If you know what domain you want, and if it’s available, I’m happy to register it for you.

Sometimes it can be very time consuming for me to get involved in the selection and registration of your domain, therefore I usually recommend that you purchase and register your domain on Godaddy or Bluehost (don’t need to purchase hosting), send it to me, then I’ll host it on my siteground account, design and build the site.

If you prefer another solution,  just run it by me.  I’m flexible.

Owning a website involves two often misunderstood elements ……  a domain and a host. Understanding the difference is key to effective site management.

Domain Registration

The domain is the internet address people use to get to your site. For example, the Lovett Web Design domain is lovettwebdesign.com. You can register a domain with any number of registrars/providers such as domain.com, bluehost.com, or godaddy.com,  by paying a fee, usually $10-$35 yr to use that web address.

Selecting A Domain: Tips

Here are some considerations for domain selection:

Research. Study your niche and to know what the average user wants. Being aware of the most popular keywords and search terms will let you find a domain name that’s best suited to represent your project.

Make it easy to remember. Don’t go for something that is absurdly long or difficult to pronounce. A catchy and short domain name will greatly increase the chances of visitors remembering your website name.

Go with .com if possible. Currently, .com is taking a firm stand as the most popular domain name extension. Thus, it’s a good priority when buying a domain name, as most web users will easily recognize it.

Check for trademark infringement. To avoid any legal issues, it’s best not to register a domain similar to popular, well-established brands. You can use various online tools to look up trademark information and avoid such situations.

Avoid numbers and hyphens. While numbers and hyphens let you create more domain name variations, they can sometimes do more harm than good. For example, people can mistake the number zero (0) with the letter (o) or the number (2) for a word (two). Oomitting numbers and hyphens may be a good idea.

Look for close alternatives. If you already have a domain name in mind, think of possible mistype variations to make sure all the potential traffic reaches you. A great example would be amzon.com which takes you the main Amazon website, or fb.com which goes directly to Facebook.

Research social media platforms. Once you have a rough draft of your domain name, look it up on popular social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. Even if you’re not planning to do anything with them at the start, reserving a page for your project will ensure it’s not taken by someone else.