Full Transcript of the video:
In this video I’m going to walk you through how to buy your first domain name and then forward it to a free location, like a free website, a social media page or a link tree page.
In a previous video I shared how to get your organization online for $12. If you haven’t already, watch that video before this one. I share some ideas on how to pick a good domain name.
Now, let’s buy your domain name and get going!
I will be showing you how to buy a domain name using Google’s own service at domains.google.com
There are lots of other services out there. Almost all of them cost more than Google’s own and charge you extra for features Google domains gives you for free, including a free website. But feel free to shop around.
You must have a free Google account in order to do this, but you can actually create one as you’re checking out if you don’t. Most people already have a Gmail account which will work.
Go to https://domains.google.com
Click on Get a New Domain
Type in the domain name you want. Like I shared in my previous video (How to Get Your Organization Online for $12), it’s ideal to have the .com or .org version of your domain. But the other domain extensions are very common now and can be a great option for you.
Double, triple check your spelling because once you’ve bought a domain, it’s yours for a year. You can buy multiple of course, but no sense wasting money.
Full disclosure, I’ve purchased a misspelled domain before. When you’ve bought hundreds, it’s bound to happen at some point.
Just register for one year. If you want to go way far out, that’s fine, but not necessary at this point. Leave the privacy protection and auto renew toggles set to on.
The privacy settings hide your information as the owner of the domain name. This is an example of something Google gives you for free most other services charge you for.
Auto renew keeps paying every year to keep your domain name active. Make sure to always keep a current credit card on file because failing to renew a domain name can be a disaster. Some people make a living just buying accidentally expired domains and selling them back to you…
Custom email allows you to create a Google Workspaces account using your domain name. So instead of something@gmail.com you can have info@yourdomain.com
There are two times I recommend paying for Google Workspaces:
First, if you don’t intend to immediately create a website with a web host that offers email accounts. If you intend to forward your domain name to a free location then $6/month might be worth it for an email account with your domain name. Plus you get document storage and a lot of other cool features.
Second, if you’re going to have a lot of email accounts and need to have central management and control over them.
Pro Tip: Create Position Email Addresses, Not People’s Names
Create email addresses for positions or titles, not people’s names. Info@, Sales@, HR@, etc. The reason for this is you don’t wind up with abandoned emails you have to pay for, manage or take time to “merge” with another email. Even if the person changes, the email stays the same.
Personally what we do for almost all our clients is setup email on the web hosting where we build the website, then use free Gmail accounts. I will cover this in a different video.
If you are not going to immediately build a website then change the drop menu to Business Starter which is $6/mo.
Now, let’s check out!
After you’ve purchased your domain name, you can now forward it for free to another location. The most popular options are a free website builder like Google’s free one, which we will cover in another video, a social media website like Facebook or a Link Tree page.
Simply click on the Forward your domain to another location and enter in the web address of where you want to point it. If that is a social media website you’ll need to get the URL of the Business page. That can be kind of tricky to find on a mobile app.
Now your domain is pointing to your Facebook page. You can start posting there, sharing photos and information about your business.
Link Tree is another option. This is a free page which can have a list of… You guessed it… Links… Like all your social media pages or anything you need. It’s super easy to setup and update. It’s more like a website homepage than a social media profile.
So now you’ve got a full web presence online which you can update with simple content to start growing your organization.
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My name is Ellis Benus, owner of Floating Ax Technologies which is a Digital Marketing Firm. I’ve been helping organizations with their online presence for 15 years, 20 years, or something like that, but honestly who’s counting?
If you have further questions you can find me on FloatingAx.com
You can email me at info@FloatingAx.com or give me a call (or text) at 573 777 8800
If you do this exercise and pick a domain name please give me a shout. I would love to hear about what you’re doing.
