Getting a domain name is one of the most vital steps in building a website. A domain name is a unique web address that can be acquired through domain registration. Usually, domain names consist of a website name and a domain name extension. A good domain strengthens your branding and helps your audience find your […]
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Having a strong online presence is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. Whether you’re starting a new blog, setting up an ecommerce website, or creating a portfolio to showcase your work, securing a good domain name is an absolute must. Understanding how to register a domain name serves as an important first step toward establishing your online presence. In this post, we will guide you through the entire process, explain what a domain name is, and offer insight into the ways you can register your new domain.
Let’s dive in.
Also known as a uniform resource locator, or URL, a domain name is essentially your website’s address. Without domain names, people would have to access your website through an IP address with a string of numbers, such as 12.364.23.354. Can you imagine how tedious it would be to navigate websites using that method? Thankfully, there’s a better way: domain names. A domain name provides an easier way to navigate websites directly or through a search engine. A domain name helps your business be more memorable and easier to find and helps with search engine optimization (SEO).
When starting the process of choosing a domain name, there are a few things to consider. First, your domain should be related to your brand, website, or business name. Typing it should be easy, so avoiding overly long domain names is key. After all, you want your visitors to be able to easily type your domain into the browser directly, so keeping it short, catchy, and memorable is important.
Another consideration is to always opt for a top-level domain (TLD), such as .com. They are the most common, so most people consider them safe and reliable. Although there aren’t any technical differences in TLDs, it’s widely considered that .com will likely be more effective than a .net, .biz, or .org. In fact, according to w3Techs, .com domains make up nearly 48% of all domain names on the internet.
However, not having a .com TLD doesn’t have to be a deal breaker. The most important thing is to find the right domain name for you. That means choosing a lesser-known TLD is okay if your desired domain isn’t available as .com, and you’re set on your choice.
Before registering your new domain, it’s important to consider the best registrar for your business. Thankfully, several domain name registrars will fit the bill. But first, let’s explain what a registrar is. Domain registrars are like an online store for domain names. You can buy, register, and point your domain to your hosting provider, where your website’s files are located. That said, there are some hosting providers, such as SiteGround, where you can purchase your domain and hosting together. Generally speaking, we don’t recommend doing this, as moving your domain could be difficult if you fall out of love with your hosting provider.
When brainstorming domain name ideas, checking for their availability is essential. All reputable domain registrars offer this capability, so it’s typically easy to determine what is available. For example, Namecheap allows you to check for potential domain names without having to purchase anything upfront.
One thing to keep in mind is not to get frustrated if your first pick isn’t available. With thousands of domain names being registered daily, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to miss out on your favorite. That said, you can easily find variations of your initial pick, with most registrars offering similar options based on your initial search.
There are nearly unlimited registrars, each capable of helping you find the perfect domain name. As previously mentioned, there are hosting providers that offer the same service. For this tutorial, we’re going to cover an example of each. First, we’ll walk you through securing a domain through one of the most popular hosting providers, SiteGround. Additionally, we’ll show you how to register a new domain through a popular domain registrar, Namecheap.
SiteGround is one of the best managed hosting providers on the market. They are known for their excellent features, customer service, and value for the money. If you’re in the market for a new provider to go along with your new domain name, SiteGround is the way to go. Setting up a new domain through SiteGround is fast, easy, and affordable. Let’s walk you through the steps to purchase a new hosting plan and add a domain.
SiteGround offers three plans to get you started: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek. If you’re starting out, the StartUp plan is the most affordable option at $14.99 monthly, although SG typically offers up to 80% discounts. Start by selecting the StartUp plan.
When the screen refreshes, you’ll be forwarded to the domain registration screen, where you can register a new domain or add an existing one. Select Register a new domain. Ensure the Domain Registration checkbox is selected.
Type in your first choice for a new domain, then click proceed.
If your choice is available, you’ll proceed to the next step in the process. If it’s already taken, SiteGround will offer several alternative selections based on the original.
From that point, you can choose one of the suggested domain names or search for an alternate.
The final step is to complete the registration process. You must complete the account and client information and input your payment method to secure your domain and hosting plan. Once the registration process is complete, your domain is secured, and you’re ready to start building the website of your dreams.
Namecheap is among the best domain registrars you can get. With affordable pricing, multiple options for TLDs, and a user-friendly interface, beginners and professional web gurus alike can register a new domain in minutes.
The first step to registering your new domain using Namecheap is to search for what’s available. Fill in your choice on the Namecheap homepage and click search.
Once you search for the domain of your choice, the registration page will appear, letting you know whether the domain is available. Additionally, you’ll have the option to purchase similar ones should you want to map multiple domains.
Once you’ve selected the domains you wish to purchase, add them to your cart.
Namecheap will offer add-ons such as WordPress hosting, an SSL, and premium DNS, which provides DDoS attack protection and 100% uptime.
Next, you’ll need to create an account to manage your domain and any add-ons you purchase.
On the next screen, you’ll take steps to register your new domain with Internet Corporation for Assigned Name and Numbers (ICANN). When a new domain is registered, it goes into a public directory. Your name and contact information will be recorded and available to anyone searching the ICANN directory.
Finally, you’ll set up your ICANN directory listing using the Whois database. This allows anyone with your domain name to learn who the owner is and their contact information. If you want that to remain private, you’ll need to opt into the domain privacy service by checking the Associate to this domain and enable it at the time of purchase checkbox.
From there, the only thing left to do is purchase your domain.
As you can see, registering a new domain with a hosting provider or domain registrar is a straightforward process, making it simple for people with any skill level to achieve.
Registering a domain name is an exciting milestone in building your online identity. By following our comprehensive guide, you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence needed to navigate the domain registration process effortlessly, ultimately securing the best domain for your business.
If you need both a domain and hosting, you should try SiteGround. However, if you only need to purchase and register your domain, Namecheap is the perfect choice to kickstart your new business.
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Featured Image via Heena Rajput /Â Shutterstock.com
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A domain name is essential to your website as it represents your brand name and acts as the site’s address. People can easily visit your website by typing the domain name into a web browser address bar or a search engine. For business owners, a memorable domain name helps build an online presence and customer […]
The post How to Get a Free Domain Name via Web Hosting, Website Builder, and More Methods appeared first on Hostinger Tutorials.
Imagine you’ve spent a lot of time and effort establishing your online presence. Then, cyber criminals purchase a domain name that is confusingly similar to yours to deceive prospective customers. In this scenario, you’ve become a victim of cybersquatting, commonly known as domain squatting. Domain squatting poses a serious threat to business owners by diverting […]
The post What Is Domain Squatting and How to Protect a Domain From Cybersquatting appeared first on Hostinger Tutorials.
On average, a typical domain name costs between £10-£15/year, but things like your chosen registrar or included add-ons can influence your price. Investing in your domain name makes your business look trustworthy and professional online. Consistent branding is also key to creating a robust online presence and great user experience. This tutorial will explain what […]
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A domain name is one of the essential website components, as it acts as your site’s address. However, the domain will not belong to you forever – you must renew the registration regularly. As this process is not the same as purchasing a new domain, we will explain how to renew a domain name at […]
The post How to Renew a Domain Name at Hostinger: Active, Expired, and Auto-Renewals appeared first on Hostinger Tutorials.
Whether as a full-time business or a side hustle, domain flipping can be a lucrative way to make money online – you may buy relatively cheap domains and sell them for thousands or potentially millions of dollars. For instance, business.com was purchased for $7.5 million in 1999 and was sold for $350 million 8 years […]
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Your website’s domain and overall URL structure are based on a few technical elements. In this article, we are going to explore using www vs. non-www on your website’s URL and which is better for SEO.
Both www and non-www have their pros and cons, but ultimately you need to know the implications of what you are choosing. If you aren’t careful, you could create duplicate locations of your website which can hurt your site’s SEO and ranking in the SERPs. Here’s how you can keep the flow of visitors coming by having a properly configured website URL.
It is important to understand that there are many seemingly insignificant details that go into building your website’s URL. Each of these details changes the location of your website and also how search engines, like Google, crawl and index your site.
HTTP is the standard language protocol to help browsers communicate between clients and servers. Most URLs start with http://. If your site has an SSL Certificate or Transport Layer Security (TLS), the URL will start with https:// instead.
http://domainname.com
or…
https://domainname.com
Domain names are a critical part of the internet, allowing users to navigate between websites. This is what you purchase and register at domain registers like Godaddy or Namecheap. Domain names act as human-readable (and rememberable!) addresses. If we didn’t have them, we’d be surfing the web memorizing IP numbers instead of company and brand names.
In a URL, the domain is a substring that follows the initial http:// or
https://domainname.com
The WWW prefix is used to help identify a web address or location. Basically, it is a subdomain (similar to ftp.yourwebsite.com or blog.yourwebsite.com) to identify a more specific location. This is mostly used on larger websites. However, unlike traditional subdomains, it is not necessary these days to include the WWW prefix unless you have a specific reason to do so. In a URL, the www prefix precedes the domain name:
https://www.domainname.com
When we talk about www vs non-www, we are referring to websites that include the www prefix in the domain name or not.
Here is a www domain:
https://www.yourwebsite.com
And here is a non-www domain:
https://yourwebsite.com
The WWW (“Word Wide Web”) prefix has traditionally designated websites that are accessible online. For most of the history of the internet, most websites used a “www†prefix followed by a domain name. Nowadays, it is treated more as a subdomain, making it optional for those looking to streamline their URL with a non-www version of their domain.
The internet is a very specific place. At least in terms of web standards. Adoption of new ways of doing things is slow since there are billions of internet users and breaking the internet is in nobody’s best interest. The differences in www and non-www domains may cease to exist someday but there are some user experience and technical differences to understand right now.
First, it is important to understand that a website URL using WWW is technically an altogether different location than the same website URL using non-WWW.
For example:
https://www.yourwebsite.com will take you to a different location than https://yourwebsite.com.
That is why it is important to be consistent with what you choose. And, use redirects and canonical URLs to make sure you are not getting duplicate content.
Cookies, once a staple of the internet, perform more or less the same whether you use www or non-www on your website.
That is, for one exception. Websites using www help restrict cookies from transferring across many sub-domains.
So, if your website uses multiple sub-domains (app.example.com, login.example.com, or help.example.com) and you want cookies to be distinct per each sub-domain, it is better to use the www prefix for your website.
Image by BadBrother / shutterstock.com
CDNs are also easier to set up with www domains. There are some CDN providers that don’t handle non-www well at all. But this is a shrinking occurrence.
Using non-www domains is more intuitive on the end-user side of things. Non-www websites are often typed in by internet users by default (even for websites that use www). This means fewer redirects occur when using non-www URLs for sites with plenty of direct traffic. People more or less ignore “www.” prefixes when talking about or referencing URLs.
Also, modern browsers are starting to hide the www part of websites in the search bar—creating a cleaner way of looking at the site URL. The browser doesn’t strip the URL of www. It simply doesn’t display it unless a user clicks into the URL bar to edit or change the URL.
Is hiding that element a sign of things to come? Maybe—but for now, browsers are interested in making things as simple as possible for the average internet user. They aren’t concerned about displaying the www prefix since there is no technical difference between them choosing to show it or not.
Website building platforms, like WordPress, let you view and change the www or non-www version of your website URL. This choice is an awesome benefit of using WordPress but comes with the added responsibility of making informed decisions around its use.
Important!: Before checking or changing anything. We do not recommend changing previously established websites’ use of www non-www. Whatever you choose while building your website (and when search engines started indexing it) is workable. Only change this on established websites if you are confident with what you are doing and understand how it affects how search engines index your site.
To check if your site is using WWW or not, go to your Admin Dashboard in WordPress. Navigate from “Settings†to “Generalâ€. This will pull up a new page with the options “WordPress Address†and “Site Addressâ€.
Make sure both of those are the same (in almost all cases) and in accordance with the domain you purchased for the website.
If you want to make changes and are unsure about what you are doing, it is best to contact your hosting company’s support team for answers.
Search engines don’t prefer www or non-www nor take it into account as a ranking factor. So for SEO, choosing one ahead of the other isn’t important. What is important is the proper configuration of ONE of the options — never both. Misconfiguring www or non-www can result in SEO penalties.
Having both www and non-www URL versions of a page or post can be considered duplicate content and hurt SEO.
Duplicate content is content that is repeated on the same website (and in some cases other websites). Some content overlap is always going to happen on any website. However, using both www and non-www creates two full, exact versions of each page, post, and archive location. This essentially creates a duplicate of your whole website—one at www.example.com and one at example.com. This is further complicated if you are also allowing both HTTP and HTTPS protocols on your website.
Image by hilderifi / shutterstock.com
This might not seem like a big issue but it can have drastic consequences. Put simply, having two versions of your website will confuse search engines. Search engines will index some of your pages on the www domain and others on the non-www domain.
You don’t want half of your domain authority building on one of two versions of your base URL. Not only will it get confused about which version to index and rank, but it can also penalize both versions and tank your rankings. This will lead to diminished search traffic and performance for your website.
If you do have both or have a concern, you can set up 301 redirects. This can redirect the unwanted URL version to the wanted version. For non-WWW domains, many hosting providers will have a redirect to the WWW version of your domain set up by default to avoid any conflict. If not, you can always perform the necessary redirects with a plugin.
For more, check out our ultimate guide to duplicate content and SEO
A canonical URL is a self-declared preference submitted to Search Engines of your preferred URL version for a page or domain location. When you have multiple versions of a web page, as we’ve learned is possible, it can cause problems with search engines. This is because they may not know which version of the page to index and show searchers. Indexing issues are made worse by the search engines seeing duplicate content, which can hurt your ranking in search results.
Setting a canonical URL tells search engines which version of the page you want them to index. This helps them crawl your site more efficiently and prevents duplicate content issues.
The canonical URL can be set up with Yoast SEO for WordPress. Yoast SEO is a plugin that helps you optimize your website for search engines. On each Page or Post of your website, scroll down to the Yoast SEO Section. Under “Advanced” you will see a field to add that page/post’s canonical URL. This will tell search engines which version you prefer.
Yoast isn’t the only plugin that this. Check out some other WordPress SEO plugins that can help with canonical URLs.
It is worth noting that canonical tags are your last line of defense for telling search engines which version of your website to index. Canonical tags are also helpful for duplicate content that exists for reasons other than having both www and non-www versions of your website.
For more, check out our ultimate guide to canonical URLs.
If you think you have an issue with multiple versions of your website:
As we’ve discovered, it is a stalemate in terms of SEO. Using www or a non-www URL won’t affect your site’s SEO. Using a www URL may have some technical benefits in a few areas and maybe for that reason, it should be considered over non-www. The main thing is to be absolutely consistent with your use. Once you choose www or not www—stick with that choice.
SEO is an important consideration for any website owner. Choosing to use www vs. non-www in your URL isn’t a major consideration for your site’s search ranking. Just remember to follow the best practices above and you’ll be able to spend your time worrying about other areas of SEO.
Featured Image via Yasir Design / shutterstock.com
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