How to Set up Domain Names

Set up Your Domain Name

Without a domain name, anyone wanting to operate a website must operate a subdomain on someone else's website. Knowing how to set up a domain name, however, allows you to have your own, unique website with a name of your choosing. Setting up a domain name requires the ability to follow some technical instructions, but if you follow a few guidelines, you can set up your domain name and start your own personal or business website.

Instructions

1. Match your interests with one of the four most popular domain extensions: .com, .net, .info or .gov. If you own a business or intend to earn revenue off your site, select .com, .net, or .info. If you operate a 503(c) non-profit organization, select .org.

2. Visit registrar (domain registration) sites like Bestdomainregistrar.com or Consumersearch.com/domain-registration to review companies able to register the name you like.

3. Search for and select the domain name of your choice, and choose options privacy protection to help protect your information. Registrars allow you to conduct a search of all the available domain names, and once you choose the domain name, privacy protection helps keep spammers from contacting you via the domain administration information otherwise made public on the Internet.

4. Choose a Web host to host your website by visiting sites like Powweb.com or Justhost.com and setting up a hosting account. For instance, in addition to your domain name, you need an actual website hosting account to store your website HTML files.

5. Point your domain name to your website hosting account by logging into your control panel using your username and password you selected when you setup your account and enter your custom Domain Name System (DNS) server settings. Find your custom DNS server settings by logging into your website hosting account and clicking on the DNS server settings that will provide you with two pieces of DNS information: DNSsystemserver.1 and DNSsystemserver.2. Enter this information in the custom DNS menu in your domain name registration account, and your domain name will now point to your website.

References

• Elated: How to Setup Your Own Domain Name
• Life Hacker: How to Assign a Domain Name to Your Home Web Server
• Web Com: How to Configure Your Domain Name

Resources

• Register a Domain Name