Plan to register a domain name? Read on...

One fine morning, I decided to go ahead and register a domain name. This is something that has been going on in one corner of my mind for quiet a long time. I never knew how to go about getting one. Now, having walked the road, I thought of sharing some of my experiences in the process of registering a domain name.

What I just realized is that its really easy to register a domain name today - Provided we take a little care in selecting the right domain registrar. A Domain Registrar is an entity who registers a domain name with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Selecting a registrar matters the most. The quality and services that a registrar offers will determine how easy or tough your domain name maintenance is going to be.

Here is what happened to me. Without doing a background work, I went ahead and registered a domain name with a Domain Registrar called www.RegisterFly.com. I waited for a day, but still I could not get access to my registered domain name, nor was I directed to it from the browser. This is when I started to browse the internet and came to know that RegisterFly was terminated by ICANN! (Luckily, my credit card has not been debited of the charges that RegisterFly levied on me for the domain registration)

So, here is the way you should ideally go about registering a domain name...

1. Select the registrar you want to register your domain with
   
2. Got to www.ICANN.org and check if the registrar is listed there. Click on the Registrar's name and see
3. If you are taken to the Registrar's site, then its OK. Else you should see a legal Notice put up.
4. If the Registrar is listed, and is OK, then you are all set to go and register your dream domain name!

Good Luck!