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By Valerie Olmsted

Setting up a website has a lot of parts to it that may seem confusing to the newbie. It can also seem overwhelming but if you just take it one step at a time, it becomes easy. The first thing to do (after deciding to put up a website) is to choose a name for the website (see my article "How to Choose a Good Domain Name"). If you do all the parts right from the very start, it saves a lot of time and grief later.

Buying a domain name is pretty easy once you have an idea of what a good name would be. Be armed with a few choices before visiting the domain purchase site, as the name chosen might already be taken. It also helps to know what follows the dot; .com, .net,. us, .biz, .info, .tv, etc. The most common would be the.com, followed by .net-try to get one of those if at all possible. The reason for that has to do with what the public has become accustomed to. Plus, does it make sense to have a .tv if the website has nothing to do with video?

There are plenty of websites that specialize in selling domain names. Pull up a search engine and do a search for 'domain name purchase' or 'buy domain names'. Before purchasing a domain name, check out several places. Prices differ depending on services purchased. That $1.99 price that catches the eye often only applies when other services (other than domain names) are purchased, such as hosting, email, and traffic generation.

For those looking for the 'one-stop-shop' it can be easier-but sometimes more expensive-to purchase everything from one hosting service. Sure you can get the domain name, hosting, and traffic generation all in one, plus email, privacy, smart-web, a site builder, and other nifty stuff, all at one time. It might be more expensive, or it might be cheaper. It all depends on what specials are being offered at the time you are looking. Make sure you check the fine print to see if the offers are permanent or only for a specified time.

Once the chosen domain name is purchased, the others close to it should be considered especially the .net or .info, so the website is not confused with someone else's. Most services will offer a discount to add two or three other domains to the original order. When the purchase is complete, the next step is to point the DNS (Domain Name Server) to the appropriate hosting service, if the hosting service is different from the domain seller. Once that has been completed, the next step is to set up the website on the chosen hosting service-which is the subject of another article.

©2010 Dr.Valerie Olmsted All Rights Reserved

Dr. Valerie Olmsted is an author, naturopathic physician, metaphysician, internet entrepreneur, artist, speaker, and lover of life.

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Contact: Dr.Valerie Olmsted
2370 W. SR 89A
Ste.11-#121
Sedona, AZ 86336
928-257-3290