Ok - Let’s go through the first step of the process of getting your idea online. A domain name is your “address” on the internet. It will usually end with a “.com”, but can also end with other extensions like .net, .info, .me, etc. In my experience, having a .com is the absolute best way to go. Dot Com websites are more memorable and more likely to generate visitors in the future. So what name should you pick?
Choosing your domain name is a very imporant decision. This will be your name on the internet and it’s much easier to choose correctly the first time. Some of my recommendations are:
There are dozens of places to go online to buy a domain name. I recommend GoDaddy. You may have seen their commercials during the superbowl. Overall, GoDaddy has the most powerful tools and is easy to use. So, CLICK HERE to go to the GoDaddy site and purchase your domain name. (You MUST use the links in this article to qualify for the $96 project price) Why?
Right in the middle of the page, you’ll see a search box to get you started. Go ahead and type in your preferred domain name. You might have to try several different variations until you find one that is available. If your first choice is not available, be sure to check the suggestions on the bottom part of the screen, they’re typically quite good. Once you’ve found a domain name that is available, read on.
GoDaddy does an EXCELLENT job of trying to sell you a bunch of stuff you don’t really need. In my opinion, none of their add-on services are really any good. If you really want to buy some of their extras, please do, but in most cases, we’ll cover everything they offer in the next steps at a much cheaper price. So just scroll down the screen and click on ‘PROCEED TO CHECKOUT’.
After clicking through, they’ll try to sell you more stuff. Find the small link that says: “No Thanks, Continue to Checkout” and click on that. Now you’re going to create a GoDaddy account. It’s the usual stuff like name, address, phone, etc. You’ll need to provide all of this information so that your domain name can be registered properly. They give you a lot of warnings about using a ‘free’ email account such as Yahoo Mail or Google Mail because they’re hard to trace. If that’s all you have at the moment, don’t worry - in an hour or so, you’ll have your very own private email address and you can update your account later.
Now that you’ve completed the registration process, GoDaddy will once again try to sell you something else. Just click on Continue to Checkout and move on. The next screen is a bit cluttered. Up top, you’ll see a few options for your domain names. The default setting is for the registration to be for two years. I usually set this to one year, but I’ll leave that choice to you. You can also leave the registration as ‘Uncertified’. Certification doesn’t do much for you at this point and you can always add it later. Almost done!
I should jump in here to tell you that you can repeat this process as many times as you like to purchase more domain names. If you have ten ideas, then get ten domain names! It really is that simple. The best part is, once you have your hosting account setup (which we do in the next step), it’s absolutely free to add new domain names to your hosting account - all you’ll have to pay for is the domain name itself!
Once you’ve made any changes on this screen, scroll down and press Continue again. You finally get to pay! At the bottom of this last screen you can select your payment method and complete the transaction. Once you’ve paid, you’ll get an email from GoDaddy confirming your order.
Congratualations! You have your very own address on the internet! It’s time to get a hosting account setup so that your site will actually be reacheable.
Click here for Step Two - Sign Up for a Hosting Account
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