Register Your Own Domain

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You can use 'free' hosting services and subdomains to test the waters or to improve your Web design skills, but you can't operate a successful Web site relying on a 3rd party domain. Registering your own domain should be an easy task, but there are pitfalls.

First, carefully select the domain name registrar. Go for an established and ICANN accredited registrar. However, search the major engines for variations of 'trouble' together with the registrar's name, because even some well known domain name registrars do have their disadvantages. The registrar must protect your address data from fraudulent WHOIS requests and your domain name from hijacking. If you need more than the 'com' TLD, stick with a US based registrar and register your national variants with the applicable national domain name registration service.

No ney never let your web hosting service register your domains! You want to be the sole owner of your domains, won't you?

If you're keen on type-in traffic, you must register a '.com' domain. To protect your business (and possibly trademark/service mark), you should register all available TLDs (.org, .net, .us, .info ...). Register all your domains for a period of at least two years, registering domains for 5 or even 10 years brings in several advantages. Do not connect subaltern domains to your main web site or deliver identical content on many domains. Upload one root index page stating 'click here for ...' instead, and redirect all other request to this page. Prevent search engine crawlers from indexing those subaltern domains.

Choose your domain name carefully. Both hyphened keyword rich domain names and easy to remember brands have their advantages. Do your research on domain names elaborately. Don't be shy on buying registered domains, if your business can prospect. Before you register or buy a domain, go to the WayBackMachine and check out its history.