Domain Name — Do you really need to buy one of your own?

There are a number of Web2.0 properties out there where you are allowed to create a blog to share information and then recommend products that would be suitable for your audience. So, why would you need to spend money while you are getting started to purchase your own domain name?

Yes, you do need to buy a domain. If you have your own domain name and then host your blog on your own server, it belongs to YOU.  That mostly means that if someone doesn’t like your blog (for whatever reason), they can’t shut it down like the web2.0 property owners can.  They are sites like Squidoo, Hub Pages, Blogger, etc., and there are many many more.  Don’t get me wrong, you will learn that you also need to spend time creating Squidoo lenses, Hub pages or whatever to support your main site and we’ll get to that later.

For now suffice it to say that you do need your own domain.  So then the question would be:  where is the best place to buy my domains?  One of the best known registrars is GoDaddy, with Enom and Tucows a distant second and third, respectively.  NameCheap also seems to be a good domain registar. I personally use GoDaddy as I have always found their support to be free, quick, 24 hour available and (for me) their staff are native English speakers.  GoDaddy is not the least expensive registrar (probably namecheap is good for that) but you can usually find a coupon just by googling “godaddy coupon.”  Several will come up in your search or use Domain Sale! $7.49 .com at GoDaddy

The actual registration process is quite simple but only AFTER you have determined your niche and primary keyword.  That research should come first.  It is also important to choose .com, .net, or .org for a site that you intend to develop and use as an income producing site.

We will talk about hosting next but the thing I want to add here is that your domain registrar should NOT be the same as your hosting company!