• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer
A Bright Clear Web

A Bright Clear Web

A Bright Clear Web - Simple, effective, accessible websites

  • Home
  • About
  • Websites
  • Writing
  • Learn
  • Blog
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Websites / Registering a Domain Name with GoDaddy – Step by Step

Registering a Domain Name with GoDaddy – Step by Step

Posted: February 24, 2015 Updated: June 27, 2019 by Claire Brotherton
25 Comments

Domain name suffixes

This is Day 21 in the 30 Day Blogging Challenge. You can read Day 20’s post here.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is an essential for a website. This is the human-readable address of your site – without one, your website would just be found by a string of numbers representing the computer it’s on.

A domain name consists of up to 3 parts:

www. – indicates that it’s a web address (optional – see below)

example – the main part of the domain, usually representing a company or organisation name

.com – the domain suffix

Domain name suffixesThe domain suffix is the part that indicates what type of domain it is. Examples are:

  • .com – Company
  • .org – Organisation (usually nonprofit)
  • .edu – Educational establishment
  • .net – Network provider

Computer Hope has a comprehensive list of domain suffixes.

Countries apart from the USA also have their own domain suffixes, so we can have

  • .com.au – Australian company
  • .org.uk – Nonprofit UK organisation
  • .eu – European site

Domain names may have www or non-www versions; both variants are acceptable. It’s just a matter of personal preference.  Google Search Console used to have an option to select your preferred domain, but they have now dropped this feature.

Domain name buying tips

Domain names can be purchased from domain name registrars.

  1. The .com name is thought to be the most prestigious, though it’s harder to find a good one that hasn’t already been taken. If you are UK-based, you may prefer to go with a .co.uk domain name.
  2. You may wish to buy variants on your domain name with other suffixes, usually to stop other people from using them. If one or more of them are unavailable and you really want them, you might want to consider picking a different domain name.
  3. Make your domain name short and easy to remember.
  4. Avoid hyphens in your domain name if you can.
  5. Don’t buy hosting from your domain name registrar. There are several reasons for this, the main ones being:
    • Good domain name registrars usually make bad hosts.
    • It’s easier to move your hosting or domain if they’re with separate providers.
    • Better security – if hosting and your domains are in one place and you get hacked, the hackers get control of both.

Buying domains with GoDaddy

GoDaddy is one of the most well known domain name registrars, which I will use as an example here.

GoDaddy offers good prices, but is not the most straightforward provider to use.

Note that I’m using the UK version of the site to search for and buy a .com and a .co.uk domain name.

Here are the steps in registering

Go to uk.godaddy.com and search for the domain name you want (the middle part). Double-check the spelling.

I’ve searched for noonewillthinkofthis.

Make sure the domain name you want is actually available, otherwise you cannot buy it!

In this case, it is available.

GoDaddy asks if you want to get the .com version (the default). It also asks you if you want to buy the .co.uk as well, plus 3 other variants.

Available domains

Select the domain types you want. In this case, I want the .com and the .co.uk. This means clicking on the green button for the .com and checking the checkbox for the .co.uk.

If you want the .co.uk, it’s important to add the .co.uk domain name at this stage, as GoDaddy does not give you the option to add this domain name extension later on.

Make sure that the page says the correct number of domains are selected i.e. 2 for this example. Then Continue to Cart.

2 domains selected on GoDaddy

On the next screen, you will be asked if you want domain privacy. If you are in the EU, you don’t need this, as you are covered by the GDPR.

The domain privacy option hides your personal information from view from anyone searching for the owner of a domain. You can enable this if you choose, but it costs at least £5.99 every year. I don’t think it’s necessary, and there are some caveats. Read the Wikipedia entry on domain privacy for more information.

Ignore the options for hosting and email (scroll down the page) and click the orange Continue to Cart button at the bottom.

Click the orange button to continue to cart

Register to create an account, or log in if you are an existing customer.

Register or log in with GoDaddy

On the next screen, you will be asked to review your purchase.

Scroll down the page and you can enter a discount code if you have one. Hot UK Deals carries current discount codes.

Promo code entry

Scroll back up and check that you have the correct domains. The default is to register them for 2 years, but you can change this number to 1, 3, 5 or 10 – it’s up to you. Read here to see how the length of time you register your domain for for can affect your SEO.

GoDaddy will offer you more options like domain privacy (again), more domains (again), domain certification and search engine visibility. My advice is to forget all of these add-ons and just get the domains you want.

Ready to pay for domains

When you are happy, proceed to the checkout and pay.

Whew! You’re done – for now. You should receive a confirmation email telling you what you’ve bought and giving you your customer number. Keep this and your password safe (or use a password manager).

I hope this has helped you learn about registering a domain name with GoDaddy. If this tutorial helped you, I would appreciate a comment.

Related

Category: Websites Tags: 30 day blogging challenge, domain name, GoDaddy, registrar, website

About Claire Brotherton

Freelance web designer and front end developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. I love WordPress, code, learning and blogging.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kate Loving Shenk says

    February 24, 2015 at 11:09 am

    Well done!!

    Reply
    • chidi says

      May 29, 2016 at 6:07 am

      i wanted to find out the method of payment

      Reply
  2. Claire Brotherton says

    February 24, 2015 at 8:49 pm

    Thanks Kate!

    This blogging challenge is certainly challenging, but very rewarding. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Amjed Ali says

    March 13, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    Nice article, very informative!

    Reply
  4. Tom says

    February 7, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    very helpful thanks!

    Reply
  5. tim says

    February 9, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    100% detailed info …keep it up

    Reply
  6. Sunil Kumar says

    March 31, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    Very well written and I liked the way you explained it.

    Reply
    • Claire Brotherton says

      March 31, 2017 at 4:31 pm

      Thank you Sunil! 🙂

      Reply
  7. sid says

    June 5, 2017 at 8:46 am

    other things like email ventures ([email protected]) , search engine visiblity, and some other also additional things.. should we buy these

    Reply
    • Claire Brotherton says

      June 6, 2017 at 9:54 pm

      Hi Sid,

      I personally wouldn’t bother with the extra services. GoDaddy try to upsell you on everything.

      Here’s an independent review of their SEO services: GoDaddy SEO Services – No Kidding?.

      Thoughts on domain privacy: Domain Privacy Protection: Is It Worth It?

      As for email, I prefer to keep it separate from my domain name provider. Here’s an article about why it’s better to separate your email from your host: Why You Want Email and Hosting at Different Companies.

      I have my domain, email and hosting all with different companies. Spreads the risk.

      Reply
  8. Ed says

    June 24, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    Good quick info thanks

    Reply
  9. Sunil Kumar says

    December 10, 2017 at 9:41 am

    Thank you so much for this easy to follow tutorial.

    Reply
  10. Ayoola says

    December 29, 2017 at 7:08 am

    How do i link a newly purchased domain name to an existing website/blog?

    Reply
    • Claire Brotherton says

      December 29, 2017 at 3:29 pm

      Hi Ayoola

      It depends on where your existing site or blog is.

      If you bought your domain name with GoDaddy you can use their domain forwarding with a number of services e.g. Weebly, Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com. See this link for more info: https://uk.godaddy.com/help/forward-a-domain-12123

      For more info on WordPress.com specifically, visit their article on domain mapping.

      Reply
  11. Rakesh Koli says

    February 1, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    Hi, thanks for the tutorial. I purchased my domain according to your tutorial.

    Reply
  12. Dizzo says

    May 13, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    Hi
    How about the purchasing method

    Reply
    • Claire Brotherton says

      May 13, 2018 at 4:45 pm

      Hi Dizzo

      You’re right – I left that out. Here are the payment methods GoDaddy accepts from different countries.

      Reply
  13. Lia says

    September 26, 2018 at 5:03 am

    Thank you so much, this was very helpful to get started!

    Reply
  14. ajay says

    January 31, 2019 at 4:02 pm

    you had posted very good article admin, i wasn’t able to setup my domain, but now it’s done easily

    Reply
  15. raley says

    June 17, 2019 at 11:11 am

    Actually i want to get my domain hosted and since last 2 days i have been searching for the Cheap Linux Hosting provider other than redserverhost.com so can you suggest me some better options to get it?

    Reply
    • Claire Brotherton says

      June 20, 2019 at 12:22 pm

      Hi Raley

      The rule of thumb with hosting is you get what you pay for. Cheap isn’t always good.

      Hosting Facts have reviews of web hosts.

      I’ve used and like SiteGround (affiliate link). They’re not the cheapest, but their customer support is excellent.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How To Start a Photography Business from Home - CleverLeverage.com says:
    July 31, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    […] are many websites that let you check if the domain name is available for purchase and allows you to register your domain such as GoDaddy, Whois, Register.com, […]

    Reply
  2. How to Create a Travel Blog with WordPress - CleverLeverage.com says:
    December 3, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    […] Once you finalize on the name of your travel blog, you need to buy a domain name. There are several websites like Register.com, GoDaddy, Whois, etc. that allow you to check if the specific domain name is available and these sites also allow you to register your domain. […]

    Reply
  3. Website Ke Liye Domain Name Kaise Kharide – Earning Tips In Hindi says:
    December 29, 2018 at 11:34 am

    […] Or ye bahut hi achi baat hai agr aap ek professional blog banana chahte hai to apko uske liye domain name kharidna jaroori hota hai. Or yadi apne abhi tak apne blog nahi banaya hai to aap log yaha seekh […]

    Reply
  4. How to create easy and awesome blog in Blogger in 15 minutes says:
    July 17, 2020 at 7:54 am

    […] Guide to buy domain name from Godaddy […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Read my privacy policy.

potted cactus and laptop with code

Footer

Categories

  • Accessibility
  • Blogging & Content Marketing
  • Business
  • Personal
  • Software & Tech
  • Websites
  • WordPress

Top Posts

  • How To Create WordPress Excerpts And Include Links In Them
  • How To Solve WordPress Image Alignment And Text-Wrap Problems
  • Improve Your Divi Website's Reach With Divi Accessibility
  • How To Set Up And Customize Twenty Nineteen Theme
  • Registering a Domain Name with GoDaddy - Step by Step

Let’s Be Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
Copyright © 2014 -2025 A Bright Clear Web
  • Privacy and cookies policy
  • Site map