Client Guide

Your domain name, explained simply.

Everything you need to know to get your website online, in plain English. Five minutes start to finish, no tech background required.

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What is a domain name?

A domain is your website's address on the internet, like yourbusiness.com. It's what people type into their browser to find you. You don't "own" a domain forever, you rent it yearly from a company called a registrar.

Think of it like this: if your website is a house, your domain is the street address. Without it, no one can find you, even if the house looks great inside.

The Process

How to buy your domain in 5 minutes.

A simple four-step process. You can knock this out before your morning coffee.

1

Pick a name

Short, memorable, easy to spell. Your business name or something close to it is usually best. Avoid hyphens and numbers.

2

Go to a registrar

A registrar is the company that sells you the domain. We have a few recommended ones below. Pick whichever you like.

3

Buy it

Search your name, add it to cart, check out. The whole thing takes a few minutes. Pay for at least one year.

4

Send me the details

Let me know which registrar you used and grant access so I can point the domain to your new website.

Where to Buy

Recommended registrars.

Any of these are great. They're all reputable, fairly priced, and easy to work with. Pick the one that feels right.

Namecheap

namecheap.com

Friendly interface, fair prices, free WHOIS privacy included. A solid default choice for most clients.

Cloudflare

cloudflare.com

Sells domains at cost with no markup. Great prices, but the interface is more technical.

Porkbun

porkbun.com

Quirky name, great service. Competitive pricing and free WHOIS privacy on every domain.

Squarespace Domains

domains.squarespace.com

Took over the old Google Domains accounts. Clean interface if you're already in the Squarespace world.

$10–$15
Typical cost per year for a standard .com domain. You pay this directly to the registrar, not to us. Premium names cost more, but most clients pay around twelve dollars.

What I Need From You

Once you've bought it, send these over.

After your domain is purchased, I need a few things to point it to your new website. Most of this just takes a couple of messages.

Your exact domain name

The full address you purchased, including the .com or .net ending.

Which registrar you used

Namecheap, Cloudflare, Porkbun, etc. So I know where to log in or where to walk you through it.

DNS access

Either share login access or follow the simple instructions I send you. This is what lets me actually connect your domain to your site.

Email forwarding preferences

Want emails sent to [email protected] to forward to your personal inbox? Let me know.

Quick Tips

Do this. Skip that.

A few things that save you money and headaches down the road.

✓ Do This
  • ✓Turn on auto-renew so you don't accidentally lose your domain after a year.
  • ✓Enable WHOIS privacy to hide your home address and phone number from public records.
  • ✓Use a strong password on your registrar account. Losing access to it is a nightmare.
  • ✓Buy at least one year. Two or three is fine if you want to lock in pricing.
✗ Skip This
  • ✗Don't buy hosting from your registrar. I'll handle that.
  • ✗Don't buy email packages at checkout. We'll set up forwarding for free.
  • ✗Don't buy SSL certificates as an add-on. Your site comes with one already.
  • ✗Don't buy "website builders" or extra services. You don't need them.

Stuck or have questions?

If anything in this guide feels confusing, just reach out. I'm happy to walk you through it on a quick call or screen share. No pressure, no tech jargon.

Get in Touch →