How to register a domain name for your business

Step-by-step

1

Check the name before you pay

Say the address aloud and ask someone to type it. Check spelling, availability and whether it could be confused with another business. An available domain is not clearance to use someone else’s name or trademark. Country-specific endings can have their own eligibility rules. Choose an address suited to your real business rather than adding a long string of search terms.

2

Compare the renewal price and what is included

Read the first-year price, renewal price, registration term and any transfer or restoration charges. Check which optional items have been added at checkout: email, hosting, certificates and privacy products may be separate purchases. You do not need to buy hosting from the same company merely because it registers the domain. Record the actual quoted total and currency rather than relying on an advertised introductory price.

3

Register in an account the business controls

Use accurate registrant and contact information and keep the confirmation. If a designer handles the purchase, agree who controls the registrar account and how you will receive access. Choose a recovery email you can still reach if the new domain stops working. Enable available account protection, keep recovery codes securely and assign someone responsibility for renewals.

4

Write down the setup you already have

Before changing DNS, save the current records or take a screenshot. Note whether the domain already handles email, a website, verification records or other services. Replacing every record with a new website configuration can disconnect working email. If someone else manages the domain, ask them to make the specific changes your website provider requests and to preserve unrelated records.

5

Connect the website using its actual instructions

Open the custom-domain setup in your website provider and copy the exact record names and values shown there. Registrars use different interfaces; avoid copying another website’s IP address or DNS records. On Adviita, connecting a custom domain requires Core or above, and domain registration is separate. Follow the setup screen for your own site rather than a guessed universal configuration.

6

Verify the address, HTTPS and existing email

Open the address in a private browser window, try both the bare domain and www if you configured them, and check that visitors reach the intended site over HTTPS. Confirm one preferred address is used consistently. Send and receive a test email if the domain already has mail service. DNS changes may take time to become visible, so distinguish a pending change from a wrong record before making repeated edits.

7

Keep a small domain handover record

Store the registrar name, account owner, renewal date, payment owner and website provider in a place the business can retrieve. Keep passwords in a password manager rather than the handover document. Add an independent renewal reminder. If the domain expires, follow the registrar’s process promptly; recovery options depend on the domain’s status and applicable policies, so there is no single safe grace period to assume.

Common questions

Sources and further reading

• ICANN: registering a domain name
• ICANN: renewals and expiration
• Adviita plan requirements