Buying a domain

Note: This is not meant to be a guide that you absolutely need to follow. I wrote this article for informative purpose only.

Buying a domain is a huge step in a web-designer's progress. Before getting into the domain buying tips, you might want to make sure that you are actually ready to buy one. If you're on Piczo, Freewebs or other free hosts, it might not be the time yet. Owning a sub-domain first is probably the best way to start learning and get to know content management systems, FTP, etc. If you've been running a sub-domain for a couple of months or more, you are probably ready to get your own domain. It means more independence, but more responsibilities too.

So you think you're ready to make the big jump? Great! I can now give you some advice on what to look at when choosing your host.

Choosing your host
First of all, the location of the hosting company is important. Let's say you live in Canada. It would be a better idea to choose a Canadian host, because if there is any major problem you can reach them by phone without paying money for a long distance call. If you choose an Australian host and have to speak to the customer service for 30 minutes, imagine the astronomical cost of the call!

A good support staff is very important. It's very frustrating to have a problem and not be able to reach your host. Phone, e-mail and live support are really useful. I had a couple of hours of downtime with my host recently and I was wondering what was happening. I contacted them on the live support and they told me it was due to a storm and that an electrician was working on it. A couple of hours later, every HostPapa client received an email explaining the situation. The day later, it was completely fixed! See, that's good support. If your potential host offers only forum support, you should try to find another one. If their server goes down, you have absolutely no way to contact them to know what's going on. Also, I believe that you should be able to contact by phone a serious company.

Downtime. Most hosts will tell you that you'll get a 99,9% uptime. However, there are generally some conditions. Google your potential host name + downtime or uptime and see what people have to tell about it. I also recommend unlimited bandwidth, to avoid a bad surprise when you receive your monthly bill. Unlimited space can be good too, but it's not necessary. You probably won't use all that space anyway. If it comes with the plan, well... good for you!

Read the contract very, very carefully, especially for how much you'll have to pay! Sometimes, hosts add clauses in their contract for set-up fees, domain name registration, etc. Also, be careful about promotions... For example, "only $4,95 a month! * " And when you check the small text next to the *, it tells you that it's $4,95 for the first three months but $6,95 for the rest of the year. So always read the contract and terms of service carefully!

Also, don't judge a host by the satisfied customers reviews displayed on their front page. Instead, try googling your host name + reviews and see what customers have to say about it. If many people complained about your potential hosting company, try to find another one, it's probably not worth it. However, check when the reviews were posted, maybe the host has improved since then.

Last and not least, never choose a host only for the price they're offering. Cheap hosting doesn't necessarily mean quality. Make sure you checked all the items above first. You may want to invest more money in a serious hosting company that will provide you quality hosting and support, rather than an amateur reseller that won't be able to help you if the server goes down.

Choosing your domain name
Now that you have chosen your host, you have to pick your domain name. Make a wise choice, because you can't change it after! Here are my personal tips and no-no's:

1) Most important one: don't use a site namer. Please, please, please. It's over-used and sounds very amateur. How lame will that look in your site description: "I found my site name on a site namer"?

2) Don't use random numbers because the domain name you wanted is not available. I called my clothing at0mik with a zero because atomik wasn't available. However, I don't expect people to type out the full url. I expect them to visit the shop on my site which links directly to my products. This isn't the case for your domain, people will have to remember the url with the numbers.

3) Don't make your site name too long. Mine is a little long, I wish I had chosen a shorter name It's not too hard to remember, though.

4) Be careful about words that can be spelt in different ways (gray/grey, color/colour, favorite/favourite, etc). Same thing for plural words. It makes it harder for people to remember.

5) Make it unique or personal, it will stand out more.

6) Use an online synonym thesaurus for more ideas. Just type a theme that you like, for example light, and see what it comes up with. You'll find some cool and unusual words that way.

7) Choose an extension that sounds good with the name you chose. For example, ephemera is a word that sounds fluent and soft. A .org would totally ruin that feeling of softness, while a .net would complement it nicely.

I think I have covered the most important things that you need to know before buying a domain. If you feel that something is missing, leave me a comment on my blog or send me an email at admin[at]dynamite-design.com. I'll gladly complete the article with your suggestions.