Here is a guide to creating your own domain name and getting it out there for people to see.
Choose a domain
This is very important because you are going to have this domain name possibly forever. You want it to be short, but yet still reflect your business/product/hobby.
First, start off with the name of your interest, and if it's a long name, you might consider thinking of a shorter version or abbreviating it for your domain name. The last thing people want to do is type in long URL's (web addresses), so the shorter you can make it, the better.
Then consider which type of domain extension (TLD - Top Level Domain) you would prefer. The most common TLD is .com, but there are MANY more to choose from. In fact, there are over 1,000!
What's a TLD? A TLD is just the extension of your "web address". Your web address will look like this: www . <YOUR DOMAIN NAME> . <TLD>
Find out how much a domain cost to register
Please Note: These prices are in Australian dollars, to convert it to your currency, go to XE.com.
It's a good idea to know how much it's going to cost to register your domain name because there are different prices for different TLD's.
Find out below how much a domain cost by selecting your preference and the cost for 1 year will be displayed.
I am NOT a domain registrar, I buy my domains just like you and this is what I pay for them, so I don't make any money from this part of the process. Also, keep in mind that these prices are for the initial registration of a domain, the price goes up slightly for the renewal of the domain. Only by a few dollars. Again, this is out of my control.
Some TLD's require you to meet eligibility criteria in order to register that domain. A few of these are: .com.au, .net.au, .co.nz, .co.uk, .us as well as others.
This just scratches the surface of available TLD's, so if you've seen one elsewhere that you would like and it's not on this list, send me an e-mail and let me know and I'll look into it for you.
If you do choose to register a domain through me, that domain remains yours throughout the entire time you're hosting with me. That means that if, for any reaon, you decide stop hosting with me, you are free to take that domain with you. SOME registrars lock you into hosting with them for a period of time and don't allow you to take your domain to another host that easily. Be careful if you are using someone else to register your domain name.
Get some web space
Once you've secured your domain name, you then need somewhere to "park" it, and that's what web hosting is.
If you already have your domain name and just want to host with me, that's fine by me.
I can host as many websites as you need hosted, for example; if you've got <YOUR BUSINESS NAME.com> and also have (or want) <YOUR BUSINESS NAME.com.au>, then I can host both for you and point one to the other so that if someone goes to both, they'll see the same site.
Click Here to see my packages.
Build the site
All that's left now is to build your new website. I can do that, too.
If you have any questions, or if I haven't explained this very well, send me an e-mail and let me know, in detail, how I can help you further