Well, here we go again. Just like any business or activity, branding is the key to success especially in the era we are living in! And the key to success in branding is of course by selecting your name (of course I do not mean your actual name) between millions of available choices.
Your company, product, plain website or blog name matters and it is very important to reflect your ideas within. Once you have decided your “name” only then you should create your website.
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What is VPS? What does VPS do?
What is Domain Name?
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What is VPS? What does VPS do?
What is Domain Name?
A domain name is simply the name of your website. To explain more, let me add; a domain name is a virtual address where people can access your website. Normally, websites and computers use a combination of numbers that is called the Internet Protocol (IP) address.
Every website has an IP address and they are unique at all. However, it will be a total mass to type a lot of numbers to your browsers in order to reach a website. (Unless you are trained to be super memory human) In order to prevent that, domain names were developed and used to identify entities on the Internet rather than using IP addresses. What you type to your browser gets matched with the original IP address and you reach your final destination.
A domain name can include letters, numbers and some symbols like (-) and can be combined in any way. What you typically see on browsers have 4 different sections in it. Let me explain;
http://www.google.com
1-) HTTP or sometimes HTTPS stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (Secure). HTTP transfers data between the browser and the web server in the hypertext format, whereas https transfers data in the encrypted format.
2-) WWW, on the other hand stands for World Wide Web and is a network of online content that is formatted and accessed via HTTP. The term refers to all the interlinked pages that can be accessed over the Internet.
3-) Google part in that example is the domain name.
4-.) com part is called the extension. Like in that example, .com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations.
Later, the domain opened for general purposes and like 2019, it is the most known and used extension at all. There are more various domain name extensions, such as .net, .org, .co, .newyork and more.
Why is Domain Name so Important?
It is very simple. Imagine you have a company without a name. Can you sell anything? Or let’s say you want to buy a drink to a lovely human being, what will be the first sentence you say? “Hi darling, I’m someone” right?
Similarly, your domain name is what makes everything valuable. It is your vision, mission, goals, and purpose to be on the website. It will be your address to meet your visitors and customers.
After the "Why is Domain Name so Important?" part, let’s skip to formalities. Your domain name must be registered and must be free to register (I mean nobody gets that domain before) before you can use it.
Every domain name is 100% unique. While choosing your domain name, do not forget that simplicity is the new sexy! Smaller and shorter domain names are more likely to succeed.
How to Buy a Domain Name?
Alright. Now it is time for you to start. Have the name in your mind and hop into the “how train”. No rush, I can wait. OK, not that much. Let’s go!
* Step-1
Find a smokin’ hot good name which suits you, reflects you, short and catchy as possible! It is the most important step for any domain purchase activity.
Before jumping the Step-2, please read what I write in the tips section below. It will really help you to think out of the box.
* Step-2
When you reach the second station which is selecting a hosting service provider, you have to know the facts first. Hosting service provider is a company that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet. Websites are hosted on one or multiple servers which are normally 7/24 reachable.
In today’s world, there are dozens of hosting service providers. Some of them global and some of them are local. In another perspective, some of them also provide domain names but some of them don’t.
What you need to get your domain name is to select a provider. There are different ways of hosting (shared, dedicated, cloud, VPS and more) but for now, let’s assume that we are going to use shared hosting what is the most common web hosting. It is just the perfect solution for most small businesses and blogs.
There are many domain name and hosting service providers which you can get domain name and hosting, but I think the most reliable, known domain name and hosting provider is Godaddy, It ll be best for you. I bought my deepwebtech.com domain name service from here so Godaddy. They are strong and powerful so try to determine the value with the special prices they can offer to you.
* Step-3
After you decide the hosting service provider, you have to log-on to their website and use their tool to check your domain name’s availability. Let’s assume that you find your domain eligible and with a good price tag on it. Well, congrats! You are one of the luckiest wandering the earth.
If you can’t, then the provider will give you some options. To understand it, let’s continue with an example;
You tried www.domainnameideainmymind.com
The provider gives you a warning information “www.domainnameideainmymind.com” is already taken but you can go with;
“domainnameinmymindglobally.com”,
“domainnameinmymind.net”,
“domainnameinmymind.co”,
or
“domainname.inmymind”.
* Step-4
Pay it via credit card or other options depending on which provider you select and verify your identity with your e-mail account confirmation. You may have to create an account for the hosting service provider you select.
What is important in that step is to remember that you will use your website more than one year so again I advise you to make a purchase as long as possible. Please also note the e-mail address and the passwords somewhere safe because I guarantee you that you will need them one day. Before you begin, let's go to the Important Tips;
Selecting Your Domain Name
Study! Research! You have to create a list of the keywords about your website. If you are an apple farmer apple.com could be suitable for you, right? Or if you are breeding geckos, geico.com looks good!
Yeah I know that is not cool but I have to make my point. Try to understand your circumstances and create a list for most known and used terms-keywords about your business. Let’s say you want to start a website about flight booking. Your list should include the followings;
"Fly", "Airplane Tickets", "Cheap Flying", "Low Cost", "Tickets for Plane", "Ticket", "Book", "Airfares", "Sky", "Airline", etc.
Only then you may have an idea about your website. After you have something in your mind, log-in to a hosting service provider and use their eligibility tools to check if that domain name is still available for you.
Your domain name should also be catchy or at least easy to remember. Long domain names, complex typing requirements and pronounce difficulties will make you suffer at the end of the day.
If you have a chance to get .com extension, do not skip it! It is very important for a website to have .com extension unless it is a governmental (.gov) or organizational (.org).
If you need that domain name but .com extension is not available for you then I suggest you to use .net if it is possible. Otherwise your trust in the eyes of your visitors will be low.
Bonus: After you get your domain name, reserve the social media pages immediately for future uses.
Selecting Your Hosting Service Provider
Think global! You have to have 7/24 uninterrupted connection to your website. Please do not hesitate to make some searches and read the comments on that providers. Examine their websites as it is their portfolio in a way! Compare the prices and make sure you choose one available with domain and hosting services together. As I said; you should prefer Godaddy I think.
Thank you very much for reading. I hope it was useful.
