Registering a Domain Name

If you'd like to buy a domain name there are a lot of companies out there who will help you. I'm going to talk you through using a company called Namesco, simply because that's the company I started using many years ago and I've found them incredibly easy to deal with. There are other companies that you might prefer, of course, but I can't guarantee that it will be a trouble free process! Sometimes it will be such a troubled process that you'll need to transfer the domain name to another registrar so PLEASE use Namesco!

Though I'll explain how you can link your domain name to your site yourself I'll be happy to do that for you without making a charge - but only if you buy it from Namesco. I can't do the same with any other company - simply because so many of them make it such a tricky business. In that case I'd have to make a charge.

Please note that Namesco have very recently changed the look of their site. Everything that you'll see below still follows, but it'll look a little different until I can update this page.

Let's say that you want to register a domain name called "sample domain name". The first thing you need to face is that you can't have separate words - it's going to need to be "sampledomainname". Having accepted that, go to the Namesco site and you'll see a box looking something like this -

Enter your preferred name - in our case "sampledomainname" into the box, don't worry about the .com (or whatever it says) box at this stage, and click on search.

You'll then see a range of domain names that you can choose from -

- I've just printed a few of the possibilities in the illustration above, but you may not find that many options that are actually available - it will depend on how common the name you're choosing actually is. . Generally speaking if ".co.uk" is available that's the one that I'd go for. Avoid "xxx" and, ideally, ".co" (just because people will almost always add "uk" to it and go to a completely different site, ".org.uk" might be another useful one, particular for agencies and organstations.

If you don't like any of the choices left - because a lot of them have already been sold - then it's worth playing around a little with your choice of domain name. If you're hoping to use your own name as a domain name and find that a number of other John Smiths have beaten you to it, then what if you add your middle name's initial - so instead of "johnsmith" you go for "johnwsmith", for example. Either way, once you've found the name that you want simply click on the check box to the left of your domain name and then click on the "add to order" button at the bottom of the page.

Having clicked on the button you'll be offered a range of choices. I've never bothered with "Domain Privacy" though of course you can if you want to, and I generally choose to auto-renew because it's one less thing to think about in the future, but that's really a matter of personal taste. Having clicked on the "Proceed" button there's nothing else you need to buy - you can ignore everything else that you're offered. This will include the option to "add personalised email" - I'd strongly advise you not to go for this without talking to me first unless you're familiar with setting up "POP" mailboxes. Likewise ignore the "Build a website" and "Host a website" options - simply click on the "Proceed" button. A new window will open offering a summary of your purchase - you won't have a voucher code so click on the "Proceed" button one more time.

You then need to go through the process of creating an account. This will involve you in giving Namesco some details about yourself - name, email address and so on. You'll need to enter your address too, and it won't be apparent where you do that until you've selected your country at which point another box will open for your postcode. You'll also need to create a password - the site will give you some guidance about how to do that - and you'll also need to choose a secret question from the drop down box, and type the answer in the box below it - make sure you make a note of your answer!

Having done all that click on "Continue", agree to the terms and conditions displayed on the next page - you'd generally define yourself as a "business" at this point - click on the "Confirm" button and then go through the process of entering your credit card details.

Once you've registered your domain name, and received a confirmatory email from Namesco, you're ready to move on to the next step.