Choosing a domain name is more difficult every day because names get scooped up quickly. Once someone registers a domain name, it's no longer available to anyone else. A domain name for example is amazon.com or ebay.com, etc.  These names are taken and nobody else can ever use them. Some people even buy up blocks of names and try to resell them for profit. Stay away from this because it's just a way for people to take your money. You will be able to find a name you like and want to use. It may take a little ingenuity, opening up a dictionary and thesaurus, but you will eventually find one you like. To quickly find a domain name, you can use this ItsYourDomain service. As you type in names you are thinking of, it immediately tells you if it's available. No other service provides this. I would not purchase your domain name through ItsYourDomain.com however. They charge $15 for each domain name and that's pretty expensive by today's standards just for domain name registration. You can register (reserve) domain names for less than $5 these days.

Registering a domain name only gives you rights to the name you chose. That means nobody else can take that name from you. You own it for at least one (1) year. If you do not renew it after your first year, it goes back into the world and is available for someone else to use. If you have chosen a domain name and only registered it, you are not online with this name yet. To get online, you must choose a Domain Hosting Service/Company. If you're serious about your business and taking your business online, do not skimp on your Domain Hosting Service. Some superior services are about $8 a month or less and some not so good services are $3 a month. I can't stress this enough. Do not go with a $3 a month service! When it comes to domain hosting you truly do get what you pay for. The bottom line is you want your website accessible 24/7. If you choose a lousy service to save yourself $5 a month, you will regret it. Especially when you're paying money for Pay-Per-Click services like AdWords, you don't want your potential customers clicking your ads, costing you money, and then getting directed to a down website. This does you absolutely no good, costs you money, and you get $0 for your investment. Also, if you're looking to save $5 a month on domain hosting service, you should rethink this online commerce venture you're about to begin. Just some friendly advice before you spend a dime and go any further.

Now you may be kicking the tires on a few domain names, but you may not be sure which one, or ones you're going to use. There are services that provide very cheap domain registration only services. This means you can buy just the domain name and when you decide which one or ones you're going to use and get hosted, you can transfer them (always for free) when you're ready. Some great, low cost choices would be netfirms.com and GoDaddy.com. They only charge $3.99 per name so it's a very inexpensive way to scoop up names you may want to use before someone else grabs it. And if you're lucky enough to find a great name, for $3.99, it's worth grabbing it. I sat on the fence once for a name I wanted and when I went to get it, it was gone. It was actually purchased by a domain name squatter who wanted $500 for it! No way on earth am I ever going to pay $500 to some joker for a domain name! I ended up adding a hyphen to my domain name. It wasn't my first pick, but for $495 less money, I'll live with it :) Now when I think of cool names I may want to do business with one day, I scoop them up immediately for $4.95 from netfirms. I don't give it a second thought. If I use them, great. If I don't, I spent $4.95 and I let them expire and move on.

The next thing is to get your domain hosted. This is when you get your domain name online so people can find you. You will need a Domain Hosting Service and there are many to choose from, but don't be penny wise and pond foolish.

We have some suggestions for the better choices you have for less than $10 a month.

On to Picking a Domain Hosing Service.