Surrey &
North Kent area
Registering you domain name
Registering your domain name really doesn't take much time at all.
Finding one that will suit your business however, may take a little time and thought
What is a "Domain Name" and why do I need it?
Domain names are the "www.mybusinessname.com" that we use to access all websites.
The internet is not unlike a worldwide telephone network and therefore every website must have a unique address.
To manage this enormous directory, there are a number of so called "registrars" who are authorised to offer www addresses for sale or rent. In the panel below this one, I've tried to give a logical approach to finding and registering your domain name for yourself, together with an idea of what it costs.
In brief
Get your domain name before naming your website
It may seem obvious, but your domain name is important and should relate to your website name. It may be the name of your business or it may be what you do (for example www.ask.com).
Spend some time researching names on sites such as www.godaddy.com
Set up your own account with the registrar of your choice and register as many variations as you wish.
Choosing your domain name
You may not be able to register your first choice!
When you are considering a domain name for your site it's worth bearing in mind that you may not be able to register your first name of choice.
There may be many reasons for this but most commonly either someone else is already using it for their own website or someone has registered the name and held it hoping to sell it at profit in auction.
A good strategy is to have a number of variations that you think you would be happy with, and then try to find one of these variations which has .co.uk and .com still available, perhaps you might want to add .net if it's available and maybe others. The idea is to register as many combinations as you can and then re-direct them all to your main site address. This helps to prevent visitors going to another site by mistake
Registering your domain names
Set up your own account with the registrar of your choice which will involve all the usual steps of entering your details and credit card details.
Please make sure that you note down in a safe place your account username and password as you will need these later.
You will be guided through the process of buying your domain name(s) although I suggest going reasonably slowly as there are often a number of tick boxes or radio buttons that you need to ensure are either ticked or unticked appropriately.
The shortest period of registration that you should consider is 2 years, longer if possible. This is because the length of time you own a domain name for can have a bearing on how Google and others rate your "credibility" and therefore your ranking.
Some registrars will offer a multitude of extra services which you probably won't want and so you should be careful to untick these services.
Pricing
Prices do vary and as with everything, the cheapest is not always the best.
.com usually costs a little bit more than .co.uk or .net etc. as ICANN (the overall governing registrar) charges a small premium for these addresses. That said, it is not very much.
So, how much can you expect to pay? If you use GoDaddy, you will pay around £6.00 to £10.00 per annum per domain name, a little more for .com. There is usually no "registration fee".
Still want me to do it?
No problem. I will do it for you if you wish although I will charge a fee of £50.00 to cover my time.
I will also help you to set up your own registrar's account if you wish and guide you through the process for the same fee.