname

DOMAIN NAME TIPS

1. Make sure the name is not to long
2. If at all possible avoid hyphens in your domain name
3. Try to include popular keywords in your domain name
4. Always try to get a .com as your primary extension
5. Secure your name by registering multiple extensions ie: .com, .org, .net etc…
6. Avoid using symbols, spaces or special characters
7. Avoid Trademarked Names
8. Don’t wait to long to register. Domain Names get snapped fast so if you come up with a good name that is available, register it now.
9. Pick a memorable name, try not to create and obscure name that has no meaning, chances are your visitors will never remember it.
10. Finally, ask your friends, family and colleagues what they they think of the name before registering. What sounds good to you may not make any sense to others.

DOMAIN AVAILABILITY – USING WHOIS
Once you’ve got your list of possible Domain Names, head over to the Whois online search tool. Whois will allow you to verify if a domain name is available or if it has already been registered. If it has already been registered, it will give you full details on the person or company who owns the domain name, as long as it has not been Protected by the owner, more on that later. This information is useful if you decide you want to contact the registered owner about purchasing the name from them.

Most Domain registrars and hosting companies offer a whois search directly from their sites, however if you are undecided on your selection of a registrar or hosting company you can head over to www.whois.net and do your searching there.

Below are examples of an Already Registered and Available domain name screens.

PhotographersHandbook.com Already Taken Screen

KnuckleHeadPhotoWerx.com Avaialable For Registration Screen

WHERE TO REGISTER YOUR DOMAIN NAME
Once you have found an available domain name, it’s time to register it so you can move on to the next step, Finding a Website Hosting Provider. The place where you register your domain name is called a Registrar and though doing a simple google search for Domain Registrars will turn up a long list, as always I recommend three things.

1. Always use a reputable Registrar - Though there are many domain registrars to choose from on the internet i suggest sticking with ones that have been around for some time and have a good reputation. I’ll list a few below, you may also want to ask others whom you trust, who they have used and recommend as well.
   
   • Network Solutions – www.networksolutions.com – The original domain registrar and a little more costly than others. $34.99 for One Year
   • Register.com – www.register.com – Another of the old time registrars, reliable but they do cost a bit more as well. $35.00 for One Year
   • Lucky Register - www.luckyregister.com - I’ve used these guys for years to register all my domains, service is great cost is low. $7.49 for One Year
   • GoDaddy – www.godaddy.com – Some folks love em, some hate em. I’ve had good experience with them and their prices are reasonable. $9.99 for One Year
   • DreamHost – www.dreamhost.com – These guys have been around for a number of years, i have clients who love them. You can register a domain without hosting for $9.95.
2. Keep all your Domains in one place – If you are anything like me you probably have dozens of domain names registered, do yourself a favor and keep them all under one registrar account. This makes life so much easier when it comes time for renewal or updating contact information. Don’t do this and you’ll end up with multiple domains spread out across different registrars and all with different logins and passwords. This scenario can get out of hand quick.
3. NEVER EVER register your domain name with the company you host your site with - While this isn’t a hard and fast rule and many people do just out of conveneince, it might just save you some major grief down the road not to.I recently had an episode with a company that I hired to Register and Host my domain who decided to stop responding to my requests to transfer my domain name to another registrar. In the end I had to wait for the domain to expire so that I could re-register it, running the risk of someone else snapping it up before I could get to it. Avoid problems like this by just keeping your Domain Names in a separate account from your hosting. In Part 2 Web Hosting, i’ll show you how to point your domain to your New Hosting Provider.

REGISTERING YOUR DOMAIN NAME
Once you have decided on the Registrar that best suits your needs, the process should be pretty straight forward and simple to complete and usually only includes the following steps. Each system differs slightly but should all include the following steps.

1. Creating an Online Account with the Registrar
2. Enter the domain name you wish to register
3. Choosing any optional services you wish to include with your domain name, such as domain parking or domain protection. Most registrars will try to sell you everything under the sun on your way out the door. It kind of reminds me of a recent trip to FRY’s Electronics up in the Bay Area, where you have to make your way down a 100 yard isle of products on the way to the checkout stand. Low and behold they got me with a 2 gig USB thumbdrive for 8 bucks DOH! My recommendation when buying your domain is to just ignore all the come ons and get to the checkout. The only one that may be worth your while is Private Domain Protection which i’ll explain in the next section.
4. Payment – Payment for most domains is usually done from 1 – 10 years with financial breaks given for the more years you register. Payment can usually be made with all major credit cards as well as Pay Pal.

PRIVATE DOMAIN PROTECTION
If you want to considerably reduce the amount of email spam you get as well as not expose your personal contact information to the world, you might want to opt for the Private Domain Protection services offered by your registrar. When this service is selected, your personal information will not show up in the Whois database for the world at large to see. Domain protection typically costs an additional 10 dollars per year, however you may be able to find some registrars that will throw it in for free.

That’s it, you are now the proud new owner of your very own domain name and one step closer to placing your shingle on the world wide web.

Stay Tuned for the next installment which will cover Website Hosting Tips and Sources.