100 : Choosing a name for your website

Welcome, if you reached this page you are probably just starting and wondering where do I begin. Well unless you already have a name for your website picked out, you will have to start here. So let’s begin choosing a name for your website. This process shouldn’t be taken lightly. I would suggest that after reading this post you do additional research as this first step is crucial to your success.

Why is it Important

Having a great name for your website is your branding. It’s what people will remember when they visit your website.  WordPress doesn’t need to be difficult. It’s so easy it can be maintained on a Sunday.

Keep it Simple

We will want to avoid using long complicated wording. Sometimes the shorter the better. You will also want to avoid if possible numbers and special characters.

Product Name

If you are creating your website for something specific, a great tip is to add that product into the name. For example: If you are creating a website that has to do with Coffee. Naming your website to something like sundayjava.com would be ok, but we wouldn’t want to name it thisismycoffeeblogthatwritesaboutcoffee.com.

Still Can’t Decide

Choosing a perfect name can take some time. If you still haven’t thought of a perfect name there are website name generators. These may help you decide or even come up with a new one. Name Mesh is an example of one of those. You put one or more words like cafe and it will generate website names that go along with that word.

Register Your Domain Name

Whats Next

Congratulations you finished choosing a name for your website. Now we need to get it registered. When you register your domain it makes it yours as long as you continue to pay the yearly price, then no one else can use it.

Dot What?

Everyone is familiar with .com as it is the leader, but there are numerous other domain extensions that have been added. Before you register your name you will also have to decide what extension works for your website. Below is the list of some common ones.

.com – This was originally designed for commercial use. It can be used by anyone and is by far the most popular domain extension.

.net – Originally for networking sites like a cable provider, curently this is no longer the case.

.info – Generally used for informational sites.

.us – For U.S. based companies.

Register Domain

There are a lot of domain registration companies available. Sunday WP is not affiliated with any of these companies, but here is a list of availible ones to get you started. After you choose one follow their on-screen instructions to finish the registration.

**Important** If you register your domain with one of these services you do not have to use them to host your service as well. Check out Finding a Host for your Website.

GoDaddy – An industry leader in domain registration. Their normal price to register a domain costs around $14.99/year. Right now you can register a .com domain for .99 cents for your first year GoDaddy .99 cents.

NameCheap – Name Cheap is another popular domain registry company. The price for a .com is currently $10.98/year. They do offer the cheapest price I have found for the first year of a .us domain extension. 88 cent .us domain registration

iFastNet – While not a super popular domain registration service this is the parent company for Byet Host who offers completely free hosting. The cost to register a .com domain is $12.99/year.

Hostinger – Hostinger is the parent company to 000Webhost. They also offer free hosting. They offer registration for a .com website for $8.99/year. They also offer a .xyz registration for .99 cents/year.