How to Register a Brand New Domain Name in Nomhost.net

‘How can I register my own domain name?’ is a very common question for anyone just getting started in the world of domains, hosting, and websites. Here’s your answer, step by step:

Decide on the domain name you want.
Check if it’s available.
Choose a domain registrar — the company that’s going to register a domain on your behalf.
Purchase your domain.

Let’s take a look at exactly what’s involved and how to achieve each step.

‘How can I register my own domain name?’

(Note: If you’re not sure what a domain name is, check out our guide here.)

Step 1: Decide on the Domain Name You Want

There aren’t many technical rules or restrictions when it comes to getting a domain name. Basically, you can register any domain name, as long as:

It hasn’t been taken by anyone else — it’s available
It consists only of alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) and hyphens — you can’t use spaces.

So, technically speaking, this opens up an infinite number of possibilities for you. However, not all domain names are created equal.

First, you shouldn’t think of domain names as only internet addresses. There’s so much more to the story…

A good domain name should have the following four traits:

1) The right domain extension (or TLD)

When registering a domain name, you get to pick from a range of TLDs (aka top-level domain names or domain extensions). Among others, you can choose from: .com, .net and .org.

The general rule, however, is to aim for .com — the most popular TLD — unless you’ll be operating in a local market other than the US, in which case you can go with a local, country-based TLD (e.g. .it for Italy, .ca for Canada).

Lastly, apart from those country-based TLDs, we now also have access to hundreds of customized TLDs. For example, you can now get .pizza, .love, .life, .shop or .blog.

Note: It doesn’t matter that much from a technical point of view which domain TLD you choose. More or less, it’s only an additional hint for your visitors as to what type of website you’re running. For example, if I manage to get a .food domain, it probably means that the site is going to have something to do with food.

2) Easy to memorize

A domain name can’t be too long or too complicated. In general, the shorter the better.

One thing you can do is imagine spelling your domain out over the phone to someone. If it’s hard to spell, it’s also going to be hard to remember.

3) Clear

The more your domain name reveals about your business, the better. In 99% of cases, your domain should be a version of your business name, whenever available.

4) Legal to possess

When registering a domain name, it’s possible to accidentally infringe on someone’s trademark. For example, if by some miracle you got your hands on cocacola.blog, it would put you in a lot of legal trouble. It’s always a good idea to make sure the name you’re planning to register doesn’t infringe on any trademarks. The easiest way to check this is to simply search the terms you’re interested in.

Step 2: Check Whether Your Domain Name Is Available

Now that you have your shortlist of preferred domains, it’s time to see which of them are actually available — i.e. haven’t already been registered by someone else.