When you plan to set up your own website for the purpose of making money online, selection of a proper domain name is essential. Domain name is the name which describes your website. When your website comes up in the search engine results, the domain name provides some information about it to the searchers. It should not be irrelevant or misleading and should match with the content of your website. Domain name selection is the first step to get your website online. Therefore, proper care should be taken when selecting the same.

The domain name selected should be short, memorable and easy to spell. It should relate to your core business. If your domain name contains more than three words, use hyphens. There are different domain name extensions available, such as, .com, .net, .org, .info etc. Of all these, .com is the most popular domain name extension (.org for non-profit organizations).

Domain names are easy to register. They are also cheap ( as low as $1.99). There are hundreds of domain name registration companies online. Some of the popular ones are, Yahoo, Register.com, Go Daddy, NetworkSolutions etc. These companies are all ICANN accredited. You can register your domain name for as many years as you want or you may register it for one year and extend it at the end of the year.

Before registering your domain name, make sure that it has not been already registered by somebody else. Even if a domain name has been taken by someone, it may be purchased from the owner. You may want to buy a particular domain name (which has been already registered) due to it's high page rank. You may buy used domain names through certain forums and websites such as, Digital Point, Sitepoint, Namepros etc.

When registering your domain name, you are generally given an option to keep it private. This will keep your details like name, e mail ID etc. out of the international data base.