J'z Place

If there is one and only one thing that I can recommend to you for starting online it would be to get a Domain Name. Having a Domain Name can be the link between life and death on the internet. Having a Domain Name to refer people to is a great thing and if you ever decide to change your site you will not loose those readers who enjoy visiting your site.

If you are on a budget start out with a Domain Name and forward it to your Free site. Just remember that when you have a free blog or website, the site you are using can suspend or delete your account at anytime and without notice. So make sure before you put a ton of time into something that it won't end up being a waste of time.

There are many aspects to choosing a good Domain Name. Is your site a personal or business site? If it's a personal site try using your name or a nickname. If it's for business purposes use your Business Name.

Here are some great tips to help you search for the right Domain:

1. A .com Domain should be a first priority when choosing a Domain. If there are other extensions and you can afford it, go ahead and pick them up. If you ever decide to sell the Domain you can use all of them like a package deal. The downside to this is that you will have to renew all of the domains you select each year.
2. A shorter Domain can make it easier for your readers to remember.
3. Don't use the letter O or the number 0 – this can be confusing for your readers to remember.
4. Make sure your Domain Name is memorable and unique.
5. Something catchy and brandable. Would you wear your Domain Name on a T-shirt?
6. Try thinking up a name that is related to topic the you are wanting to discuss on your site this is called making it keyword rich. For example, my other site OnlineSetupServices.com – Can you guess what we do? We provide services for online setups like Blog Setups, Twitter Setups and Facebook Setups.

Here are the steps that I take to getting a Domain Name:

1. Come up with an idea for a blog or site.
2. Brainstorm Domain Name Ideas. I use a Thesaurus to find different keywords to use.
3. I also do research using Google Adwords Keyword Tool. ( If someone is paying a high dollar amount for a keyword then you might want to use that word) Make sense? If not let me know and I can try and help you.
4. Check to see if the Domain Name is available. I do this by opening my browser and typing in the Domain Name I want. If there is any sort of site it will come up. If it's available then a message from your Internet Provider will come up.
5. I then go to GoDaddy and register the domain.

If you have Domain Names registered at GoDaddy.com and you are deciding to take the plung and host your own site then I suggest you do like I did and most who host their own sites and that's to get a Web Hosting Account with HostGator that way if one service goes down you still have the other. I researched this for almost 6 months and so in order for this to work you need to change your DNS servers at GoDaddy.com to reflect your DNS from HostGator .

1. Login to GoDaddy.com
2. Click on Domain Manager (It's on your left side menu bar)
3. Check the Domain that you want to change the DNS for.
4. Click on NameServers (it's a gold round looking icon)
5. Select Option "I have specific nameservers for my domains.
6. Now enter your DNS info from your HostGator account (this info should look something like : ns1234.hostgator.com and there should be two sets of numbers)
7. Click Ok to set your new DNS.
8. Click Ok again to confirm it. This usually takes a few minutes, but can take a while – so just be patient.

Hope this helps!