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Domain Names
Definition
Time-Line on when to get a Domain Name
More to come...

Definition: 

• A Domain Name is the official address to a website.  For example, Money Online Review has the domain name MoneyOnlineReview.com. 
   

• You can easily purchase domain names over the Net by searching through the various sellers; and there are quite a few of them.  It does pay to surf around as I noticed the price difference between one site from another was over $50 for the exact same domain name.  To own moneyonlinereview.com for two years, I spent around $12.00.  It doesn't matter where you get your domain name from as it can be transferred to the hosting company of your choice.
   

• When picking a domain name, you want it to be as short as possible, memorable and descriptive of the sites contents.  Keep in mind that you'll be telling people your domain name - make it easy to say and spell!  Also, if your site will be listed in directories, you might want to have it start with an "a" or a number.  Most directories list things alphabetically and you want to be on top!
   

• Once you purchase a domain name, it may take a day or two to officially become yours.  Don't worry - these things take a bit of time.

Time-Line on when to get a Domain Name

• Start creating a website (if you're going to do it yourself).  Once you have quite a bit finished, it helps to upload it to the Internet to verify that it looks and works correctly, thus you'll need a domain name and host.
   

• Decided on a Domain Name (i.e. www.moneyonlinereview.com) and look on any site selling domains if it is available.  (They'll have a box where you can type in your preferred name.  If it's available, you're good to go!  Otherwise, the site will tell you what options you have.  If you really want the domain name, you can usually get a .biz, .org. or anything other than .com).  Do keep in mind that .com is the most valuable and it's not recommended to buy anything else.
   

• Purchase Domain Name (you can usually buy your domain name from your host, but it's sometimes cheaper to buy it elsewhere and move it to your host).
   

• Find and purchase Hosting - all of this can all happen over the Internet.  You simply type in the name of the Domain (www.moneyonlinereview.com) that you purchased and then your credit card details.  Thereafter, they set up your account.
   

• Once you get your host, you need to tell your Domain Name where to go and your host will either give you all the details or do it for you (the details are called name server information).  It takes about 3-5 days for your Domain Name to get set up on your host, so don't think that you'll have immediate access.  Getting on the Internet is not as quick as you might think.

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