Domain Names Help!

Hi everyone!

Thought i'd start by introducing myself - i'm Ali, a student from Scotland doing business management.

I have had an idea for a hobby website that has the potential to make a bit of pocket-money for my studies.

I think this website is great, been reading it all night and wondered if someone could help answer a few questions I have!

1.
This evening I typed my desired domain into my web-browser and it redirected me to a website with a different domain name. Now when I am trying, it says that the URL is not found on Google servers. I am concerned that by searching for the domain on a website (albeit only once or twice) it has now been bought and will now be on sale for a higher price.

What does it mean by saying "404 not found. The requested URL was not found on this server" when it was there only an hour ago?


2.
I see that purchasing a domain name works on a yearly basis. Say my website does start to generate a bit of money, will the renewal price sky-rocket?

By renting a domain, do I actually own it or can these organisations just remove it from me as they please?

A bit of advice on the best approach to take would be great, or even recommending the best site to purchase/rent a domain would be amazing.


3.
Hopefully people with a bit of experience will be able to answer this:

What is the best order in which to go about creating a website. I was considering drawing it on pen and paper, laying it out etc. Then purchasing the domain and host, design, test, then launch?


Thanks for any help you can give, I appreciate any comments
Ali x

Hi Ali, welcome to Elated. Good to have you on board!

1. Typing a domain name into your browser is not a reliable way to tell if the domain is available. It's quite possible that someone has registered the domain name but not put up a site for it. To see if a domain name is available, you need to use what's known as "whois". I cover this in the following article:

http://www.elated.com/articles/set-up-your-own-domain-name/

2. The amount you pay to register a domain is not connected with how much money your site makes.

When you register a domain name, you "own" it in most senses of the word. However it's possible that, if there's a legal dispute over the name (for example, it's trademarked by someone else) then the registrar may take the domain name off you and transfer it to the other party. This doesn't happen often though.

The above article has some tips for choosing a registrar.

3. It depends. If you're really concerned about grabbing a good domain name then you might want to register that first (they only cost around $10/year). Also you can save a lot of time by using a template, rather than designing your own site from scratch. You can save even more time if you use a CMS such as WordPress, rather than building your site yourself. It really depends on the kind of site, and also on how willing you are to learn the ins and outs of building websites.

You might also find this article helpful:

http://www.elated.com/articles/how-to-make-a-website/

Good luck!
Matt

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Matt Doyle, Elated
3rd Edition of my jQuery Mobile book out now! Learn to build mobile web apps. Free sample chapter: http://store.elated.com/