Registering a website

[Jacob]

Any tips on how to do it? Any pitfalls to avoid?

How the fuck do I do it?

[mongers]

Any tips on how to do it? Any pitfalls to avoid?

How the fuck do I do it?

I've owned several personal and business ones, but I think what you're after is something more professional. 

Anyone can buy a domain, but it's important to choose a decent 'agent' rather than the cheapest.

I think the more important decision, leaving aside aspects of building it and where it fits in your business plan, is to have a clear idea of what sort of hosting you need and above all the efficiency, C.S. and quality of the hosting company you choose.   

[Jacob]

Well, right now I primarily want to register the domain name so I have it locked up. All the rest can come later.

I was thinking of doing it through google...

[DontSayBanana]

GoDaddy's done pretty well by me, as far as registrars go; I've also been the lessee for several domain names.

Biggest mistake I see made is being cheap and only shelling out for one domain extension- be prepared to shell out for the .com, .net, and .org, at the very least, especially if your domain name's going to be made up of common words.  Domain-squatters aren't usually a problem until they see activity on a certain domain name; the worst ones intentionally put up shady stuff that you're not going to want associated with your brand (blatant pyramid schemes and the like) and then send the domain name to auction.

Usually, though, I say not to worry too much about .info or .biz extensions, since they never really caught on, and Google's taken to dinging or dropping black hat SEO techniques (like Google-bombing).

[Arvoreen]

I've been using no-ip.com for several years now...and they offer various levels of service.  I only need DNS out of them, and I can dynamically update my IP if it changes (using time warner/cable modem)....  Customer support has been great, no fees to update/modify records, and I can even setup SRV and TXT records.

[Barrister]

That reminds me - I've registered my name in the past, but that's surely expired.  I should go re-register it.

[Josquius]

All the good domains are taken...and filled...with nothing. Not even cyber squatters. Wow.

I was investigating go daddy earlier today, quite a bit pricier than expected.
Do you have to pay for this mail option? - or is there a way to set mail up yourself? They do seem to have a lot of options for complete novices and I'm unsure if that is one of them.

Also...they seem to default to 2 year subscriptions with the second year costing a lot more than the first...is this normal? They lure you in with a cheap price then ramp it up when they have you by the balls?

[MadImmortalMan]

All the good domains are taken...and filled...with nothing. Not even cyber squatters. Wow.

I was investigating go daddy earlier today, quite a bit pricier than expected.
Do you have to pay for this mail option? - or is there a way to set mail up yourself? They do seem to have a lot of options for complete novices and I'm unsure if that is one of them.

Also...they seem to default to 2 year subscriptions with the second year costing a lot more than the first...is this normal? They lure you in with a cheap price then ramp it up when they have you by the balls?

You're probably looking at options that include hosting and services and stuff. Just registering a name is cheap as hell.

[DontSayBanana]

Mail would be part of the hosting package, since that's basically working with the MX portion of your DNS records.

Since I just went through this and refreshed my knowledge this past week, I can give you more of a detailed rundown of how I did it for my girlfriend's website: www.samanthaemonds.com

We picked up the domain, and only the domain, from GoDaddy (trying to do it on a shoestring, which is why we haven't snapped up the alternate domains yet- also, her business cards and branding stuff have the URL scribbled all over the place, so there's no reason to worry overmuch about misdirects).  The hosting is with HostGator, so all we had to do was get into the account control panel at GoDaddy and change the nameservers from GD's to HG's.  Sam's insisted on exposing her email (against my advice), so we haven't needed to mess with mail accounts, but if we did set up email aliasing, we'd do it through cPanel at HG.

[PRC]

Do it at godaddy.  Their shit is wired tight on so many levels...  fantastic support, great rates and their software, if you use it, works.

[DontSayBanana]

Do it at godaddy.  Their shit is wired tight on so many levels...  fantastic support, great rates and their software, if you use it, works.

I know they're rock-solid for DNS, but I haven't had any experience with their web hosting, since frankly, it's kind of expensive.

[PRC]

Do it at godaddy.  Their shit is wired tight on so many levels...  fantastic support, great rates and their software, if you use it, works.

I know they're rock-solid for DNS, but I haven't had any experience with their web hosting, since frankly, it's kind of expensive.

I find their webhosting (not dedicated servers) super cheap. 

Right now for for $8.49 CAD a month you get:
    Unlimited Websites (IE you have 60 domains, they all get hosted under that single $8.49 a month payment), unlimited space & bandwidth.
    1000 Email Accounts
    Unlimited MySQL Databases (1 GB ea.)
    FREE†† Premium DNS, Site Scanner, SSL Certificate with Fixed IP address

That ain't expensive in my experience... that's god damn dirt cheap giving it away.

[Josquius]

How much should I be paying for hosting?
I'm looking into seriously now. Looking at http://www.pcpro.co.uk/html/awards-2011/index.php?pageId=10 and checking out the recommended ones prices tend to be in the domain of 60 quid a year. What is normal?


And that my rare surname is registered but unused angers me.

[DontSayBanana]

How much should I be paying for hosting?
I'm looking into seriously now. Looking at http://www.pcpro.co.uk/html/awards-2011/index.php?pageId=10 and checking out the recommended ones prices tend to be in the domain of 60 quid a year. What is normal?

And that my rare surname is registered but unused angers me.

It means you or somebody else with your surname gained the attention of the domain-sniffers.  As far as hosting, are you talking about a blog or something more involved?  For a blog that you're not expecting to get very big, you only need very basic hosting, can sometimes even be gotten for free.  The dollars start racking up when you need guaranteed uptime, customer service, or big bandwidth.

[Josquius]

I'm looking at something bigger than a little blog.
Not quite a major website though (but the potential to upgrade should I ever have to would be nice). For now I'm just looking to experiment with web development, try and make some practical examples of stuff I learned about in uni and perhaps try to execute an idea or two I've wanted to do for eons.