How to Obtain Your Own Business Website Address
By James Wright
With the Internet as popular as it is, businesses of all kinds now use websites to help promote their material and add an additional place for their marketing campaigns. The URLs (website addresses) are usually set up to match the name of the company, such as "www.companyname.com." Obtaining a domain name (the "companyname.com" part of the website address) for your own website is not difficult and is a largely automatic process.
Step 1
Decide what name you would like for your website. It is good to have your domain name match your business name so it is easy to find. However, instead of just a plain domain, you can opt for something like "company-name.com" or choose to use a .net instead of a .com. However, note that more often than not, simplicity is best.
Step 2
Check to see if the name you wish is taken. Many companies that sell domains will have a tool to check for you, but if you haven't decided on which company to use, you can check simply by typing the name into the address bar of your web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) or going to a search engine and looking it up. Just type in the web address exactly as you would want it to show. Note that these methods may not be completely reliable, but are usually good ways to check.
Step 3
Purchase your domain name. To do this, you will need to buy your domain through a registrar. There are many domain registrars out there, such as godaddy.com, doteasy.com or 1and1.com. Each company may have different steps, pricing and support, so check each website's terms of service and pricing before you choose to buy. When purchasing your domain, you will be given many options concerning security, length of billing (usually in one year increments), and other variables you may need to consider.
Step 4
Purchase web hosting or combine your domain name with a pre-existing hosting account. In order to use your domain name, you will need to buy web hosting. Hosting is where you will keep your website files, and is necessary for a website to exist. Some domain registrar companies will also provide web hosting, or you can opt to choose another company. Look for a variety of web hosting companies and compare their prices, terms of service and options, and then read reviews for those hosts in order to choose the best one.
Tips
- When buying your hosting and connecting your domain name to your hosting account, every company may do it differently. Consult your web host's support team to find out how. Some hosts will even do it for you. When this is finished, you will no longer have to touch your registrar account unless you want to modify your domain name settings.
- Look for hosts that guarantee plenty of up time and compare the hosts you find to each other to make sure you're getting a good deal. You can use a website like comparewebhosts.com to look at plenty of popular hosts in great detail.
Warnings
- Be careful where choose to buy your domain and hosting. It's very important to read reviews and the fine print, especially if you are a new customer. Consider contacting the hosts' support teams to ask any questions you may have before buying.
Writer Bio
Based in California, James Wright has been writing since 1998. Wright's articles have been published on various websites with a focus on technical fields such as computers and the Internet, and were also featured in a now-retired publication for an online artistic community. Wright studied English, journalism, politics and psychology at Riverside Community College.