Whether you’re starting a new business or launching a side project, you’ll want to make sure your website has its own domain name. This is the part of the URL that comes after “www.” For example, www.example.com/blog would be my blog’s domain name.
It can be pretty intimidating at first to think about registering your own domain name and hosting it yourself, but I promise that it’s not as complicated as you might think—and there are lots of great resources out there to help guide you through the process!
With the popularity of blogging and online businesses on the rise, it’s no surprise that getting a free domain has never been so simple! Here’s a step-by-step guide to registering your domain name for free like a pro.
Pick a domain name
Choosing a domain name is the first step to building your website. There are a few things you need to keep in mind when picking a name:
– Make it easy to remember. Your domain name should be easy to spell and pronounce so that visitors can find you with ease.
– Make it memorable. A memorable domain name will help people remember your site and come back later. Think of your domain name as a marketing tool. If you have a great domain name it will help you stand out from the crowd.
– Keep it short and simple. A short, simple domain name is easier for people to remember than one that is long or complicated.
– Stay away from hyphens or numbers unless absolutely necessary (for example, if your business name has an apostrophe).
See this web article on how to choose the perfect domain name.
Search if the domain name is available
If you’re looking to start your own blog, but haven’t found the right name yet, there are a few ways to make sure that it’s available. First, you can search online. You can easily do this by searching on your favorite search engine. If you go to Google and type in “check if the domain name is available,” it will bring up a list of sites that will allow you to check whether or not the domain name is taken.
Another way is through what’s called Whois. This is a service that allows people to look up information about who owns certain domains, such as their email addresses and phone number. You can look up Whois information for free by going to Whois Domain Tools.
Get hosting
The next step is to get hosting. Hosting is the service that allows you to have an online presence on the internet, and there are many different companies that offer this service for a fee. Some of them are mentioned above, but there are more options out there if you want to explore other options. Selecting a hosting provider can be hard, so here are some things to consider before making a final decision:
- Choose a company that offers 24/7 customer support
- Look at their pricing plans
- Check reviews from customers who’ve used or currently use the same services as you plan on using in order to make sure it’s reliable and trustworthy
SiteGround and NameCheap are two of the most popular domain registrars and hosting services out there.
Point your domain to the hosting company
You’ll need to edit your DNS settings to point your domain name to the server that is hosting your website.
If you’re using NameCheap, you can find this information in the control panel of their website.
Once there, click on “DNS” and then “Manage domains.”
This will bring up options for managing all of your hosting accounts on that server. Click on the one that corresponds with the domain name you want to register (for example, if your business has a site called “www.yourbusinessnamehere.com,” select that option).
On this page, look for an option called A records and click on it. Then fill out the information about what IP address is set as an alias for this specific domain name:
Securely connect your site with HTTPS (optional)
Now that you’ve registered your site’s domain name, it’s time to enable HTTPS if you haven’t already. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, which is used to connect web servers to browsers. It encrypts the communication between the browser and the web server and helps protect your site against attacks by malicious people who may be trying to steal sensitive information about you or your visitors.
You can see if a site uses HTTPS by looking at its URL bar:
- If it starts with “https://” instead of plain HTTP (“http://”), then it’s using strong encryption on its connections. This means anyone snooping on those connections will not be able to read them without first breaking into their network or intercepting their traffic, so they won’t get any useful information from them unless they have been specifically authorized by either party in advance.
It’s actually quite easy to register your own website domain name for Free
You can register your own domain name for free. It’s actually relatively easy to do, even if you don’t know what a domain name is or how it works. Numerous domain registrars, website hosting companies, and website builders provide free domain names, usually in exchange for the purchase of another service or without charge but with some customization restrictions.
Here are a few options:
- Wix, a free domain name registrar with the condition that it also contains Wix’s name, the well-known drag-and-drop website builder Wix allows you to register a free domain name. In spite of the fact that you receive your domain name for free, your domain name may read, yourdomainname.wix.com.
- Weebly is a free website builder that allows you to register a free domain name. Weebly offers a straightforward website builder, along with a free domain name that will read yourwebsite.weebly.com. You won’t pay annual domain name registration fees, but you won’t have full access to the site-building capabilities. This is a fantastic choice for simple or transitional websites.
- Freenom is an excellent option if you’re seeking a free domain name without a hosting plan or website development platform included in the offer.
Conclusion
Now that you have your own website and domain name, you can start building it. There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to building your site. You can use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or HubSpot, which requires little technical knowledge but does come with some limitations. Alternatively, you could build a static website with HTML or CSS if you’re willing to do some techy stuff yourself! Then there is a website builder like Elementor that allows users without coding skills to create professional sites quickly and easily.
In short, free domain registration makes it easy for you to set up a professional website name in no time, and with all the necessary features already included. From there, it’s up to you to decide how to build your site.
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