Top Things to do After Registering a Domain Name

For many, registering a domain name is the start of an exciting business venture, or at the very least an early step to getting a website online.

There’s a tonne of stuff to plan and consider during the early stages of getting a site and/or business off the ground, so much so it can be a bit bewildering.

So if you’re thinking “I have a domain, now what?” you’ll find this guide handy. We’ve written a checklist of the ten most vital things you’ll need to get done after your registration is complete.

Secure your business name at companies house

If your newly registered domain name isn’t being used for business purposes, or you’ve already registered your company name, you can skip this step.

You’d think this would be the very first thing any SME does before getting started with a new company, however, during the excitement of coming up with a genius idea that could make you an overnight millionaire, it’s easy to forget these things.

Set up an email address

Does any business run day-to-day without email anymore? There might be a few people holding out, but for the most part, using email is an integral aspect of running a website/company.

Not only is email the most common form of business communication, but it’s also a hugely effective way to inform customers of new products and offers. We’ll get further into email marketing later on, but first, let’s set up a professional email address for your domain.

First, you’ll need to think about what your email address is going to be; we’d recommend keeping it personal, something like yourname@yourdomain.com – or something simple such as info@yourdomain.com.

Secure your social media accounts

Before you get too involved with one particular social media network it makes sense to secure all the relevant social media accounts for your website/business.

In the short term you may only plan to use Twitter or Facebook, but who’s to say later down the line you might not look to use other platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram as you expand your social media footprint?

For branding purposes, it’s wise to ensure your social media accounts all have the same username/handle. There’s nothing more frustrating than going to sign up to a social network only to find someone else has beaten you to the punch.

Create an under-construction page

With the excitement of a new business or website launch comes the urge (and the need) to tell the world of your future plans.

If you do this before you have any kind of web page present it’s an opportunity missed. This is why it’s a good idea to get a holding page for your website online.

A holding page is useful for a few reasons…

• Firstly, it proves you have an active presence
• You can give a website launch date (or include count-down timer)
• Build your mailing list nice and early by including an email form
• Encourage social network shares
• Include a contact form/contact details so interested parties can get in touch

When building your website we’d recommend trying out WordPress – in fact, we use it for this very blog. It’s extremely flexible and since it is so incredibly popular, there are loads of fantastic support guides available online.

Add SSL to your domain name

Look up at your web browser address bar right now. Do you see that little green padlock to the left of our web address? That’s SSL in action. You’ll also notice that our address starts with “https” instead of “http”.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and is the industry-standard method of encrypting data sent between web browsers (your computer) and servers (web hosts).

This means any data sent between you and a website is secured, which is particularly important when dealing with sensitive information such as credit/debit cards.