If you want to launch a website online, there are two very important things to consider. First is the website’s domain name while the other is the hosting service to use. Out of the two, however, the most important is the domain name.
A site domain name is like it’s identity; it is what visitors will search for or enter into browser tabs to visit the website. If you want to buy a domain name in Nigeria, here’s how to go about it in just 3 steps;
Decide on Keyword
Your domain is likely to be a word. Take a popular Nigerian domain name for example “Jumia.com.ng”, Jumia is a word and at the same time the name of the business. So, the first thing to do is to decide on your domain keyword and it can be keyword related or bear your brand name if you are a business.
For instance, you want to open a music website, it is ideal for your domain name to have keywords like music, mp3, download, song, audio, etc. It helps in making the site’s purpose clear to the visitors. The same can go for businesses too. If you sell clothes, for instance, you might want to add keywords like fashion, style, tops, etc.
However, just like in Jumia’s case, your domain mustn’t include your business keyword. You might have a brand name that doesn’t reflect your business and there’s no problem going with that.
Check Extension Availability
By extension, I mean .com, .ng, .com.ng, .org, etc. The internet has been around for a long time and there are so many sites on the web. For this reason, the domain name you have in might have been bought and is being used by someone else.
You have to check the availability of your domain to be sure that it is free for you to purchase. You can simply look up your preferred domain name on any domain registrar website and you’ll get insights on if the domain is available and other related extensions you can go with.
However, the best extension to go with is .com. if you want to target solely Nigerians, you can opt for a .ng or .com.ng domain.
Make The Purchase
Once you’ve got an available domain, you can then proceed to purchase it and this is the easier task. Simply visit a renowned domain registrar website some of which includes Namecheap, DomainKing, Namesilo, GoDaddy, etc.
If you’ll be buying .ng or .com.ng domain extensions, you’ll need a Nigerian-based domain registrar like DomainKing, Hostnownow, WhogoHost, etc. Otherwise, you can go with any.
Also, note that you will need a MasterCard or Visa card to purchase domains from international domain registrars. Verve cards only work for the Nigerian based ones.
Conclusion
Buying a domain nowadays is no work. There are several domain registrars out there from which you can purchase domains at any time of the day. However, the main work is in deciding on the right domain name that will reflect your business. With the help of this article, you won’t find it so difficult.