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		How To Design a Website For Your Business A step-by-step tutorial... How To Register Your Domain Name It's not brain surgery... really!
1. Setting the Stage 2. Select a Host 3. Register a Name 4. Choose Software 5. Plan Your Site 6. HTML Basics 7. Create Content 8. Upload Your Site 9. Promoting Your Site		Registering a domain name (www.yourname.com) is one of those things that at first glance seems like brain surgery. It's not though. It's really easy. Registering is easy; choosing a name is the hard part. Choosing A Name To choose a name you just have to... well, choose one. But, you should choose carefully (we'll get to that in a moment). If you're looking for a dot COM you may find the shorter names are pretty scarce. But don't let that stop you.

You can always go for a dot NET, dot ORG, dot WS, or others as they become available. It's argued by some that dot COM should always be your first choice, but keep in mind that many high traffic sites are not a dot COM.

Okay, now let's back up for a moment. You should choose a domain name with a certain amount of care. After all, if you're building a business site to sell your round widgets, you want a name that is easily discovered on the Internet by round widget buyers. So, a site named BobsManufacturing.com is not a great choice for a name when your goal is to sell gobs and gobs of round widgets. (I'm assuming you're not Walmart or Sony, so we'll skip the whole discussion on brand recognition and domain names).

What's more, if your round widgets fit in square holes, then a domain name which speaks to that is even better. So, www.round-widgets-square-holes.com speaks to your audience quite clearly.

Or does it?

Now I'm going to muddle things up a bit. What if your customers don't search for sellers of round widgets by looking for round widgets? By that I mean, what if they search for widgets primarily in terms of a need the widget fills? What if they are looking for "parts to fit my xyz contraption"? Or what if the majority of your customers search for "squeaky, smooth, egg-like cylinders"?

Oh boy, so how do you figure out what terms people use when searching for round widgets?

Research. There is a whole industry built around the discovery of search terms, or keywords and key phrases. So you've got a choice to make here. You can choose a name because it sounds kinda cool and hope for the best. Or you can choose from the many keyword analyzer tools available with a simple online search. For first-timers it's not a bad idea to choose a host that offers this service as part of their hosting package.

Now let's look briefly at what a domain name really is, and then we'll talk about how your register your name.


It's Just An Address

Your domain name is referred to as a DNS. This stands for Domain Name Server. The DNS is simply the name of a computer in some building somewhere. It could be in your city or half way round the world. Think of it as an address. The address of a computer... somewhere.

The DNS is responsible for fetching a web page and bringing it to your browser. It does its fetching using either a primary or a secondary address. The secondary is a backup in case the primary is busy.

Here's what it looks like:

Primary DNS:  DNS1.DOTEASY.COM
Primary IP:     209.53.186.31

Secondary DNS:  DNS2.DOTEASY.COM
Secondary IP:     209.53.186.32

Now you're asking, "What's that IP thing?" Good, you're paying attention!

The IP address is a number representing a domain name. Every domain has a corresponding number. Think of it as the street numbers of a domain name. Computers like to work with digits, so who are we to argue?

If you want to take a closer look at this information go to www.onewhois.com. You can search for the records of any registered domain name.


Registering Your Domain: Park It or Use It

A good web hosting company will either register your name for you, or give you clear directions on how to do it yourself. Your domain name must be registered with an accredited Registrar. Makes sense right? It's not rocket science. It's fill in the blanks and pay your money. When your hosting company helps you choose a name and registers it for you, then it doesn't get any easier than that.

If you must register your own domain name, then you need the DNS information of the company that will host your site. If you haven't decided on a host, the company (Registrar) you register your domain with will "park" , or hold, your name until you have decided on a host. It it's parked then it is not an active website. When you have a host you can build your site. One way or another your domain needs a place to call home.

Just in case you're not confused yet...

You'll discover that Registrars are also in the business of trying to sell you website hosting. This may sound convenient at first - register and host your site all in one place, but you should choose your hosting company independent of this convenience factor. A good Registrar and a good host do not always go hand-in-hand. So choose your host by the standards of quality you expect, and think of the registration component as a minor detail in the process.

Putting It All Together

Here are the steps to registering your own domain:

1. Choose a domain name. Choose wisely based on research. If you prefer, sign up with a host that has the tools and support to help you choose wisely.

2. If you have decided on a company to host your site, get their DNS and IP information. You'll need this when you register your domain name with a Registrar (you won't need to do this if your host takes care of the registration process).  If you haven't got a host, then the Registrar will park your domain for you until you find a Host.

There you are. Not hard at all. Not even close to brain surgery is it. Well, maybe it is... some drawn-out explanations have been tossed around in this article for a procedure that is pretty simple when you get down to it. A brain surgeon talks a big walk also, but when you get down to it his primary instrument is...

... a drill.

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