by David Hakala
So, you want your own Web site. Most people get started with a free hosting service such as Yahoo!’s Geocities, or a blog on a blog hosting site such as WordPress.com. But the domain names of such sites can be cumbersome, i. e., mysite.geocities.com or myblog.wordpress.com. If you want to be seen as a “land owner” rather than a tenant on someone else’s property, you should register and use your own domain name.
The first step is choosing a domain name. It should be something short and memorable. It should be obvious from the sound of the name how the name should be spelled. Of course, it should have something to do with the primary subject of the site, if that can be expressed in a short name. It should not contain numbers, hyphens, or underscores. Brainstorm a list of potential names and then go see which ones are available to register.
Next, check to see which of the names you want are available. Go to a domain registrar such as GoDaddy.com and enter a name in its lookup service. The results will tell you if the name is available and in which top-level domains it is available. A top-level domain is the three-character suffix of a domain name, i. e., .com, .net, .org. Choose a .com name if possible; people expect it and remember it more easily.
Register the name you want and can get. Registration fees vary, starting at about $6 per year. But registering a domain name just gives you the right to use it. Next, you must set it up so that everyone on the Internet can connect to it.
When you sign up for a Web hosting service, the service provider will give you two DNS server names, e.g., DNS1.WEBHOST.COM and DNS2.WEBHOST.COM.
You will go back to the record of your domain name registration and enter these two DNS server names in the indicated fields. Then the exact location of your domain will be broadcast to all the DNS servers on the Internet in a matter of days, and everyone will be able to find your site. Let’s hope you will have added some content by then!
David Hakala has perpetrated technology tutorials since 1988 in addition to committing tech journalism, documentation, Web sites, marketing collateral, and profitable prose in general. His complete rap sheet can be seen at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dhakala