In order to get your web site launched, you will need to do two things:

   1. Get a domain name.
and
   2. Purchase hosting service.

Coming up with a good domain name is probably the most important, and because of this, the hardest part of the equation. Domain names can have a large impact on Search Engine Optimization for your web site. A good domain name can make or break your web presence. But once you’ve got that winning name, you need to register it. Where do you go for this?

Domain Registration

GoDaddy $9.99 ($1.99 with any non-domain purchase)

I recommend GoDaddy. Their site is great, especially if you are going to be managing multiple domain names. The user interface is pretty simple. And even more welcome news for someone just starting with their web presence: you can call their technical support line and they will walk you through the process of registering the name. Take advantage of this and ask a lot of questions if you’re new to hosting.

I have heard and read numerous things on the Internet complaining about GoDaddy’s phone support. These reports must be old. I have called them a number of times in the past few months with different questions and issues. In every case, once you get through their queue (usually about 10 to 15 minutes), you are talking to a live, English speaking person who is polite and knowledgeable. They answered my questions quickly and then asked if there was anything else they could do.

My only complaint is that sometimes their web site runs a little slow. Once your site is up and running, however, this is no longer an issue. It’s only during setup and configuration that you really need to use their Control Panel tools.

Dot5hosting $9.95/year

Definitely one of the cheaper domain registration services around. You can register a .info domain for as little as $1.99 per year. Other top level domain names (such as .com and .org) have other prices.

DotSter $15.95/year

DotSter offers 30 days of hosting free, with a domain name purchase. Their web site is a little complicated to use and it’s hard to find everything you need, so this may not be the best choice for beginners.

All of the registration services listed above also provide domain transfer services, as well as “private registration” – the ability to register a domain name and keep your name and address private in order to reduce the amount of spam that you would otherwise receive.

Hosting Service

Most hosting companies provide domain registration services as well. So, while this list has been broken down into registration and hosting, almost all the companies listed will provide both types of services.

Which hosting service to use is a more long-term question. What level of support will you require? How much bandwidth will you need and how many email addresses? There are quite literally hundreds of hosting services to choose from with various options and packages and specials going on.

GoDaddy $4.99/mo

In addition to domain registration, GoDaddy also provides Hosting. No surprise here. They have Windows and Linux servers, a number of different plans for low and high bandwidth needs. If you’re starting out with a relatively small site and won’t require huge amounts of bandwidth, check out their hosting plans. If you have both your domain registration and hosting with GoDaddy, their web site makes it easy for you to setup and configure your site to get it running.

One thing to note: if you’re going to be using PHP on your site (which is required by WordPress and many other software packages), GoDaddy by default does not provide PHP 5.x, so you have to specify this during account setup. It can be changed later if you don’t do this, but it’s a little tedious.

HostGator Packages starting at $7.95/mo

HostGator consistently gets high marks from users due to their reliability and excellent customer support. HostGator also provides a 45 day money back guarantee on their hosting service. That is not something you see everywhere. They are now offering unlimited bandwidth and disk storage and unlimited domain hosting. And for the green lovers, HostGator now powers and cools their servers using wind power. They also have hundreds of free templates you can use, as well as shopping cart applications, and many more features.

Both GoDaddy and HostGator provide discount plans for longer subscription terms. If you purchase two, five or more years hosting service at a time, you can make substantial saving.