In this series of articles we are discussing the basics of starting a web ministry. While the free blog services we talked about in our last article will be enough for some web ministries, there are many who will be better served by registering a domain name and getting a web host for their web ministry. In this article we will talk about the process of selecting and registering a domain name. A domain name is the address that locates your site on the Internet. You can purchase and register a domain name for about $10/year.

Before you choose a domain name there a few things to consider. A domain name needs to be specific to your topic or ministry. Do not use abbreviations or nick names that no one knows. You want a domain name that has potential to create the most amount of traffic to your site. A well chosen domain name can have a big impact on the search engines. For example, let’s say we were starting a Web Ministry for the First Christian Church of Fairbanks. Do not get a domain name like FCCF.com. You would be better off getting “FirstChristianChurchFairbanks” or “FairbanksChristianChurch”. Why? It seems that it would be easier for people to type in FCCF.com than FirstChristianChurchFairbanks.com. The issue is about how people who don’t know your domain name find your web ministry site. With the right domain name, people could find you by searching for Fairbanks Churches or First Christian Church or Churches in Fairbanks. Since your domain name contains those words it has the potential of showing up on the search engines.

Once you have an idea about what domain name you would like, you have to see if its available. To do this, I like to use Good News Domains (www.goodnewsdomains.com).

Once you are at the Good News Domain site look for the “Start a Domain Name search” box:

Now just type in the domain name you would like to have, like this:

If the domain name you want is available, you will see the following screen:

It the domain name you want is not available, Good News Domains will provide you with some suggestions. It may take a little imagination but keep searching until you fin the right domain name for your web ministry. Once you have your domain name, follow the instructions on the Good News Domain site to get it registered. Once you have your domain name, you will need to get a web host. We will talk about that in our next article in this series on Starting a Web Ministry Basics.