In addition to having hosting space for your site, you’ll also need a domain name. A domain name is the base of the alphanumeric address called the URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and it’s the address visitors use to find a site. For example, the URL for Microsoft is http://microsoft.com, and their domain name is microsoft.com.
When you register your domain name, you will want to use your name, your company’s name, or a word or phrase that’s directly related to the products or services your company provides. It’s important to give a great deal of thought to the domain name you choose, because it will have direct impact on search engine relevance of all the pages within your site. In addition, it’s the name you’ll tell people, and whether you tell them in print advertising, by phone, or in person, the name needs to be descriptive, easy to remember, and easy to spell.
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Even if you need only one site, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should have only one domain. You might want to register your company name with several extensions, such as example.com, example.net, and example.org. Another tactic is to register common misspellings of your "main" domain. That way, if visitors happen to type the domain name improperly, you can still get them to the correct site through various techniques.
Part of the choice in registering a domain name is the extension. Common domain extensions are: .com (intended for company and commercial sites), .net (intended for network sites), .org (intended for organizations), and .edu (intended for educational institutions). There are a great number of new domain extensions available today, but you should initially use the one that was designed for your site’s purpose and profile.
For domain names to function as intended, it’s absolutely necessary that each name be unique. Therefore, each domain name is registered. Registration of names is overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Because there are a tremendous number of registrars where you can set up and register your domain name, you should do some research. ICANN’s site, at www.internic.com, maintains a list of accredited registrars along with invaluable information on the topic. There’s a lot of information, so this is another situation where learning from other people’s experience pays off exponentially. Expect to pay between $7 and $30 per year for a registered domain.
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People who are in business as Web site designers or developers might want to look into reselling domain name registration as well as reselling accounts for hosting. You make less money than you do with reselling hosting space, but the added level of convenience of having all your customers’ domains registered through a common domain control panel might be worth it for you. Two of the most popular options are www.wildwestdomains.com and www.enom.com, although they each have different methodologies. A number of domain name reselling options are available, so this, as with all major decisions, also requires some research.