Congrats! You’re ready to join the online world with your out-of-this world service or product. All you need is a great name, right?
Actually, you need to register your website name – called a domain – and also find a company where you can park your site – called a web-hosting service. These are two separate actions. Let’s look at how to do it right.
How to register your domain name
To register your name, you start by researching possible domains. Ideally, you try to snatch your exact name. GoDaddy is the most popular domain hosting service; other top-rated companies are Google Domains, Domain.com, and Hover. Some of these companies will also want to host your website on their cloud-service computers, so they may offer a free domain name for the first year in exchange for the monthly fee they’ll charge to host your site.
How to choose the right domain name
- Choose a name that’s easy to remember. Test the name with friends, family and neighbors to see what sticks.
- Avoid slang names and words that are commonly misspelled. If your domain has more than one word, avoid combinations where the end of the first word is the same letter as the beginning of the second.
- Keep the name as short as possible – it lessens the chance of a misspelling. Besides, nobody likes to type a never-ending URL!
- If you can, include a search keyword in the URL. Search web crawlers instantly identify “Honeybeekeeping.com” as a beekeeping service.
- If you use a number in your domain name, try to purchase two domain names, one with the number and the other with the number written-out. That way, when the user types in your name, they will land on your site no matter what.
- Do your research. While the domain hosting service will make sure your name is unique globally, check your market area to find out if there are companies offering similar services under a slightly different name. The last thing you want is to confuse people or even worse, generate business for your competition!
- Consider a descriptive URL extension – “.com” is by far the most popular, but other extensions are now available that might fit your business service, such as: .photo, .life, .music, .tech.
How to choose a web hosting service
Web hosting is where your website lives, similar to how you might use a USB drive or SD card to store data.
It’s always best to choose a web hosting service that fits with your website platform. Here at Buzzworks, our preferred content management system is WordPress since it’s affordable and possibilities are limitless since literally, the world contributes to its repository of functionality.
Our recommendation for WordPress hosting is Siteground. Their servers are specifically geared for WordPress and their support is excellent. But hey – If you are enrolled in Buzzwork’s care plans, no worries -we host your website for free! We answer questions, too, send us an email.