Domain Registration and Domain Forwarding for Newbies

Have you ever thought about creating your own website, but didn't really know where to start? Well, the first step on the path to creating your own website is registering your domain name. This means that you are basically paying money in order to have your site's name in a dot com format. If you are lucky, your domain name will not already be taken, and you will be able to register website's name for a relatively low annual fee.

In the event that the name you want is taken, you have a few options. You could select a different suffix, such as.net, or.org, so long as these haven't already been purchased as well. Another option would be to rework the name of your site or domain until you can find a domain that isn't already taken. Lastly, if you're willing to go all out, you can try and buy out an already registered domain name, but this is not recommended unless you have a lot of money to spare and the name is incredibly important to your overall brand.

While registering your domain might seem a bit difficult to the uninitiated, it is actually relatively easy in the grand scheme of things. Once you go for domain registration, you need to figure out where to host your actual website too.

While many sites that offer domain registry also double as web hosting services, it's up to you to decide if this is what you really need. If you just want to run a blog or other similar site, consider making an account on a website like Blogger or Tumblr, and forwarding your registered domain there.

This brings up the question, "what is domain forwarding?" Domain forwarding is when you pay for your domain name, but assign it to a website that already exists. This is useful in that it does not require you to pay for server space to host your web site. However, it has some disadvantages as well. It will be harder to monetize your web site if you just forward your domain to an account on a web site you don't run, unless you specifically sign up on a web site that in some way facilitates this. Some blogging sites allow the user to host Google AdSense ads on their personal pages, but how successful you will be with this is hard to say.

One way to enable domain forwarding to your website is to make use of the 'domain forwarding' feature which is present in most of the domain registrar's control panels which you get access after you finish domain registration. You can mask or unmask the path (the part in URL after domain name) or entire URL in browser window. Another way to use domain forwarding is by using 'CNAME' or 'A' records.

Like with many things, registering your domain name and deciding whether it is a good idea to forward it or not is mostly up to what you are planning to do. If you want to make your own web site with original content that will generate revenue, you should likely register a good domain name and pay for hosting space. But, if you just want to have your own personal blog on the internet, it would be easier to get a cheap domain and forward it to an already established blogging web site.

It's entirely up to your discretion, but either way, I hope you've found this article about domain registration and domain forwarding helpful on your journey to create your own web site.

I am Siddharth. I have ten years experience in working in domain registration Industry. I specialize and write about domain registration and web hosting.