Buying a Domain for your Business

Resources , Tutorials

A domain is your unique address on the web, it represents you and your business and it’s vital to have a strong online presence.

Usually, the first thing your potential customer will do when searching out your product or service is to conduct a web search, and if your website is relatively easy to find and navigate, you’ll greatly increase your chances of a sale.

It’s really important that you have ownership of your domain as it’s your identity online. If you decide to change web hosting services, relocate to a different country, or shift to using your own in-house server, your domain name stays with you, allowing you to continue to build your brand without having to start all over.
This is why I ask my clients to purchase and keep ownership of their domain themselves.

 

Domain Search

Domize is a secure domain search engine. Use this to search for the availability of your domain before you register it (recommended domain registrars below).

Bots do buy up searched for domains to sell at a premium price, to avoid your domain being baught up by others use Domize for your search.

Domize Domain Search

Once you have your business name set in stone, the first thing you should do is register your domain.

I have two recommendations for domain providers below:

Google

GOOGLE DOMAiNS

If you’re looking for a service to help you register a domain name, Google Domains is one of the best services you’ll find.

I recommend Google Domains + Google Workspace if you need to get a domain as well as a unique email address (ie you@yourwebsite.com)
Google Domains and Google Workspace are the perfect partners, it’s really easy to use one account for everything and it’s all housed under one roof so you don’t have to worry about what you have where, at a really competitive price.

Google Domains also makes it easy to connect to other Google services, like Google Workspace, Google Search Console, Google reCaptcha, Google Analytics and more.
You can access Google Domains by using the same Google account you use for other services.

Google Domains Features
  • Register new domains.
  • Transfer in existing domains from other registrars.
  • Free privacy protection included with your purchase.
  • Google-powered DNS.
  • Simple management dashboard that matches other Google services.
  • Part of your existing Google account, no separate login. Also allows for two-factor authentication.
  • Email forwarding (up to 100 aliases).
  • Domain and subdomain forwarding.
  • Built-in integrations/verification with other Google services.

Unlike a lot of other popular domain registrars, Google Domains does not offer any type of hosting. That means you’ll need to purchase hosting separately and you can then use the Google Domains interface to point your domain to your hosting service.
Hosting is something I can provide, ask me about this when we set up your website.

Does Google Domains Work for Email?

Yes! Google Domains allows you to create your own custom email address.

There are two ways to use emails with Google Domains:

  • Built-in email forwarding: Free, create up to 100 email aliases and forward them to your existing accounts. You can send emails from these aliases using Gmail or any other email client.
  • Email hosting with google Workspace (recommended): – From £4.14 per month – you can easily integrate with Google G Suite for hosted email, 30 GB of storage, and more.
Google Integrations

If you opt for Google Domains + Google Workspace, you will also have instant access to:

If you decide to get a domain through Google Domains you will pay an annual fee for the ownership of that domain.
If you also sign up for G Suite, you’ll be charged a monthly fee depending on what tier you select.

Google Workspace

Use my referral link to get 10% off the first year on either the Google Workspace Business Starter plan and the Google Workspace Business Standard plan & find out more

Google Workspace Discount

Hover

Hover is another great domain registration service.

If you just need a domain and don’t need the additional features that Google offers, Hover is the one to go for.

Their customer service is excellent and their simple interface makes it easy to search for a domain, purchase and hook up your hosting provider.

Hover do offer email boxes (small & big) but you’ll probably want to run them through something like Microsoft Outlook or Mac Mail.

If you decide to get a domain through Hover you will pay an annual fee for the ownership of that domain.

Hover

This link will get you $2 off your first domain purchase!
Hover Domains

More Resources

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How to set up Google Analytics

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To start collecting data about your website and its visitors, you'll need Google Analytics. It's a free tool from Google that tracks and reports website traffic, which is essential for finding out more about your audience.

How to Set Up Google reCAPTCHA

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Google’s reCAPTCHA is a free service from Google that helps protect your website and allows you to add human verification technology to make your forms secure from spammers and bots.