Even most beginners to website creation know that securing a domain name is the first step to getting a website up and running.

However, small business owners looking to launch their website will often prematurely buy a domain name without knowing what the next steps are AFTER buying a domain name.

As a result, these small business owners often get roped into buying expensive and unnecessary extras like private domain registration, email accounts, and hosting that are added on to their domain name purchase.

Just Say NO

It’s difficult to say NO to the clever marketing strategies presented by domain name registrars especially if it’s your first time purchasing a domain name. If you’ve ever registered a domain name, you know the marketing tricks some domain registrar companies are using to prey on unsuspecting customers. Some domain name registrars are infamous for their aggressive upsell strategies presented at the time of checkout.

During the checkout process, domain name registrars might say things like…

Some of these add-on products and services are valuable and necessary for certain customers.

However, most of the time, these services are not needed at all or will be included with affordable hosting services that will likely be purchased by the customer at a later date. Regardless, it’s usually not smart to get these services together with your domain name purchase until AFTER you know where you will buy website hosting from.

I can’t tell you how many of my clients start out asking about my services and tell me they purchased their domain name already and they’d like help in setting up their website.

That’s music to my ears…

until I find out that they spent a ton of money on 5 years of hosting, 10 email addresses, and private domain registration not even understanding what they were getting.

Lock Up Your Domain Name

Don’t get me wrong – There are good reasons NOT to delay in purchasing a domain name.

Many people are worried that the domain name they want is going to be snatched up. That’s a legitimate concern and it is certainly wise to lock up your domain name of choice to secure it for your use.

If you need to lock up your domain name, head over to GoDaddy now and do it. Just don’t buy any extras!

However, I always recommend that people purchase their domain name only and not add on any other services. Delaying other decisions allows you to remain flexible in how you design your website and what other services you choose to use for your website.

It’s important to know how you plan to build your website before you buy hosting, email addresses and other services. Here are a few examples of reasons why you should NOT buy extra services with your hosting:

• The hosting account that you choose to purchase will likely include email addresses
• If you want to build your site in using a popular content management system like WordPress, you’ll want to be sure to choose a hosting provider that makes it easy to install and maintain your platform of choice.
• If you’re hiring a website designer, you may want to take their advice on website hosting and other features..

So if you’re a small business owner and you want to lock up your domain name, go for it! But don’t get sucked into buying all the add-ons. Just secure your domain name and then consult with a professional web designer or do your own research to determine what your best options are for all the other website services you need to complete your web presence..