Let's start with a few places to register names. In the old days, you could only buy from Network Solutions, but now the market is wide-open, and just about anyone can become a domain name registrar.
It's important to note that when your register a name, you are paying for the right to use that name for X number of years as opposed to owning it outright. This name and your information, resides in the registrar's database, which syncs with the master database at InterNIC. You pay a renewal every year or pay for several years upfront, depending on what your chosen registrar offers.
BuyDomains.com is one registrar that offers names at a great price. I have several names registered with them and have been a happy customer for several years. They send me plenty of advance notice when my domain name registration is about to expire, and they offer prompt customer service.
When you visit their site, you'll see a text field to type in your desired domain name. You can use their handy search options below this to list names with more than a .com extension. Every search at BuyDomains will also list additional (and very creative) variations of that name - for instance, if you search for DragonScales.com, the names MyDragonScales.com, PlanetDragonScales.com, and DragonScalesCentral.com would all appear in that list if available.
This is really great for generating ideas for additional, complementary websites which we'll cover in a moment. But back to BuyDomains, after your search, you will be able to purchase the name if it is available. You have several options when purchasing a domain, and this is usually pretty standard across all domain name resellers. You can "park" the domain at BuyDomains, or specify your own web host's settings, or buy hosting from BuyDomains.
"Parking" a domain name simply means that you leave the name's settings - called Name Server Addresses - at the defaults provided by the registrar. Then if someone types that name in their browser, a temporary page appears telling them that the site is "parked" at BuyDomains.
If you have your own web hosting, you will need to specify the web host's Name Server addresses. These are behind-the-scenes Internet addresses on a specific server, and the browser uses this to find your site - kind of like it's "street address". There's more to it than this, since the browser doesn't go directly to that address in one shot - but again, we're not covering the technical here, so let's check out some more resellers.
Domains4You.com lets you purchase names via Paypal or your credit card. This is convenient for when you want to use Paypal. I also have several names with them, and have been impressed with their turnaround times on names purchased this way. They also offer hosting, and a great rate on domain name transfers. A "transfer" is where you move a domain name from one registrar to another. Usually there is a fee involved, so it only makes sense to transfer a name if you will save money in the long run with the new registrar.
You can also purchase several domains, or many domains in bulk - useful if you want to resell them.
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