Where You Should Purchase Your Domain Name for Your Blog
No matter what kind of site you want to create you are going to need a domain name. A domain name is the URL address of your site or blog. I am going to show you where to purchase your domain name for your blog or website.
For this, I am going to assume you are starting a blog. If you are a new blogger then don’t worry we have all been there. It may seem overwhelming learning all of this but really it’s pretty easy once you get the hang out it.
To start a blog it takes more than just a domain name. If you need help with all the ins and outs of starting a blog then I suggest my freebie the 30-Day Challenge to Start a Blog workbook.
For now, let’s walk through where to purchase your domain name for your blog.
Choose a Company
There is more than one place you can purchase your domain name through. And sometimes it is included in your hosting plan so make sure to check that before purchasing it.
I have used two different companies when purchasing a domain name. Like I said there are many more but I like to cover things I have personally used before.
1. NameCheap
NameCheap is just like its name. They offer cheaper domains than other companies. If you test it out by searching for available domains at both sites you may see that sometimes GoDaddy actually has a cheaper option. However, as you continue on with the checkout process they upsell you to death.
Some of it you may need so then your total goes up to what it would have been at NameCheap. A lot of it you don’t need and they just keep on trying to add more on.
I have purchased my last two domain names through NameCheap and it is a one and done deal. Just add it to the cart and purchase. No upsells or hassle at check out.
2. GoDaddy
That all said there are plenty of people who use GoDaddy. I’m sure the comfort of the name is part of it. When you see it advertised all over you feel more comfortable that you are purchasing something with a bigger well-known company.
Just be aware as I said they do try and tack on upsells at checkout.
Here is another option that came up while I was researching more places for you to purchase a domain name. There is a domain.com that you can purchase your domain name through too.
Again, each person is going to have their own opinions and things they like or dislike about a company so just review these options and maybe do a little more research of your own to choose one that fits you best!
Walk Through
Since I use NameCheap I am going to walk you through how to purchase your domain name through them! Again, you will want to double check that the hosting you have doesn’t already provide a free one for you.
I know when I signed up for SiteGround (the hosting company I use) they provided a free one for me. I don’t know for sure if that was a special they were running at the time or if they always do that.
First, go to NameCheap.com. It will look something similar to this screenshot below that I took today.
In the middle of the screen, you can see there is a search bar. Search for the domain name that you are wishing to purchase. In this example, I used “www.searchdomain.com”.
Not to my surprise that domain name was already taken. After a few different tries, I was able to find one that was available.
As you can see below “helpsearchdomain.com” is available.
If you need help coming up with a domain name for your blog then again I suggest that you download a free copy of my 30-Day Challenge to Start a Blog. There is a section in there that helps walk you through coming up with a domain name.
Once you have found an available domain name you like for your blog then you will see it shows you the total. Most domain names average between $2.99-$14.99 per year.
Usually, the more years that you purchase it the better the price. For instance, if you purchased it for two years versus only one year.
Those are all factors you will have to think about and decide what’s best for you.
Now hit add to cart and then view cart.
Also, you will see that below it is showing you a list of other domains that you might like to add to your cart. I like how it shows you the different options that are available and the prices.
Coupon Code
Once you are in your cart you will see there is an option to add a promo code. When I purchased my domain name I was able to find a 10% off coupon code at RetailMeNot.com.
To look for a coupon code, go to retailmenot.com and search for NameCheap.
I love using RetailMeNot.com for all sorts of things. I usually use it for a coupon when we decide to order pizza but I have even got $40 off of SeaWorld tickets before!
Over on the left side of the screen at RetailMeNot, you will see the option to search the coupons by type. I like to do the codes. If I have a coupon code then I can see if it works on top of a sale that is already running. Sometimes it works!
After you enter the coupon code (if you were able to find one) then you continue with your checkout process. If you don’t have an account already with NameCheap then it will ask you to create one here. If you do then go ahead and sign in.
Now you are ready to purchase your domain name. Select your payment method and continue on with the checkout process.
It will then take you to your NameCheap account where you will be able to see your new domain name for your blog! Congrats!
You have now taken the first (or second if you purchased hosting already) set to setting up your blog! It is a scary and exciting feeling!
Next would be to go ahead and purchase your hosting which averages about $3-$5 a month. You do have to purchase the full year but I can think of many other less important things that I waste $3-$5 a month on so to me it is worth it!
After you have your domain name and your hosting you will then need to connect them. I feel kind of silly saying that I didn’t know you had to do this but if you are like me then you didn’t know either. That is why I created this blog. To help people that are like me and need a literal walk through!
If you have ever thought about starting a blog you have probably thought about what hosting you should use. Well, I’m here to tell you why you should use SiteGround as your hosting. And why wouldn’t I? I use them and I love them so why wouldn’t I share with you what works best?
You may already have a blog and you either don’t have hosting yet or you do but you are second guessing who you have. Then once more I am here to tell you why you should use SiteGround as your hosting.
I have personally used BlueHost and HostGator in the past and I am not saying anything negative about them at all it just didn’t work out for me.
I had always wanted to start a blog and I tried several times to but it just didn’t work out for me those times. Now, I am happy to say that I am trucking right along this time! Those first two times I attempted it I once used BlueHost and the second time I used HostGator. It had nothing to do with the hosting as to why I was unsuccessful at starting my blog, however.
It was just not the right time in my life. I had too much going on and too little self-confidence.
This time I found the resources that work best for me and since my blog is about teaching you how to blog as I learn then it is my job to share with you what resources I do use and recommend!
Live Chat
First, I want to say how much I love SiteGround’s live chat. Since I am not very tech savvy I love that when I run into a problem I can chat with someone right away to help me fix it! And it isn’t one of those “live chat” buttons that still send you to a contact email form either. It is a live chat with a representative helping you right away solve your problems.
There are several other ways to find out how to fix your problem on your own but I don’t have time to read through all of those FAQ’s and “best results” for the problem you typed in articles.
It will also show you how many other customers that representative has helped and how many stars they have for helping them. That gives me more comfort knowing that rep has successfully helped thousands of other people!
No Down Time
An important factor for running an online business is that you can’t have downtime. If your site is down you are losing customers and losing money. If you have thousands of views a day on your blog and you are down for just that one day. That can add up quickly! No one wants their site to be down. Even if you don’t get thousands of views it is still important to always be open for business!
With SiteGround, I have had zero downtime. I have had my site run into issues that were due to a plugin or a theme but SiteGround was able to help me identify what was causing it so I could get ahold of the right people to get it fixed!
Speed
This gets a little too techy for me but I do know that I want my site to be fast. This day and age you can’t have a slow site or no one will stick around. We want things fast and convenient!
SiteGround has the hottest speed technologies.
Data Centers
This is more technology lingo that I understand but don’t at the same time. But I’ll let you be the judge of this right here.
SiteGround has the best data centers on three different continents!
Hosting
SiteGround does more than just provide hosting for your WordPress blog it also provides hosting such as Web Hosting, WooCommerce Hosting, and Cloud Hosting.
They provide several plans to choose from so you can pick what is right for you!
I went with the GrowBig Plan. It is the middle plan but this way I am able to have multiple sites that can support more monthly views than the Startup Plan. The Startup plan is the first plan and it is a little more basic. It would be a great beginner plan.
The GrowBig Plan just made me feel like I was ready to grow big if I wanted to, which who doesn’t want to. I just have heard stories of bloggers who had started with the small package and then when their pin or blog post went viral they weren’t ready for the traffic that it brought in. This can cause problems with your site or in some cases may cause you to be charged for the overage.
I wanted to be safe and make sure I was prepared so I went with the bigger plan of the two!
The last plan they offer is the GoGeek Plan and that is more for the big dogs. Hopefully, we all get to that stage someday but unless you have 25,000-100,000 monthly visits to your blog you don’t need to get this plan. And odds are if you had that many monthly views you wouldn’t be here reading this anyways haha! So for us, it is not the plan we would most likely go with.
Again, hopefully, someday we will all need it though!
Friendly Website
SiteGround does have a user-friendly website that is easy to maneuver through. It is fairly self-explanatory on how to use it which is always so helpful!
You can manage everything you need to all in one on SiteGround’s website.
That was one thing that was hard for me to get used to with the other two hosting companies I mentioned before. Again, it could have just been the timing in my life as to why they didn’t work out for me. There was a 6+ year gap from the first time I tried to start a blog to this time. So as you can imagine a lot has changed in the online world and in my life as well!
So now using SiteGround, their website is very easy to go through and not get lost or feel confused. This opens up the customers they can have such as me, someone who isn’t very tech savvy!
Easy Setup
Of course, they also make it very easy to get started with them. The checkout process is very quick and easy and then with the Live Chat, you can have them do all the hard work!
They will get you all set up and everything. Make sure it is all installed correctly so you don’t waste any time and you can have your blog up and running right away!
Happiness Rate
SiteGround has a 99.7% Happiness Rate. I don’t think I have seen that before on any other site where they advertise their “happiness rate”. I have seen testimonials but to proudly state the percentage of happy customers is awesome!
I can believe that number too! It is easy to find out people’s opinions these days. Ask or don’t ask and they will give it to you. But If you do ask on one of those Facebook Groups for blogging, people are more than willing to give you their honest and helpful opinion. I see all the time people say how they use SiteGround and are so happy with them.
A long time ago when I first tried to start a blog I had never even heard of SiteGround. I don’t know if they even were around back then. But this time when I got back into it SiteGround is all I ever see being advertised or used by bloggers!
That right there speaks for itself how awesome they are!
Affiliates
Last but certainly not least, SiteGroundoffers an awesome affiliate program. I became an affiliate and was able to make my first sale before I even launched my blog! They paid me $50! That to me is a very high commission and I was beyond excited about that!
What is unique is that they pay you more the more sales you make! Let’s say you make $50 the first sale then if you make more than 5 sales it goes up to $75 a sale!
I don’t know if they will ever change that so I don’t want to put out all of the details, but you can see how quickly that could add up!
Five sales a month and you could make $250! Then if you sold 3 more at $75 each you almost doubled it to $475! An extra $500 bucks a month just right there in helping share how great SiteGround is! That would be awesome!
Plus, inside your affiliate page on SiteGround they show you your Stats & Reports, they give you premade banners to use for advertising, they show you your payouts, and they even give you success tips!
The affiliate program is just as awesome and helpful as the hosting they provide!
Conclusion
Siteground provides the fastest hosting for multiple platforms on 3 different continents with 99.9% uptime and 99.7% happiness rate with their live chat option, user-friendly website, and easy setup. They also have an awesome affiliate program!
I hope that you can see why SiteGround is an easy choice. All you have to do is a little research and you can see it is what most bloggers are using. When I just started to catch back up on blogging I was doing my research and the three ladies that I love to follow and learn from all three use SiteGround so it was a no-brainer for me!
I hope it is a no-brainer for you!
Have you tried SiteGround before? How do you like it?
Now this for many may seem like a very easy step but when I first started blogging it was a step I didn’t know. So, if I didn’t know that means others out there won’t know either! Again, many of you may see this as an easy step. But if you are completely new and need help here ya go! I even created a video to walk you through how to purchase your domain name, your hosting and then how to connect them.
I am no expert and I don’t pretend to be either! What I am is a mom who wanted to start a blog and I felt completely lost and didn’t know where to start. I read blog post after blog post trying to learn everything I needed to know. I was told it would be super easy and it pretty much happens overnight.
Then I was told it takes years of blogging and hard work. The one thing I do know FOR SURE is that if you don’t try you will never know. I also know that if you have someone to help walk you through the steps that makes a big difference too! So that is what I decided to do.
I want to walk moms (and maybe dads) through the steps of starting and running a blog. There is more to it than that but just starting is half the battle! So here is a short video that shows you where I purchased my domain name and hosting from and then how to get them to connect to each other!
Here is a quick recap!
Maybe you don’t like watching videos or maybe you still need a little help after watching the video. Either way here is a quick recap!
Where to Get a Domain Name
You have to get your domain if you haven’t already. If you use a free hosting platform like blogger.com they may provide you with a domain name but you don’t own that name or the contents of your blog.
Just a heads up. I had looked into the free option as well and quickly found out that wasn’t a good idea. Using the free option is like borrowing space from that site. If that site decides to delete your blog it can because it owns everything on there. However, if you purchase hosting you own your blog and all it’s contents. Also on places like that, you can’t always put affiliate links or ads to make money on your blog either.
2. You want to check and see if your hosting provider (not the free hosting) will provide you with a domain name. Sometimes they will give you a special and you get a free domain name when you purchase your hosting through them. For example, HostGator provides a free domain name with the purchase of certain hosting packages.
3. Check out RetailMeNot.com and see if there is a coupon available for your domain name provider. Who doesn’t like a discount!? I was able to find one on there for NameCheap where I purchased my domain name.
4. Go to NameCheap ( or GoDaddy, 1and1, wherever) and purchase your domain name! They are very inexpensive! Or again just grab a free one with HostGator when you get your hosting.
Don’t forget you want your domain name to be something easy to remember and relevant to your blog.
Now that you have your domain name you need to purchase your hosting. That is of course unless you purchased them together. And again, you want to purchase hosting so you own your blog contents and you can then make an income off your blog.
I currently use SiteGround for my hosting provider. When I was starting this blog I was reading so many blog posts trying to learn everything I could about blogging. Several bloggers said they used SiteGround so I gave them a try. My experience with them has been the majority good. I would give them 5 stars however, my only complaint with them is the price increase.
Hosting is very inexpensive in the grand scheme of things but the price has continued to increase each year I have been with them. But luckily there are other options besides SiteGround. Other hosting providers you can use are HostGator or BlueHost. Those three are the main hosting providers that bloggers use.
HostGator has hosting available right now for as low as $2.75 a month so I suggest to shop around and find the best hosting provider for you.
Don’t worry though your domain name and hosting are the two main expenses for starting a blog. Each hosting provider also has different packages they offer as well. Choose which plan fits you best and follow the steps to complete your hosting purchase.
Connect Your Domain and Your Hosting
Okay, now we are to the important part. The reason you came to this blog post. Let’s connect your domain and your hosting! (If you purchased them with the same company then I am sure they connect automatically if you purchased separate keep reading)
To connect them you need to log into your hosting account, click on account, Cpanel, then look for two nameserver numbers. It will be a series of letters and numbers, not just numbers.
In another tab, you will want to log into your domain name account. Make sure you are in the domain section and you can see your domain name. Now click on manage your domain name.
There should be a spot where you can enter those two nameserver numbers from your hosting account. If you are using NameCheap, click the drop-down menu and choose Custom DNS and copy and paste each of the nameserver numbers in.
Save all changes and now you just wait for them to connect! It is that easy!
It may take up to 24-48 hours for them to connect but usually, it’s not that long!
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!
When you first decide to start a blog it can be hard deciding on which hosting to use. There is so much to learn about blogging as is and now you have to make all these decisions on which platforms and companies to go with. If you aren’t even sure what hosting is then here is my “in nutshell” explanation – It’s where your blog “lives” on the internet.
Let me explain a little more. If you want to start a blog you have to have a place to build your blog. You can’t just start typing blog posts and have nowhere to put them. Hosting is where you can house your blog. Once you purchase your “house” (hosting) then you will need to install the WordPress platform to turn that house into a home. Turn your hosting from just a location on the web to a place for people to come and read your blog.
Just like your home, your blog will need an address or domain name as well. This can be purchased separately or depending on your hosting company it can be purchased with your hosting.
Is there free hosting?
Yes, there are free hosting options out there but you would not own your home you would be renting your home (again, if my analogy isn’t clear your “home” is your blog). If you use a free hosting site then it’s like you are “renting” space from them. Those types of sites would be like Blogger.com or WordPress.com.
I know if it wasn’t confusing enough…there is a WordPress.com and a WordPress.org. WordPress.org is the one that you want and you can install it in your hosting platform after you choose which hosting provider to use.
So, why not go with a free option? If one day the free platform decides they don’t like your blog they can delete it since they own that space. I have heard of horror stories of bloggers who used the free option and after years of blogging lost everything because of that exact thing happening. Plus, you don’t have all the freedoms to monetize your blog the way you would like with a free hosting option.
Clearly, it is worth the few bucks a month to use a self-hosting company like HostGator, SiteGround or BlueHost.
But which one do you pick?
Personally, I have used all three. Currently, I use SiteGround but I had no issues with the other hosting providers so it is really just your preference. Most bloggers use one of those three self-hosting providers.
To know which is best for you, you just need to do a little research on each and compare them. I know that Blue Host used to be the most highly recommended but lately I have seen SiteGround recommended a lot. I have heard some complaints of downtime with BlueHost but none with HostGator or SiteGround.
Here is what you need to look at when deciding which hosting you should use for your blog
1. References and Reviews
What is the first thing we do when we are looking at making a purchase? We check out the reviews. Do some research and see how each company’s reviews are and read up on who your blogging mentor uses.
I started following Dave Risely at https://www.blogmarketingacademy.com a few years ago and he was the first person to convince me to switch to SiteGround. He has been a blogger for many years and I trusted his recommendation.
Lastly, is Amy Porterfield. I took one of her courses on email marketing and in the course, she suggests SiteGround.
Now that is just three out of the millions of bloggers out there so again do your own research and find the company that fits your needs. If you are looking for my personal review then I will say that although SiteGround has been a reliable hosting provider they have also increased their price every years since having them. Something that has made me re-evaluate staying with them.
2. Price
Obviously, a major factor when choosing anything is the price. Especially when you are starting a blog and you are not quite sure about making the investment. It is a big step making that commitment to purchase hosting and start a blog. I know! I have been there! So naturally, you are going to want to compare prices.
Each company has different tiers and plans to choose from. Look over all of your options, keeping the reviews in mind, and make a decision on which company is best for you! Luckily most plans are only a few bucks a month!
3. Multiple Websites
This isn’t a concern when you are starting out but it was something that was important to me when I first started. I wanted to be able to host more than one site. I knew I wanted more than one blog and my husband needed a website or his lawn care business. I purchased the GrowBig plan that allows me to have multiple different websites with the same hosting account.
Again, when you are first starting out and you want to keep your expenses to a minimum I don’t suggest this plan. I suggest just getting what you need to get started and you can always upgrade later!
4. Domain Name with Your Hosting Plan
As I mentioned before some hosting providers offer a domain name with their plans. When I signed up with SiteGround I got one free domain with my plan. I don’t remember that being in the details so it was a nice surprise when I logged in and it told me to register my free domain. I don’t know if that was a special that they were running at the time or what so watch out for that to be an option. Again, I don’t see anything about it anywhere now so maybe it was a special they had at the time.
There is a downside to that as well that I should mention. Shortly after purchasing my hosting and registering my free domain name, I decided to switch the niche and name of my blog. So to do that I had to purchase a separate domain name which I was able to easily do through NameCheap. But since the first one is linked to my account in SiteGround, although it has not been renewed, my account is still called that original name. I can’t change it to my actual blog name without making more problems. They said it was easier to just leave it. So there is that to think about as well.
I don’t know if HostGator is like that and really it’s no issue to my blog at all either way so if you are looking for a free domain the banner below will help you get a free domain with your hosting!
5. No Downtime
I have been with SiteGround for a few years now and I haven’t had any downtime. There was one time my site was messed up but it was because of my theme, not the hosting and SiteGround was great at helping me figure out that was the problem! I then had to go to my theme provider and they fixed it.
I have read many times from other bloggers too that they have not experienced any downtime with SiteGround. That is a big deal when your blog is your income! This is where the reviews and references will come into play! Again, I have heard of some instances with BlueHost having downtime but I haven’t heard any about HostGator.
6. Amazing Customer Service
This is so very important to me. Nothing would be worse than making that purchase and then come to find out the customer service is poor! I am not the most tech-savvy person and I need help when something doesn’t make sense. If that company doesn’t have good customer service then you would be stuck either struggling on your own or you may even just give up on blogging altogether.
I love the live chat option. I don’t like reading all these forums trying to sort out if someone else’s situation is the same as mine and how to fix it. I don’t like calling and being put on hold forever and then talking to people. I am a text me kind of girl. If there is a way to do it through an app or online then I always choose that option over calling. I don’t want to talk to you on the phone. In-person, that’s fine! On the phone, nope. So I say again I love the live chat option!
I have had to use it a couple different times with SiteGround and they are very quick and help me right away! Also recently I have been in contact with HostGator and the email response time has been very quick and professional!
So once more, research and go through the reviews and see who has great customer service!
7. This one is a bonus – do they have an awesome affiliate program?
One of the main ways bloggers make money is with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when you earn a commission for referring customers to a company. You can become an affiliate for almost anything nowadays. So if your blog is all about training puppies then you might become an affiliate for Chewy.com. Then when you share tips with your readers about awesome training treats you can insert your affiliate link to your favorite training treats.
When your reader clicks on the link to go purchase your recommendation because they trust your opinion, you get a commission of the sale! How awesome is that!
So it was a great surprise to learn after signing up with SiteGround that they offered an awesome affiliate program! It is a tier system so the more people that sign up using your link the bigger the percentage they pay you. I don’t know all the legal stuff so I don’t want to go too much into detail but I think it’s a great system!
SiteGround isn’t the only one that offers an affiliate program either. I know many bloggers promote BlueHost to their readers because they have a great affiliate program.
Recently, I became an affiliate for HostGator as well as SiteGround. I have used both companies and like them both. I currently use SiteGround but I am always open to the better deal. HostGator has offered to give my readers a special discount using my referral link which SiteGround has never offered to do for my readers. If you are interested in trying how HostGator for this special price then you can do that right here!
Need More Information?
If you are like me and you need more information before you jump into something then take a look at these blog posts!
Maybe you are more of a take action kind of person like my husband than you can get started right here with either one of these three hosting providers!
Choose your plan that fits your needs. Click get started. If you already have a domain name then you can enter that or purchase one with Name Cheap. Plus, if you look on RetailMeNot.com they usually have coupons for Name Cheap. I got my domain all said and done for only $9 for the year! Then you just review and complete!
Side note: Don’t forget that HostGator offers a free domain with the purchase of certain hosting packages!
Congrats! You now have your very own hosting for your blog!
If you purchased your domain name elsewhere then make sure to connect it to your new hosting. That was something I didn’t realize when I very first started. I was getting so confused about why it wasn’t working.
You have to connect them. Especially if you got them with different companies. It seems silly that I didn’t know that now but if anyone else is like me then there ya go! Don’t forget to do that part!
