The first step in building your own website is to register your domain name through a domain name registrar.  Once you’ve registered and paid for a domain name, you own it, which means you have the exclusive right to use that domain name for a specified period of time and renew it once that term expires.  Domain name registration is usually effective for a year at a time.

Selecting a Registrar
There are many registrars to choose from. The factors to consider when choosing one are accreditation and cost:
• Accreditation:  Only use a registrar listed on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) website located at www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html.
• Cost:  Though some registrars charge up to $40, avoid paying more than $15 per year for a .com to register your domain name.  Among the most reliable and cheapest accredited registrars is Certified Registrar (www.certifiedregistrar.com).

Choosing a Domain Name
Before allowing you to register a domain name, registrars will check to make sure it‘s not already registered.   To find out whether your domain is available, Certified Registrar (www.certifiedregistrar.com).
When selecting a name:

• Choose as brief a name as possible.
• Avoid using hyphens, which users can forget easily.
• If the names you prefer are all taken, try pluralizing the name, adding “the” to the beginning of the name, or coining an original term.

Domain Extensions
Domain extensions, or top-level domains (TLDs), are the suffixes attached to domain names.  You’re probably most familiar with .com and .net, the most popular TLDs for personal sites, and .org, a TLD used mainly by organizations.  But many more exist, such as .info and .biz.  View a complete selection of TLDs at ICANN’s accredited registrars page.

* The above information was provided by Barnes and Noble – Quamut – how to do it ™ series which can be purchased by clicking the Barnes and Noble advertisement.