Before you even think about registering a domain you need to choose your domain name and this process in itself should be thought about thoroughly. The first aspect that you need to think about when choosing your domain name is using one that will help your website get picked up by the major search engines. You should choose a name that contains some of your sites keywords instead of using your companies name as your domain name. This is due to the fact that the average person searches by keywords and not a company’s name.

Also when you are choosing your domain name you should also try to keep the name short and easy to remember so that potential customers have no problem trying to find your website. Once you have chose a domain name that you are happy with and that you feel best represents what your business is all about you are ready and able to go on and register your domain name.

So what exactly is involved in domain registration? Domain registration is the process by which a company or individual can secure a website domain, for example www.example.com. When you have successfully completed your domain registration the domain becomes yours for the period of the contract, which is usually one year. Once this year period is over the domain must be renewed otherwise the domain reverts back to being available to the general public.

During the registration process of your domain you will be required to give contact information out, which will then be publically available through what is known as the WHOIS database. Anyone is able to use the WHOIS database to find out who a domain name is registered too. One thing that should be kept in mind however when it comes to handing over your personal details is that they must be accurate and true.

The actual registering of your domain name is a simple process and one that has to be undertaken by anyone who wants to set up their own business online. When you do register your domain you do so via a registrar, who will charge you a fee to do so. These fees and the services offered by a domain registrar vary from company to company but the whole process is generally inexpensive. In order for your domain registration to be successfully completed your domain name must be checked against existing names in the DNS database. To do this the online registrar will provide you with a space into which you can enter your desired domain name and what is known as hierarchy, which is the letters that come after the domain name such as .com, .co.uk, .net, .org. This will tell you if the name is available for registration.

It is also important that you make sure that you will own the domain name. This is important due to the fact some registrars maintain control over the domains that they register. Also make sure that you retain the option to transfer the domain to another registrar if you wish and make sure you understand all of the fees you are being charged

Once you have completed your domain registration it will take a period of hours to a few days to see your domain online. You can however park your domain. Parking your domain is very inexpensive and most registrars offer this for a small fee. The point of doing this is so that your site is ready whenever you are to place content on it; however when you are ready to place content on your site you need a web server to host the domain. The registrar may provide hosting but you can transfer your domain to another company for your hosting if you so wish.

Helen is the web master of Discount Domains, who can provide you with all of your Domain Registration and Web Hosting needs.