The Casual Tech

Problem: You’ve been blogging on Blogger or Xanga (or any of those free services) but have found not everyone takes you as seriously as those who blog on their own domain. You want to blog on your own domain, but you’re just not exactly sure how to go about it. The whole process seems intimidating to you.

Solution: The Casual Tech’s Guide to Getting Your Own Domain for Blogging! I’ll show you how to get your blog on your own domain so you can start blogging with the “big boys”.

This is post one in the series. Go here for the rest of the series: Post Two | Post Three | Post Four

STEP ONE – DOMAIN NAME

There are four main elements involved with blogging on your own domain: domain name (duh), hosting, blogging software, and FTP. A common newcomer misconception is that once you register a domain name, you’re all set. Not true. A domain name is just that – a name. You own that name on the Internet. No one will see it, however, unless you also have the domain name hosted somewhere. The hosting is where all of your actual files for your website will reside. Your job is to tell the company you registered the domain name from where the hosting resides, so they can point it in the right direction. (I’m over simplifying here for the sake of, er, simplicity.)

If you’re still confused, consider the following analogy. You just bought some land to build your dream home on. It’s going to be great when it’s finished, but right now it’s just a pile of dirt. It’s your pile of dirt, but it’s a pile of dirt nonetheless. This is your domain name. When people come by to see it, they’ll just see a pile of dirt (or the dreaded “Site Coming Soon!” message). Now you hire a builder and tell him where your pile of dirt is and tell him you want your home to go there. Fast forward a few months and your dream home is built, but you haven’t moved in yet. Now you’ve got some hosting. After you furnish the place and your family and things are all moved in – you have successfully loaded all of your content to the host’s server and you’re ready for life at your new home to begin.

Cheesy analogies behind us, let’s step through each of the elements for blogging on your own domain separately.

The first step, obviously, is getting your own domain name. You’ll need to figure out the domain name you want, find out if it’s available, and then register (purchase) it with a reliable registrar.

Finding the Perfect Name
If you’ve already got a name in mind for your domain – great! If not, there are a few sites out there to provide some creative help. These domain name generators are a great tool if you’ve got an idea or a word or two, but everything you’ve tried is already taken – or if you’re just flat out having a brain fart and can’t think what to call this blog of yours. Here are two nice ones that also show you if the domain you come up with is available for purchase:

• MakeWords.com
• NameBoy

Determining Availability
You’ve got the perfect domain name and you’re ready to get started – not so fast, though, you’ve got to make sure some one else has not beaten you to the punch. Most reputable registars have this step already built into the purchase process, so I usually use one of their tools:

• Network Solutions
• Go Daddy

Making the Purchase
Now that you are confident that you’ve got the domain name you want, and it’s available, it’s time to cement the deal. There are a lot of good deals out there on domain names, and some hosts offer a combination package if you decide to do both with them. (See Part Two for more on hosting.) A word of caution, though – sometimes you really do get what you pay for. I always use a reputable registrar when registering domains because I’ve heard horror stories from people who went with a no name. Even if you go with a bigger name, we’re not talking a lot of cash, and anyway you’re worth it, right? Right.

• Go Daddy – My preferred registrar. They make it easy to manage multiple domains and the cost is generally lower than the other big guys. The sales pitch is pretty thick as you’re going through the registration process, though. Just stick to the options you want – you really don’t need all the extras they want to give you, but some are nice if you’re interested.
• Network Solutions – Can be slightly more expensive than Go Daddy, but is one of the biggest domain registrars out there today.

Whew! You’ve got your own domain name registered. Continue to Step Two to delve into purchasing a hosting plan, and Step Three to choose a blogging software package.