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Domaining 101 Contents:

• Introduction
• Extensions
• Researching Keywords
• Registration
• Parking

How is a Domain Registered?

I don’t even begin to claim to be an expert on the technical side of domain name registration, and to be honest you can go your entire career as a domainer without ever knowing all of the intricate processes involved with domain registration. So I’m just going to give you the basics.

Domain registration in a nutshell: you register a domain through a domain registrar. Registrars are licensed to sell domain names through ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Once you put in your order to your favorite registrar, they then create that domain for you and enter it into the domain registry, which is a database of registered domain names. This then assigns that particular domain to you and prevents anyone else from registering the same name. You can then manage your domains through your registrar. It’s pretty simple honestly.

Which Registrar Should I Use?

All registrars essentially do the same thing: they create your domain and add it to the registry. So what’s the difference in using one registrar over another?

Registration Cost
An obvious factor when weighing registrars is the registration cost. It’s hard to believe that an industry that sells the exact same thing across the board can vary so much in its cost. Some registrars charge as little as $1.99/yr per domain whereas others are still charging up to $15/yr per domain (for gTLDs). Some extensions may even be as high as $x,xxx per year. Your natural instinct is to flock to those registrars charging only a couple bucks per domain right? That’s not always the smartest thing to do. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the phrase “you get what you pay for.” It definitely applies to domain name registration. Typically the companies that charge you $1.99/yr per domain offer little to no additional services, have terrible customer support, and sometimes don’t even allow you to fully own the domain you register. At the same time, however, paying $15/yr per domain may be as equally stupid. This is why you have to weigh all of the factors when registering a domain name.

Domain Management
Many first-time domainers get so caught up in finding the cheapest registrar that they overlook other important factors such as domain management. Having the ability to manage your domain through your registrar is a necessity that many registrars simply don’t have (especially the very low cost ones). Your registrar should have, at the very least, the following domain management features:

• Ability to set DNS (domain name server)
• Ability to modify your domain’s A address
• Ability to setup a URL redirect
• Whois Guard option available
• Ability to manage multiple domains from a single account
• Automatic renewal or renewal notification long beforehand

These are the most basic domain management features which I think are needed from whatever registrar you decide to use.

Customer Service
Customer Service is not only essential in the case of problems with your account or if you need any questions answered (if you are new to domaining) but it also gives you a good idea about the quality and professionalism of the registrar. When I am researching new registrars I typically email and call their customer service at least once just to get a general idea of the wait time and level of expertise shown by the representatives. One of the things I ask customer service representatives is whether or not they are an employee of the registrar or if they are an outsourced customer service firm. If a registrar outsources their customer service, then most likely it is going to be of fairly low quality and will cause you a number of problems in the long run. In addition, you want a registrar that can quickly solve problems, after all a domainer’s livelihood lies in the hands of their registrar.

Now that you’re biting your nails wondering if you’ll ever be able to find a worthwhile registrar, I have some recommendations

Namecheap
http://www.namecheap.com

I’ve been using Namecheap since I began as a domainer. Their prices are decent (~$8/yr per gTLD domain) and their account management system is the best in the business. They also have a fantastic reputation and a huge amount of satisfied customers. They also make transferring domains a breeze which is important to consider since domainers are constantly buying and selling new domains.

GoDaddy
http://www.godaddy.com

GoDaddy is another popular registrar. They also have a good domain management system and fantastic customer support. They do, however, have a very confusing and overwhelming website, especially for beginners. Their prices are also a bit cheaper than Namecheap.

I suggest you go with either Namecheap or GoDaddy for most of your domain registration.

Other Registrars
Network Solutions - http://www.networksolutions.com/
Register.com - http://www.register.com/
Yahoo Domains - http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/
Dotster - http://www.dotster.com/
Aplus Domains - http://domains.aplus.net/
Moniker - http://www.moniker.com/
4Domains - http://www.4domains.com/
RegisterFly - http://www.registerfly.com/
iDotz.net - http://www.idotz.net - Allows you to register domains with obscure extensions

Saving Money at Registration

There are a number of ways to save money while registering your domain name. Firstly, you should always use coupons. Coupons aren’t just for little old ladies getting ready for a trip to the grocery store anymore. Nowadays there are coupons that are worth more than a dime off a bottle of ketchup, and you should take advantage of them For years I paid full price for domain names not knowing that I could be saving tons of cash by using coupon codes. Coupon codes are small strings of text or numbers that could be assorted randomly or actually form words. There is typically a section to enter these coupon codes when paying for your domain. Always look for a place to input a coupon code.
So where do you get these coupon codes? There are a ton of websites out there that exist solely to supply you with these coupon codes. Here are some that I use:

Coupon Source - http://www.coupon.sc
DNCoupons - http://www.dncoupons.com/
Daily eDeals - http://www.dailyedeals.com/coupons/internet.htm
Coupon Cache - http://www.couponcache.com
Happy Coupons - http://www.happycoupons.com

There are also a ton of registrar coupons hidden throughout press releases, magazines, and websites. The best way to find these is to do some Googling. However, usually the sites I mentioned above get these coupons up almost as fast as they are released, so I always check them before spending too much time searching.

Another way to save money at registration is to register in bulk. Like in any other industry, when you buy in bulk you save money. Unfortunately, not all domain registrars allow you to buy in bulk, and when you find one that does, they may not have all of the features you want. The best bulk registrar I’ve heard of is Bulk Register.

There you have it - a complete guide to registration. Next we’ll get into how to actually monetize your new domain(s).

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