Maintain Your Domain

Ready to start your site? The first step is to determine your domain name. Check availability via GoDaddy.com or a similar registration provider. Generally I suggest you use GoDaddy, since many other sites will monitor the names you search for and buy the domains you pass up on, only to turn around and sell them to you for much more than the basic domain price.

Tips for Selecting a Good Domain

A few important guidelines stand out when purchasing a domain name.

Pick something easy to tell people over the phone. If you cannot easily spell it, they won't be able to either.
Short and sweet is easy and means less confused client phone calls.
Unless you are a content provider, people are going to Google you more often than they type your domain in directly. So length isn't necessarily as important, but remember the first tip!
Think like a marketer. If the domain looks funky, and you are not going for funky, keep searching.
The domain you choose can change. If you find the name you’ve purchased is too long, too weird or too hard to convey to others, you can always find another and transition to it.

Save Some Money

There are a few ways to save money when buying a domain:

Never pay more than $10 or so for a domain
Do not add extra features unless you need them for a specific reason. Most are just gimmicks designed to make the company selling the domain more money.
Never use the "free" domain provided by your hosting company. They own it, and can do whatever they like with it when you decide to leave or move to another service. It will cost you more in the long run, I promise!

What to Expect While Purchasing

Buying should be pretty easy, but most domain sellers turn it into a circus of options, colors, gizmos and fireworks. My method goes something like this:

Find good domain
Click "Buy"
Click "Next" until I get to the shopping cart
Delete everything except the basic domain I want to purchase.
Pay Quickly (before they magically add on more options!)

Currently, GoDaddy is running a sale on domains: Go Daddy $7.49 .com Sale!