Before you get started designing your website, it’s important to decide on the right domain. What’s right in this context depends on your goals. Usually, it’s a good idea to select a domain that reflects what your business does. So if you own and operate a restaurant, you may want to choose a domain name like name-restaurant.com. Newer top level domains make it easy to incorporate the type of business you operate, e.g., name.restaurant.
Localized domain endings such as .nyc or .vegas are only recommended if you’re operating on a strictly local or national scale. This may work well for smaller hair salons or roofing businesses, etc. So how do you go about registering a domain?
- Find a suitable domain name.
- Check that it’s still available using the ICANN Lookup tool. You can also search for available domain names on a registration provider’s website as these will usually stop you from registering an already existing domain and recommend suitable alternatives.
- Register your domain name with a secure domain registrar that has been authorized by ICANN such as IONOS.
- Select your desired plan. Domains are usually purchased for at least one year or longer. Many providers now allow you to set up auto-renewal so that you can rest assured you’re keeping your domain name for longer. Expired registrations mean that the domain will become available again for anyone to purchase.
- Once you’ve chosen your package, pay and checkout.