At the core of any business with an online presence is a website. But before you start worrying about its design or branding, you’ll have to get a domain. I know that doesn’t sound very exciting at first, but if you knew that there are domain registrars that take a stand for your online rights, you might change your mind!
The other key part to start building your website is signing up for hosting. In case you’re not sure about the difference between domain and hosting here a quick example:
- Think of the domain as your online business’s “street” address.
- While hosting is the virtual front window that allows you to store and display all your products, services, etc.
It will enable the world to know where to find you and look at your products and services.
3 reasons why I moved all my domains to NameCheap
When it comes to deciding where to register your domain, I tell everybody to go with Namecheap because:
- They have affordable prices;
- Include the WhoIs Guard for free FOREVER;
- And they are activists for online rights.
If privacy rights are as important to you as they are to me, I’d suggest that you sign up for their newsletter too. NameCheap does a great job of keeping you informed about companies and others trying to take advantage of your data. Here is one of their recent blog posts that you may want to look at: The secret fight for your personal information.
Who is guarding what?
The WhoIs Guard protects your private or business details, such as an address, email, phone number, etc. No matter which company you register your domain with, you will always have to provide them with your private or business details. Anybody can easily find this data if you don’t protect it.
If you’re wondering how they find it please go to who.is and type in your or any domain, it will spit out a lot of information about it. Including your personal data if you don’t have the WhoIs Guard. That’s a buffet for spammers, and worse, to get your email and start bombarding you with nonsense.
While most domain registrars offer the Whois protection for free for the first 1 or 2 years, afterward, you’ll have to pay for it on top of your domain’s cost. NameCheap gives you this protection for free forever! And who doesn’t like saving a little bit?
How to sign up with NameCheap
It’s very straight forward, don’t worry.
- Go to namecheap.com;
- Type the domain you want to register in the search field and hit the search button;
- If the domain is available, click on the Add To Cart button;
- Then select the Checkout button or the shopping cart icon;
- Choose for how much time you want to register the domain (1 – 5 years);
- Confirm the order;
- Follow the checkout process.
Don’t forget that you’ll also need a hosting provider. Make sure to check out my blog post about GreenGeeks hosting. The final step that’s left after that is to connect the domain with your hosting. I’d be happy to add a how-to video tutorial to this post if you need help. Please let me know.
Remember, this is not to tell you that this is the correct choice for you. We all have different business needs. It’s just about showing you what’s out there to help you make informed decisions as you build your business’s WordPress website.
Which domain registrar do you use, and why? If you feel like sharing, please add it to the comment section below.
Have a great day.
Diana
Thank you for the easy to follow presentation!
You’re welcome and thank you for commenting.