Domain Name Registration

Before you can even get started with a website you’ll need to go through the process of registering a domain name. If you’ve never registered a domain name, you’ll realize that there is not one set company to use for domain registration. There are a number of internet providers offering domain-name registration and each company has their own set prices. The domain regsistration cost can range from as low as about $8, all the way up to as much as $35 per domain name registered, per year.

When you are first getting started with domain registration, you’ll also find that many of the names you would like to register are already taken. This name shortage can be indeed frustrating, but due to the internet being around for over 15 years, the vast majority of dictionary-based internet domain names are already registered.

The most popular domain name extensions are:

.com:  This is the original and most popular domain name extension. By default most people expect websites to end with .com, so you should always do your best to register a .com domain extension, especially since dot-com will get more so called “typein” traffic from folks typing-in the words they are looking for (without spaces) in front of the dot, followed by the extension which will frequently be .com. With that said, our website traffic research indicates dot-org is second in typein popularity behind dot-com.

.net: Most people consider this domain name extension to be the second best among domain name extensions. If you are unable to secure a .com with your chosen name, then you can go for a .net or .org, and consider other extensions such as .biz or country-code domains including .us (United States).

.org: This domain extension was initially setup for non-profit organizations but may now be used successfully by for-profit business too. The dot-org extension carries with it a nicely perceived degree of trust and a non-commercial connotation

.info: This domain extension is for “information” type websites and is usually the lowest price of all extensions

.biz: The idea behind .biz was its potential use by businesses based on the biz-business connection. Dot-biz recently appears to be getting more popular.

Some other domain name extensions are .me .tv .name along with many country specific domain name extensions including the very popuar .de (Germany), .ca (Canada) and co.uk (United Kingdom). When conducting your domain name research you’ll able to search for your name and you’ll be provided the results of if the domain name is available with your chosen extension. If not available, you are usually given the option to view if any other extensions are available for the selected name.

A simple search for “Domain Registration Providers” using Google will provide you with a list of companies to choose from for your domain registration needs.