If you acquired a website before you are already aware of the steps needed. If not, we're here to help. Registering a domain in name is easier then most think. Simply put, the domain name is the address where your website will reside on the Internet also known as the URL (Uniform Resource Locater). First, you need to make sure the name you want to use is available. The name you should use is usually the name of your business or organization. If your business is Jim's cookies then your domain name should be jimscookies.com. The company you register this name with is usually the same entity that can also host your site. For example, we use Entirely Digital for both our domain registration and hosting.

To search and make sure the name is available log onto their site at entirelydigital.com or if you already have a company in mind use them. On the home page you will see a search box that allows you to enter the domain name you wish to use. Be sure to enter the entire name i.e. jimscookies.com. The response will tell you whether the name is available or not. Unfortunately, if it's not available you will have to choose a different name. The site should show other varieties of that name if any are available like jimscookies.net or jimscookies.co. Make your choice and add to cart. Registering the name with Entirely Digital costs around $16.00 per year. You will note that you also have the option to purchase hosting service as well. Unless you have your own web servers you will need to purchase hosting in order for your site to go live on the Internet. Hosting through them is $5.49 per month for shared hosting and you can pay yearly if you choose. Entirely Digital is a Canadian based company so if you're in the USA there will be a small International charge of .16 cents. If you already have another company you wish to use, by all means use them.

As you can see a domain name and hosting is not an expensive investment. There are other companies who charge somewhat higher fees and you may already have one in mind. Most companies will also have features that allow you to search for a domain name and will host as well. Keep in mind that most domain names are not an expensive investment unless you want one with a Premium TLD Extension like .inc or .rich or you use a generic name like beer.com. However, those names are most likely already taken but they are very expensive if you can find one that's available. If your using your business name that is unknown then you don't need to concern yourself with high prices.

If the web developer you use offers hosting serveice get their price for just that service. Some will tell you they offer it for about $250 per year. There are some who charge as much as $1,000.00 or more per year. You now know the true prices for hosting so call them out on it. Thier tune will suddenly change. They will tell you that the price isn't just for the hosting service but for maintanence and you'll have your own technical advisor so that is something would go wrong you won't have to wait in line as you would with another hosting company. Answer them with this question: "you are reselling hosting service from a hosting company like Hostinger. What makes you believe that your ticket will be dealt with any faster than mine?" Besides that, in all the years we have been doing this we very rarely had any problems with hosting services and if we did it was remedied very quickly. The choioce is yours. Pay the big bucks or do it yourself.

Still neeed help? We'll show you how to setup your domain and register it. It's part of our free servcie. Call or text us at: 484-538-8958 or email us at:
sales@spidergraphicdesigns.com. Or use our handy form.

Go to Step 2 - Setup hosting service.