A domain name is actually your website name, it is the way you're found online. It is like a brand and that is how people will find your website online. A memorable domain name is worth it's weight in gold. You should have noticed that I used my own name as my domain name. This will become my brand, now I am no guru or expert. It was the easiest dot com name that I could think of.

You can have a domain name with the extension .com, .net, .org, .net, .gov, .edu etc, etc. There are many more different domain name extensions. The first three are the ones used for business domain names, if you can't get one of those settle for a dot net (.net) domain extension.

Try to choose a domain name with your business name, if that is not the case, go with something simple. Many marketers online say to choose keyword rich domain names, but I don't believe that is the number on factor. Memorable domain names are catchy and easy to remember, so try to find something catchy, and if all else fail go with a keyword rich domain name.

How Do I Register A Domain Name?

To register a domain name you will need to go to a domain name registrar. The one I use is www.namecheap.com, they are easy to use and affordable. The price for domain names are very low, like from $8 U.S Dollars and up. That is the yearly price, so there is no excuse in the world for you not to have your own domain name. Don't make the same mistake I made. I thought I could make money without a domain name, I am doing it all over.

Once at the registrar, do a domain name search for your domain. If it is available purchase it at once. The process is very easy. You can purchase with Credit Card or by using Paypal.

You will see companies buying up many of the extensions for their domain name, because they wish to keep the competition away. For beginners is this not important. You need to get that first name, and build your brand from there. If it is a business name, then I would get all the other extensions as well. Namely the six mentioned above.

Make sure before you hit that purchase button that you check, and double check the spelling. You can't undo any errors once you purchase.

To avoid internet domain name confusion, please use a accredited registrar. There are many, but I can only recommend services that I am using.

Cost To Register A Domain Name at NameCheap.com

At the time of writing, this was my first domain name that I registered at www.namecheap.com. The cost was $9.69 U.S Dollars per year. I registered this domain for two years. You can click here to use this same registrar if you wish.

I know I covered a lot of stuff, and certain things may still be confusing. I learned most of my stuff from watching Chris Farell's videos. He talks about creating your first website and shows you everything in a step by step fashion. Click here to for more information...

Now that you have a domain name, you will need web hosting. I will cover that in my next article.

Chosing the right web hosting company...