So you’re ready to get started on your Wordpress blog. Where do you start? First, you need to get yourself your own domain name. This will be the address to your new Wordpress blog.

I apologize to those that are already familiar with this process. I am going to go into step by step detail in this post for those that have never signed up for a domain name before. I know when I’m learning something new, the more detail I have the better.

There are a variety of places you can purchase and register a new domain name at. If you plan on setting up more blogs or websites in the future I recommend that you try to stick to one company. I didn’t do this. I went to wherever each tutorial suggested so I now have domains registered at 3 different places.

From what I have read recently I see many people recommending NameCheap.com. This is where I set up my domain for this blog that your are reading right now. Another benefit to NameCheap is that there are coupon codes you can use to save you a little bit of money.

To get your coupon code go to NameCheapCoupon.com. They usually come out with a different coupon code each month so be sure you get the most current code. Copy this code and save it for later.

The domain name that you choose depends on what kind of blog you plan to set up. You may be setting up a blog in a certain niche, such as interior design. You can choose a domain name that has your main keywords in it. You might do something like InteriorDesignTips.com or InteriorDesignwithDave.com. I recommend that you stick with a .com rather than choosing .net, .info or .org.

Another route some choose to take is branding themselves by getting their own name as their domain name. This is what Alex Jeffreys has recommended his students do on our Wordpress blogs for his coaching course.

How To Set Up Your Domain Name With NameCheap.com.

Once you have some ideas of what you want for your domain go to NameCheap.com. Under step 1 enter the domain that you want into the box on the top right.

Select .com under step 2 and then click submit.

You will now be taken to a page with a list of domain name options.

Yours will be at the top and it will show whether it is available or not.

It will also show you other varieties using .net, .org, .us. If your selection is not available I recommend going back and trying another name rather than choosing one that isn’t a .com domain.

Once you have the domain you want make sure it is checked and then click Add to Cart at the bottom.

The next step is to add the coupon code that you found earlier.

Enter your coupon code and click Apply Coupon. This will adjust your checkout price.

Then you want to click Standard CheckOut.

You will now come to a page where it asks you to verify the registrant contact, administrative contact, technical contact and billing contact.

I didn’t include a screen shot of this page because you don’t need to change anything here. All of this should be the same as the information you just entered to set up your account. Just click Continue to Options at the bottom.

NameCheap offers free WhoisGuard. I recommend that you opt in for this.

When you register a domain name your name, phone number and address are public for anyone to see. WhoisGuard will keep you information private. Rather than showing all of your information they will list NameCheap’s information instead. Not all companys offer this so that is another benefit to using NameCheap when purchasing your domain names.

Click Enable to opt in for it, remember it is free. Then click Continue to Options.

On the next page it will ask you about Name Server Settings. Since you haven’t set up your hosting yet just leave it at the default which is Use Our Free Name Servers. We’ll come and change this later. Scroll down to the bottom and click on Continue to Checkout.

Finally you are at the checkout confirmation page. Double check that your coupon price is listed. Your WhoisGuard should show as $0.00. Choose Pay With Credit Card and then click Proceed to Secure Payment.

Now you are at the final page where you need to enter in your credit card information. Once you have filled in all the required fields click Charge and Process. There, you are done. You now have your own domain name.

I know this was a long post, but I didn’t want to leave any details out. In the next posts we’ll go through setting up your hosting account, transferring your domain name to your host, installing Wordpress and much more. You will have you own Wordpress blog set up in no time.

If you haven’t already go to NameCheap.com and grab your domain name.

Again, if you have any questions feel free to contact me or to leave a comment.