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Registering a domain name is very simple but I still wrote about it in case someone would like to know how to do it. This is let you know what to expect if you decide to register a domain name. This topic is related to problogging summary guide to starting and implementing a blog and how to start a website.

But I wrote how to register a domain name at Sehdi.com, not on this blog. I especially used GoDaddy as the sample domain registrar because I like the features of GoDaddy.

If you have been following me here, you probably have read what I wrote about making a choice between a domain name or free subdomain name. You will probably wonder why I keep on writing about having your own domain name instead of a free subdomain name.

First of all, I would like to clarify that I have nothing against subdomain name, it is free and low maintenance. What I mean with low maintenance is because you do not spend money for a subdomain name, only your time, effort, and energy in writing content and promoting your blog.

In most of my websites and blogs, my readers and friends especially blogger friends have been probably wondering why I rarely link and promote other blogs, especially those with free subdomain names, on my personal blogs. I have a lot of sites before I started blogging and I know the experience of having a lot of links.

Registering a domain name is not all complicated. If you are registering a domain name, clarify what kind of payments the domain registrars have. Most of the domain registrars accept credit cards, and sometimes PayPal payments. Local domain registrars where you reside sometimes accept checks. If you have no credit card, no PayPal account, and no checking account, then it becomes complicated. Your other option is to make a bank electronic transfer, perhaps the old style bank telegraphic transfer. That is if the domain registrar allows bank electronic transfer or telegraphic transfer. If not, then your only option is to register the domain name at the domain registrars at your country of residence where they can send you the bill without any problem.

The downside of registering your own domain name is if you have no credit cards, no PayPal account, and no checking account. It normally happens to students who would like to start a blog with their own domain name only to be confronted with this problem. The only option for them is to have a free subdomain name available in the net like at Blogger’s Blogspot.com, WordPress.com among others. Another option is to ask friends or parents if they can use their credit cards.

When I registered my first domain name for my town, I did not have any option but to register the name of the town and the name of the province to distinguish it from the other towns with the same name. The name of my town with “com”, “net”, and “org” top-level domain names were already registered but not when attached with the name of the province. Only to realize later on that the domain name was sort of long and that I even registered it with a dash or a hyphen just because I wanted it with the top-level domain name “com”.

When I decided to register more domain names, I thought of registering short and one-syllable domain names and with the top-level domain name “com”. The problem was, a lot of people registered one-syllable domain names with “com” and up to now, they are not even being used. I thought of registering the “net” and “org” but they were also taken. So the best option was to register two-syllable or three-syllable domain names with top-level domain name “com”. But there were instances that the one with top-level domain name “com” was taken too so I decided to register the one with “net” top level domain name. I only registered an “org” top-level domain name without really minding the “com” if the website was for a non-profit organization.

One of the requirements to be able to start a blog is to have a domain name or a subdomain name. When I started designing websites, I was just riding on other’s domain names. It was fine at first but eventually I realized that having my own domain name is better.

The disadvantage of having my own domain name is I have to invest a small amount of money for it. I have to pay for it every year unlike a subdomain name, for example, at WordPress.com, Multiply.com, Livejournal.com, Tripod.com or Blogger’s Blogspot.com. Subdomain names at these sites are for free.