How to Register a Domain Name?
Congratulations!
You've made it to the 1st step of creating a website. It is highly recommended that you read this ENTIRE page as it contains important information that most sites don't tell you about domain name registrations.

NOTE: If you already know about domain names, go here to register your domain. If not, I highly recommend you read on to understand why the name selection is so important.
There are two basic steps to getting your site online and registering/reserving a domain name is the first.

A domain name makes up the address of your site and can end in .com, .net, .org, .info, .us, .biz, .tv and more. Throughout this site you will also see the domain name referred to as the "dot com name".

Once you have registered your name, you will select a web host (2nd step). The web host is the guts of any website because this is where you create and publish your pages, build order forms, add functionality and maintain your site.

First, let's focus on selecting the best domain name for your site...
Free e-Book Software & 70+ Design Templates With Every Domain RegisteredRegister by August 1, 2007See details below.

How to Select the Best Domain Name
If being found in the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) is extremely important to you, I highly recommend you register a name that contains your major keywords instead of your company name.

Think about it. The average surfer searches by subject, not by proper name. So why it may seem cool to have a name like TimothysToolTyme.com, you'll want to choose a name that includes keywords that your target audience would likely use when they search.

So with that in mind, a name like Tool-Tips-for-Beginners.com would be much better than TimothysToolTyme.com. Sure, you can still list your company name on your web pages, but I believe it's more important to make sure the domain name includes your important "search friendly" keywords if you want to receive traffic from all over.

Of course, you can still list your company name on the web site some place, but your domain name will include all the important keywords you'll want to be found with.

Now, as always, there are exceptions...
If you are just creating a website for a local business, getting traffic from all over the web may not be as important to you. This is because your customers will be local and you may want to grow your brand name in a specific area.

If this is the case, it may make more sense to register your company name and create brand awareness locally instead of trying to capitalize on search engine presence.

For example, let's say you have a company called J.W. Reed & Co and you help people get rid of debt, but you're based in Kansas and can only cater to residents in this area.

Since you are only servicing local clients, you may not care if someone in California can find your site in Google since they are not likely to become one of your customers.

In this case, it's not as important to register a name filled with "search optimized" keywords. You may decide to just reserve the company name, JWReedAndCo.com.

NOTE: Keep in mind that the domain name is not the only factor weighed by search engines when deciding your rank.

The content on your web pages and your site's popularity (inbound links from other sites) is very important too. However, it certainly doesn't hurt to make sure your name is optimized for maximum results.

Here are some more tips on choosing the best domain name:
1) Don't register domain names that are too long and have too many syllables if you can help it. Yes, you can register names up to 63 characters long, but that doesn't mean you have to use all 63 characters.
You want your name to be easy to remember. Not everyone will bookmark your page initially so try to think of something that can be easily remembered -- although I realize this may be tricky since a lot of names are taken these days.
2) Use hyphens if your name is more than 3 words long (unless your name includes 3 short words). A name like carbuying.com doesn't really need a hyphen because it's readable the way it is.
However a name like used-car-buying-scams.com looks better than usedcarbuyingscams.com since there are so many words in the name.
3) Protect your name by registering multiple extensions (.net, .org, etc.) This deters people from copying your name. For example, if you own garden-tips-for-us.com you can also register garden-tips-for-us.net and any other extension that's available.
You don't have to build a site on all the domains, but you can reserve the others to keep people (copycats) from registering them.

How to Register a Domain Name
Reserving a domain name is easy and very cost friendly. The big name companies like Register.com and NetworkSolutions.com charge ridiculous prices such as $30-35/year for one domain name, and you get the same service at WebsitePalace.com for much less.
It doesn't matter where you register your domain. Every registrar provides the same services.
You can save a bundle at WebsitePalace.com, and you get a bunch of freebies such as a blog, domain forwarding and a free starter page.

You Should Protect Your Privacy
As you're registering your name, you will be presented with the option of keeping your domain name private - a deluxe feature you'll probably want to take advantage of.

A private domain registration will keep your information (name, email address, etc.) out of the global Internet database, and will prevent a lot of spam from reaching your email box.
Even though registering a "private" domain is not mandatory and will not block all spam, I highly recommend you select this option. I certainly wish this had been available when I created my first site.

Sites Created at WebsitePalace.com
Check out some of the websites that were created at websitepalace.com...
www.pe-engineers-jobs-site.comwww.teachers-we-r.comwww.wmpenn.infoTop Notch Support Available

If you should ever have a question, support is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.
Most people that come here are new to the website creation scene. Their number one fear is that they'll invest their money into something that is new and unfamiliar, and then get stuck with no one to help them should they have a question. Well, that's not going to happen here.
It is understood that many of you may be new to this and should you ever have a question you can call or email us at anytime. Phone support is available around the clock and WebsitePalace's dedicated customer service team makes every effort to answer emails within a 10-12 hour period.

You won't find support much better than that -- especially in the website hosting arena.
Free e-Book Software With Every Order(Windows Users Only!)
No matter what product you order from WebsitePalace.com (hosting, domain names, you name it!), they offer you free e-Book creation software (Windows users only).
This easy-to-use program will allow you to create electronic (downloadable) books that you can sell or give away from your website.
All you do is develop the contents of your book on your computer using your favorite software (Word, Notepad, etc.) and this software will convert the files into a download-friendly book you can offer to your website visitors! There's even an option to password protect it if you wish.
If you register a domain name or buy anything from WebsitePalace.com by August 1, 2007 this FREE, e-Book software is yours!
Note: The download link to this free software is on the order confirmation page after you've placed your order.
70+ Design Templates - FREE!
One of my pet peeves with web hosts is that they don't offer any help for first-time website builders.
I think they fail to realize a large percentage of their customers are new to website development.
Well, WebsitePalace.com understands newbies need help so they provide 70+ pre-designed templates for free if you order any product from their site.
You simply choose the design you want and edit the text accordingly. Template setup instructions are provided with the download file.
Note: The download link to the templates is on the order confirmation page after you've placed your order - so don't miss it!
FREE Affiliate Tutorial With Every Order
Did you know that even if you are creating a personal website, you can join free affiliate programs (like Google's Adsense) and earn money by simply displaying text ads or linking to another company's products and services?
I've been doing this with every website I create and it's the simplest way to earn money on the web when you don't have a product of your own to sell. No matter the topic of your website, you can still earn money from affiliate programs.
Thousands of people are already doing this, and they're making money by referring CD's, magazines, DVD's, office supplies, books from Amazon.com, clothing, you name it.
The key is to create a site on a topic you know a lot about so you can write articles of content that will be found in the search engines. Then join affiliate programs that relate to the theme of your site.
If you like to exercise, build an information website about fitness and link to products related to health and exercise. If you like food, build a recipe site and link to companies that sell cookbooks, kitchen gadgets and more.
Or you can join Google's free Adsense program and simply display their ads while they pay you for every click each ad receives. I made about $8,000 in 2005 and this number more than doubled in 2006.
The Affiliates Masters Course is a one-of-a-kind guide that shows you where to find affiliate programs like the ones described above and you'll discover how to maximize your earnings no matter the topic of your site.
I promise you. This is not some cheesy, info-product that shows you how to make money overnight. There's no such thing as "fast cash" and that's not what this eBook is about.
It's a very well-written tutorial jam-packed with solid, detailed information that will show you how to profit from your website by linking to and referring products and services offered by other companies.
This guide is over 200 pages and has an $80 value. It will be yours for free when you register any domain name.
If you register a domain name by August 1, 2007 this FREE, Affiliate Masters Course is all yours.
Another Free Offer - Domain Forwarding
You will also receive a free domain forwarding account with every domain name. This comes in handy if you want to register multiple extensions like .com, .net, .org, .info, .tv, .us, etc.
For example, you can create your site on the .com domain, and have the .net extension automatically forward to your .com site. So when someone types in yourdomain.net, you can set it up to automatically redirect to the .com version of your site (or vise versa).
PLEASE NOTE: If you decide to do this, you'll need to register both the .com and .net extension of the domain (or any other extension you'll want to use to redirect to your main site.)
Domain Forwarding used to be priced at $16.99 per year, but for a limited time WebsitePalace.com is offering it for FREE!
More Freebies
If you register your domain with WebsitePalace.com you will also receive the following items...
Free Blog
Free Starter Page
Free Parked/For Sale Page
Free Domain Locking
Free Domain Status Alerts
It's Time to Register Your Domain . . .
Register your domain here, but before you leave this tutorial you may want to read about the 2nd step in creating a website - selecting a web host (recommended). You cannot build your pages until you have a web host.
That may save you from having to come back here to learn about web hosting, and you'll be able to take care of steps 1 and 2 all at once when you register your domain(s).
However, if you want to reserve your domain now and come back to this tutorial to read about step 2 later, go to WebsitePalace.com now or search the database for an available name by using the search box below.