Buying a domain name is the first step towards building your blog.

Your domain name is the name by which you’d want your blog to be known to the world. And that’s why selecting an appropriate domain name plays an important role. Your domain name has the power to attract people towards your website or repel them.

In this article, we will look more deeply into what is a domain name and how you can buy one.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the human-readable name of your website. Without a domain name, your web address would be just a string of numbers, which is not easy to recognize or locate.

A domain name typically has three parts. The first part is ‘www.’ which is followed by your domain name, for example, ‘mydomainname’ and then comes the domain suffix or domain extension. There are hundreds of domain extensions available like .com, .net, .org, .in, and many more. The three parts combined form your domain name.

I generally stick to a .com. It is the most commonly used domain extension. I avoid any fancy extensions.

Getting Started with Buying Your Domain

A domain is bought from a domain registrar. Godaddy and Namecheap are one of the most popular domain registrars. To get started, follow the process below.

Step 1

Go to NameCheap.com and search for the domain name you want, and click on ‘search.’

Step 2

Once you’ve clicked on ‘Search,’ a list of available domain names will be displayed. In my case, I’m looking for the name, ‘mydomainname.’

If a .com name is available, great. If not, select an alternate name.

Step 3

Carefully decide the domain extension you want to buy, and click on ‘Add to Cart.’ You can purchase one or more domain names as per your requirement.

Select all the names you want to buy. Here, I am going just for ‘mydomainname.com.’

Step 4

Now, click on ‘Continue to Cart’ to move ahead with your purchase.

Step 5

Once you click on ‘Continue to Cart,’ NameCheap will try to upsell other offers. For instance, they offer web hosting, website builder services, online listings, etc. You can skip these offers. Scroll down and click on ‘Continue.’

Step 6

You will be asked to register if you’re new to NameCheap or log in if you already have an account. Once you’ve logged in, revisit your cart, and ensure that you have selected the correct items.

Step 7

Click on ‘Proceed to Checkout’ and pay for it using your credit card or PayPal.

Once you make your payment, you will get an email confirming your purchase.

Buying a domain name is your first step towards starting your blog.