| Once you find someone to
host your website (ie. store your website files on their server),
you need to come up with a domain name. This is that familiar name
which always follows the www in a website address. The best
domain names are short, descriptive, and to the point so that they
are easy for your visitors to remember. Some good domain name
examples are: yahoo.com,
google.com,
ucla.edu and
cntower.ca. The ending after the
dot simply helps to describe the type of site you have (commercial,
educational, government, organization, etc) or
the country of origin (Canada). When picking your new domain
name try to avoid using odd short forms, uncommon acronyms, and
words which are often misspelled.
Once you have settled on a domain name
which will become your website's address, then it is time to check
if that name is still available or if someone else is already using it.
Remember that your website address must be unique. No two websites can have the same
domain name or address. So your next step is the domain name search.
There are many companies on the internet which can do this for you (even for free)
and some are listed at the bottom of this page. If your chosen
domain name is available then you are in luck and can proceed with
domain name registration. Often these companies will search,
register, and even host your website.
Below are links to websites which
specialize in domain name searching and registration. Make sure to check
more than one of them to see how their costs for domain name registrations compare.
There are some good deals out there if you are willing to
spend a few minutes looking for them. |
