By now, everyone should have the idea that you need to be doing your business and getting your MLM leads via the internet. If you don’t already have a site, you need to put one together. If you do have a site, you may want to register your own domain name. Let’s take a look at how to register a domain name and the importance of it.

There are some reasons that a domain name is important:

  • Having a domain name establishes credibility and people are more likely to do business with you than with site http://www.yahoo.com/whatever/blahblah.
  • A domain name that identifies your business lets people easily remember how to get back to your site. As well, if your product or service is included in the url, you may get traffic from people searching “www.yourproductname.com”.
  • As well, whenever you need to change your hosting service, your domain name stays the same, so people will still be able to find your new site.

Once you pick the domain name you want you need you register it with a group called InterNIC through a domain name registrar. This requires a registration fee that ranges between $6 and $35 depending upon where you go. This gives you the exclusive rights to that name for a year, after which you’ll have to renew yearly.

A few web hosts will register it and pay for the name included with your hosting package. However, registering it yourself can give you the piece of mind that you are the registered owner and the administrative and technical contacts. The registered owner holds all the rights to the name, so this step is vital. As well, the administrative and technical contact listed have to give approval before a domain name is transferred to a new host.

How to register a domain name:

Pick a good descriptive name, and don’t get discouraged if you have to go through several names or extensions like .biz, .net, .org, etc… as you will have to make sure it is not already taken. When you decide which provider to use (more on providers later), they will give you a way to see if your chosen name is available.

Once you have a name, get your DNS IP addresses and names of the primary and secondary name servers for your webhost (assuming you already have a website). Don’t freak out if you don’t know what all of that means. You can usually find all of this in your account info at your host or sometimes in the FAQs section looking for ‘DNS’ or ‘domain name transfer’. If you can’t locate it, contact the hosting company. If you don’t have a hosting company yet, don’t worry.

You will get your domain name instantly when you fill out the application. If you don’t have a hosting company you can always use a registrar that lets you ‘park’ your domain name until you set up a site. Go to the site of the registrar that you have chosen to use and get ready to fill out the application and use your credit card or PayPal account to purchase the domain name.

Here we will look at examples from Go Daddy for registering a domain name.

Step1
Search to see if your desired domain name is available.

Step 2
Once you find an available name you like, continue with the application process and fill out all the necessary contact and other information.

Step 3
Choose what options you want for your account.

Step 4
Enter the DNS information from your current web host. If you don’t have a host yet or don’t have the info, choose a ‘free park’ option.

Step 5
Agree to the terms and proceed to checkout.

Domain name registrars:

GoDaddy.com – This registrar is very secure and has a lot of extras. Domain managing, free redirect, free starter page, free parked page and a private domain option. Credit cards and PayPal accepted.

Dotster.com – This registrar is fairly popular. Domain managing and private domain option are offered. Credit cards and PayPal accepted.

Register.com – These guys have been around for long time and have lots of features. They also offer country-specific domains and web hosting.

Moniker- Another in the list that offers domain managing and web forwarding. You can also add ‘Whois privacy’. Credit cards and PayPal accepted.

.CO.CC – This company provides free domain names. However, the free domain is available for only first year. You get full DNS control and domain management and redirect services.
Of course there are also many hosting companies that will give you a free domain name if you are hosting with them, but be sure you are able to make sure you will be the listed owner and not the hosting company.

As a networker, learning how to register a domain name is important. An extension name such as the example above makes you look like an amateur and it could affect your business.

For further information for your business, click here to get more info about How Network Marketing Works.