Domain Registration
If you will be registering your domain name with your hosting provider, which is not generally recommended, close your Namecheap tab/window and skip this step. You are done with this page. Move on to selecting Web Hosting.
The reason I don’t recommend registering a domain name with your hosting provider has to do with the fact that IF you have a dispute somewhere down the road, your hosting company may hold your domain name as a hostage for leverage to take what they want.
Moving the domain to another host will not be an option and your site will be down until you accept their terms.
A little fore-sight can go a long way. For most of us, the best approach is to keep your domain name separate from your hosting account.
Find a discount coupon for Namecheap
- at namecheapcoupon
- or the retailmenot site.
Go to your open Namecheap tab/window and notice:
- Your domain name should be showing in the domain input field at Namecheap.
- Try for a Top Level Domain (TLD) such as .com, .net or .org.
- Alternatively, .us, .me, .biz, .info, .mobi, .ca, .co, and .co.uk are ok too.
- BE SURE YOU SPELLED EVERYTHING EXACTLY AND CORRECTLY!
- Enter your Discount Coupon Code.
- Consider the WhoisGuard ‘Privacy Protection’ option. The first year is free at NameCheap.
- If you can afford it, you should choose to secure your domain name for at least 3 years for SEO purposes. The longer, the better.
- Purchase and register the domain name.
- Remember how to find your account pages. You will need to come back to point the Domain Name Servers (DNS) to your Web Host a few modules on.
OK… Congrats! You now own your very own Domain Name. May it be the first of many.
Let’s press forward now to obtain Web Hosting.
