Domain Naming & Registration
Selecting the correct domain name for your website may be one of the most important decisions you make when arranging the production of a new website. There are a number of reasons for this..
The name you choose could have implications for SEO search engine optimization, and what position you get on the search engines results page (SERP).
It could affect how easily people can recall the name of your website.
It is one of the first things people see when they find your website and you need to ensure it conveys the required impression.
The good news is that there are now a lot more choices for selecting a suffix for your domain name. But the bad news is that there are literally millions of websites already registered so getting the exact combination of words that you want may still be a little tricky. You can of course use characters such a hyphens, underscores and dots to create a new and unique combination, but do this with care. You would be surprised how easily a potential visitor or customer can be put off by the addition of an unexpected character in your domain name.
You can use the search form below to find out if your chosen domain name is available. Remember if you want to target a geographic location you might want to consider using a country suffix such as '.co.uk' for the United Kingdom or '.eu' for Europe.
Visit domain name registration for more information on domain registration in general, how domains are managed and a little on the legalities surrounding the process. You will also find a comprehensive list of some of the most popular extensions.
For our part, if all you want to do is have this aspect of your website development taken care of, we offer a premium package that includes domain registration as an integral part of the deal. See the Prices page for more details.
A point worth noting with respect to registering a domain name is that it is never owned outright, you simply pay for ownership for a defined period. If after that period expires you have not renewed for a further period, the domain name becomes generally available again. So always be sure to renew the domain name when it is due or face losing it to a third party; not forgetting that once registered you of course retain the rights to the name as long as you do renew on time.
For a .fr domain name you need to provide a French company name, SIREN/SIRET number, company address, phone number or have a EU trademark with a local administrative contact (including address and phone number). Also the domain name must match the company name or trademark name. Note: .com.fr is blocked if same domain is taken under.fr.
Blogging
If you require a domain name for a blog, you have options for going with one of the free blogging platforms such as Blogspot or Wordpress. Wordpress does not allow ads so if you are planning an affiliate marketing campaign this may not be suitable.
An option for overcoming that problem is to pay for your own domain name and use the free blogging format of choice. You can find out more about this topic on my Web Hosting post.
