How to register a domain name, step by step

The quick version

Registering a domain takes about five minutes:

1. Choose a name.
2. Search it at a registrar.
3. Pick the extension.
4. Check the renewal price.
5. Register it in your name.
6. Point it to your site and email.

The registration itself is easy. The mistakes happen around it: a name that is hard to say, a cheap first year with an expensive renewal, or a domain registered in someone else's name. Let's go through each step.

Step 1: choose a name people can say and type

Your domain will be said on the phone, printed on a van and typed on a phone keyboard. A good name is:

• Short. Fewer words, fewer typos.
• Easy to spell after hearing it. If you have to explain "with two Ls and a hyphen", pick another.
• Close to your business name. People search for the name on your sign.
• Free of hyphens and numbers, unless they are part of your brand.

If your exact name is taken, adding the city or the service often works well: smithplumbingaustin.com tells the visitor and Google what you do and where.

One warning: do not register a name that copies a famous brand. Trademark owners can file a dispute and take the domain.

Step 2: search availability at a registrar

A registrar is a company accredited to register domains. You type the name, and it tells you whether it is free and how much it costs.

If the name is taken, the search usually suggests alternatives. Some names show up as premium: they are available, but the registry sets a much higher price. Do not assume a premium name is worth it just because it is short.

Step 3: pick the extension

The extension is the end of the address: .com, .net, .org, .co, .shop and many others.

• .com is still what most people in the US type by default. If you can get it, take it.
• Country extensions like .co.uk or .ca help if you only serve one country.
• New extensions like .studio or .shop can work for a brand, but some people will type .com out of habit.

If the .com of your name is available, it is often worth registering it even if you use another extension, so nobody else takes it.

Step 4: check the renewal price, not just the first year

This is the part most people skip. Many registrars sell the first year at a promotional price and renew at a higher one. Before paying, check:

• Renewal price per year.
• Whether WHOIS privacy is included, so your personal address and phone are not public.
• Auto-renewal, and whether you get a warning before it expires.
• Transfer policy, in case you want to move later.

A domain that expires is not just a broken site. Email stops, and after the grace periods the name can be released and registered by someone else.

Step 5: register it in your name

The registrant is the legal owner of the domain. That should be you or your company, never your web designer, your agency or your hosting company.

If a freelancer registers the domain in their own name, you depend on them to renew it, move it or point it somewhere else. Many business owners only discover this when they try to change providers. If someone is building your site, ask them to register the domain in your name, or check the WHOIS record yourself.

Use an email address you will keep for years in the registration. If you lose access to that inbox, recovering the domain gets much harder.

Step 6: connect the domain to your site and email

A registered domain does nothing until you point it somewhere. This is done with DNS records:

• A or CNAME records point the domain to the server that hosts your site.
• MX records tell the internet where your email goes.
• TXT records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) prove that emails sent from your domain are really yours.

If your domain and hosting are with different companies, you will copy these values from one panel to the other. Changes can take from a few minutes to a few hours to spread.

Then turn on SSL, so the site opens with https and the padlock.

How to do it at Basely

At Basely, domains live in the same panel as the site, which removes most of step 6:

• Search and register from the panel, with the registrar's price shown at that moment plus our margin. No old price table.
• DNS and SSL connect to the site by themselves when the domain is with us.
• Email records (MX and SPF) are set automatically when you create mailboxes on that domain.
• A warning before it expires and automatic renewal, so the site and email do not go offline by surprise.
• Registered in the client's name. If you are a web designer buying for a client, the domain belongs to the client from day one.

On the platform's 12 and 24-month terms, the domain comes free in the first year, along with hosting and email mailboxes.

Before you register, run this short checklist:

• Is the name easy to say and spell?
• Did I check the renewal price?
• Is the registrant me or my company?
• Is the email on the registration one I will keep?
• Is auto-renewal on?

Once those are yes, the domain is the easy part. Search for your name and see what is available.