How to Start a Blog #2: Names & Domains
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Domain Registration
Start Building Your Brand Today
When it comes to branding your website or blog, there’s no better way to get started then to get yourself setup with a fresh, easy-sounding domain name. Having your own domain is the first step to establishing yourself as a credible, online authority.
In case you’re having trouble finding a place to register your domain and get started, here’s a couple good ones to get you on your journey.
| Registrar | .com | .net | .info | .org | |
| #1 | Godaddy | $9.99 | $2.99 | $2.99 | $8.99 |
| #2 | 1 and 1 | $6.99 | $8.99 | $0.99 | $8.99 |
I personally recommend and use Godaddy for domain registration. They’re easy to use and they offer great customer service.
The best part about getting your own domain is that they’re so incredibly cheap. You can start building your own brand for less than $10 per year.
Nicholas Cardot
Nick uses his blog Site Sketch 101 to express his passion for helping bloggers and webmasters connect with real people through brilliant designs, unique content, and genuine creativity. Nicholas Cardot has 200 post(s) at Site Sketch 101
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29 Vibrant Comments
I would love to hear yours!
Tom | Build That List said:
I would recommend GoDaddy as well. Especially if you are considering selling your blog, because a lot of buyers expect domains to be at GoDaddy.
You can get discounts codes on the net as well – that’s what I usually do.
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Eric said:
Picking a domain name is crucial in part of your online success I believe. It can be tough but using a few really strong and easy to remember key words can do wonders, of course only if your site is good all around but the domain is what people will see and here about first so make it worth their while.
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Ron Leyba said:
Speaking of domain names, it pays to have an intensive research first before registering a domain name. Domain names with your target keywords on it is a big thing!. Also,domain extensions will be a plus too. Me , I always go for .com .org and .net.
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Derek Jensen said:
For me I spent most of my time figuring out the true purpose and voice of my site which is what my domain name reveals. I do not go heavily on keywords because I am going about it a way of branding and marketing, not so much ‘domain name search engine friendly’.
Ron Leyba said:
Great point Derek. In choosing domain name, ask yourself first the reason why you are buying such domain. If for monetization or just for personal or branding use. In this way, you can also come up with a good domain name or url.
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Arafat Hossain Piyada said:
Choosing a right domain for blogging is most efficient thing for a blogger. I started with a wrong kind of domain and sadly I realize it after 10month of blogging but interestingly my new domain give what I want in very fast way.
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Ron Leyba said:
As what I always tell to my friends, experience is the best teacher. You have experience by yourself that a good domain names do have strong advantage. So now you know those kind of things, for sure, you will choose your new and soon to be domains wisely.
Olusegun said:
Sorry about that but i think we sometimes overemphasize on gettting the right domain name.
While it is very tactical, i believe that where the carcass is the vultures will gather.
For instance, Google is the #1 URL on the planet and the name says little about search. it was adapted from googol – a maths term
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Dana @ Blogging Update said:
Nick, i also use godaddy for three of my blog.
Btw, i have a question for you, how i can get the godaddy affiliate link? I just do not find that in their web site.
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Antti Kokkonen said:
I believe they run their affiliate program through Commission Junction (as do many other hosting/domain registrars btw), so that would be cj.com then
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Nicholas Cardot said:
Antti Kokkonen » Yeah. You are right about that one. Thanks for answering that by the way. I appreciate the help.
Dana @ Blogging Update said:
Thanks bro. I will check the CJ.
Jason said:
Excellent tutorial video! I am just starting out with my new blog and I had missed a couple of the things you advised here so I’m glad I found your video before I got too far into it. Thanks
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Mikkel ‘DaneBlogger’ Juhl said:
I like this video. Tells me that I have chosen right.
Definitely helps newbies! Keep up the good work!
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Lee Ka Hoong said:
Choosing the right domain name and brandable one would be the most challenging part for domain registration. If you’re going to brand your site, then try to stay away from keyword domain name because most of the people look keyword domain name as spam.
I would recommend Godaddy as well, easy to manage and you would get discount if you purchase in bulk, says 20 domain names once.
Cheers,
Lee
Ron Leyba said:
Great advice Lee. But sometimes, a keyword rich domain can be also effectively used as a branding domain name. Its just a matter of research and checking out what works best for you.
About GoDaddy, I think they are the best.
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Shawn K. said:
I must be the only one…
I personally advise against GoDaddy, maybe they’ve gotten better but 5 years ago they were frowned upon by many web developers.
I use 1and1 myself and find them to be quite decent, I don’t have much comparison though. There are many others out there, just make sure they have reliable DNS servers.
Also, another word of advice – avoid buying a domain from your web host.
Some hosts don’t like to let customers go and it can make things difficult if you ever want to switch or expand.
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Ron Leyba said:
Which I am doing right now. I purchase domain and hosting package individually. With this, I can have a full control over my domain and not by my hosting.
So if ever I want to transfer into another host, It can be fairly easy to deal with.
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Mikkel ‘DaneBlogger’ Juhl said:
Now I think we should think about this video as it was about twitter names also.
You can copy this exact formula to choosing successful twitter names.
Keep it up.
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Julius Kuhn-Regnier said:
Interesting article Nick. I think your video will be useful to people who are just starting out.
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scheng1 said:
I’m considering getting my own domain. However, I’m quite happy with blogspot at the moment.
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Ron Leyba said:
I am just like you before. Actually, this blog and Nick along with Andrew (a guest writer here) convinced me to get my own domain and host it via wordpress platform. And yes, nothing beats having your own url and domain. Just take your time and I know soon, you will be having your very own domain too.
Nicholas Cardot said:
Ron Leyba » Having your own domain is a great choice. Good job on making that transition over to having your own.
Kok Siong Chen said:
My domain cost me $15 per year. Your description here is cheaper than mine one. I will look through about it. Thanks!
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Ron Leyba said:
Why too expensive? I have my domain at 7 dollars a year. You should ask details about your own domain. I was just surprised about the said price.
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Camille @ Hands Free Pumping Bra said:
Great insights of how to start a website. I’ve bought mine for a domain is about $1.99 a .com one for a year but next year on its on a regular price. This is actually a cheap domain from Yahoo.
Thanks for your tips. Really helps me a lot and great video also, very well said.
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Empress said:
For webhosting services, I strongly recommend 1and1. I’ve been a customer for over 2 years now and I rarely have downtimes.
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Empress said:
For webhosting services, I would strongly recommend 1and1. I only experience downtime once in my over 2 years of subscription.
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Eli said:
I prefer name.com to be honest. They’re more to the point.
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