In business, it is very important for you to have your own website and domain because it makes you look more serious, more professional, and more believable. But on a tight budget, it can be expensive to get everything started.
First you have to register a domain, which costs anywhere from $10 - $15, and then you have to pay for a host, which can be as cheap as $5 a month, but you'll have to pay for a year upfront. To get started, you are looking at a payment of $70 plus tax all at once. This can feel expensive all at once. Here's how to have your own domain for $10.00 flat.
First go to Google Aps and sign up for a $10.00 domain. This will last you one year. Google Aps comes with 200 e-mail addresses, shared Google Documents, and Google sites. The domain is hosted through Godaddy. You can also go directly to Godaddy.com and purchase a domain for less than 5$ but it doesn't come with the bells and whistles.
Next go to free.prohost.com and sign up for a free hosting account. Your free host will look something like you-domain.white.prohost.com, which is very unprofessional. That's why you have your godaddy domain. Your free account comes with FTP access or an online file manager.
Third, you must set up your godaddy domain to point at your prohost website. To do this, log into your Google Aps account, go to domain settings, and click on "advanced DNS settings." This will take you to a page with a username, password, and link to your godaddy.com DNS login. Login to godaddy.com and you should be on the domains manager tab. CLick on the checkbox next to your domain, then click on Nameservers. A box will appear. Where it says "nameserver 1" typpe in "ns1.dns-solutions.net" and where it says "nameserver 2" type in "ns2.dns-solutions.net" Then click OK.
Now you may have to wait for up to 48 hours for the changes to take place, but it could take as little as one hour. Once some time has passed, login to your prohost account and click on "domain pointers." Type your domain into the box (i.e. yourdomain.com), and click ok. If it gets denied, wait a little longer, if it goes through great! You'll only need to wait for a few minutes for your settings to take effect.
When everything is done, and you typeyour yourdomain.com into a browser, it will point to your page that is hosted for free. This is how to get your very own domain and website for $10 or less per year
