Securing your domain names are one of the first things you need to do when starting a business. In this video I'll explain what a domain name is, why you need one and where to get it.
For those of you that have ever watched the apprentice with Lord Sugar, in the semi-final there are 4 candidates that are being grilled by Lord Sugar's trusted associates. In one brutal interview, the candidate was roasted when the interviewer informed them they had purchased the domain names of her business! You could literally see the bottom drop out of her world as she realised the mistake she had made.
DONT LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU!
So, what is a domain name?
There are really two parts to a domain name. The name itself, for example easystartdigital and then the extension, ie..com or .co.uk
Firstly let’s cover the name part.
In the early days of the internet you would have to type in an IP address. It's bad enough trying to remember a 4 digit PIN so luckily the the clever folk created something called the Domain Name System or (DNS). This very cleverly converts the sequence of numbers into a name so instead of having to remember 64.233.191.255 a person would only have to remember a URL: ie: Google.com
The second part of a domain name is referred to as the extension.
Early on in the internet there were very few extensions, the most commonly known were .com and .net - now there are many more to choose from along with countries now having their own.
dot-com is still the most popular top-level domain for networking, businesses, websites, and emails.
That being said you will also want to register the Country code top-level domains ie. the .co.uk. This can then be forwarded to the .com so that if someone types this in to their internet browser it will redirect without them doing anything
At the time of recording this video the average cost to register a domain per year is about £10. So a small price to pay for reserving your space in the online world.
Lastly, where can you register your domain name?
I personally have used Godaddy over the past decade to register literally hundreds of domains and highly recommend their customer service.
One thing I would like to clarify is that no matter what company you register your domain through you DO NOT have to host your website with them. Domain names and hosting are NOT the same thing
Below this video are links to Godaddy and a couple of other
In the next article I'll cover web hosting. What is is, why you need it, the different types and the cost.