There are a couple of ways I could of tackled this, one way was to manually add a 301 redirect in a .htaccess file and another way was to do a permanent 301 redirect in my Cpanel, I chose the later.

In this tutorial I want to show you how I easily redirected my old domain name within my web hosts Cpanel.

The first step was to log into my Cpanel.

After logging in, I had to find the icon under the Domains section titled Redirects. Click on it to continue.

Because I will no longer be using this site and I have since deleted it from my server, I want to make my redirect permanent, so in the dropdown menu I chose the Permanent (301) option.

Now I need to choose the domain name I want to redirect, (this domain name must be hosted on your server.)

In the next step I have to add the new URL, I usually open a new window or tab in my browser and go to the website I want my old domain name redirected to, I then copy the entire URL from the browsers address bar and come back to my Cpanel to paste it into the redirect page.

1. Add the new URL including the http://
2. Choose the redirect option, with or without www.(I left this as default as you can see in the image above.)
3. Click on the Add button to finish.

After completing the steps above you can see that I now have the old domain name pointing to my new website.

and Just one last check to make sure everyting is working correctly, I’ll go to a new browser window and type into the address bar the old URL, hit enter on my keyboard, and if everything is working correctly I should see my new website open up in the browser.

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This post will show you how you can easily add a new domain name in Cpanel.

Before you can add a Domain name in your Cpanel or web hosting account you need to make sure you have changed the name servers for the domain name. Otherwise your web host will not be able to recognize or find the domain name your trying to add, So basically this step will not work if you haven’t already changed your Name Servers.

If your not sure how to change name servers read my article on “How To Change Name Servers“.

The first step is to log into your Cpanel. If your not familiar with logging into Cpanel I have a short tutorial you can read titled “How To Easily Log Into Cpanel”

Once your into your Cpanel, look for the icon that has the “Addon Domains” text under it. It should look something like the icon in the screen shot below.

Click on the “Addon Domains” Icon to proceed.

In the next screen, you’ll see a form where you need to insert the details for your new domain name, ftp user name the rootfolder for your new site

Type in your new domain name, But leave out the “www.” then just left click with your mouse anywhere outside of the text box, the subdomain/ftpUsername, and Document root files text box’s should automatically be filled in for you.

Make sure you create a strong Password with upper and lower case letters with numbers and symbols.

If the details for your sub domain and root folders don’t automatically update, you may have to fill in the details yourself.

Make sure your FTP Username is something you associate with the corresponding website, and folder or directory you create can be easily associated with that particular site, Make sure you put the folder inside your public_html file. It will look something like this… “public_html/yourwebsite.com“.

As you fill in the fields correctly, you will see a green tick show up next to them.

After you have filled in all of the necessary information correctly, simply click on the “Add Domain” button, and that’s all there is to it.

The next screen you will see will simply be asking if you want to manage the files for your domain name or to go back to your Cpanel, You probably won’t need to do anything else at this stage so unless you need to go back into your main Cpanel area you can simply close this screen.

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If your not sure What Name Servers are, you can read my post titled What Is A Name Server?

But to quickly recap, A Name Server is basically the IP address of your Web Hosts server. This is where your domain name needs to point to in order for you to see your website on the Internet.

Why Do I Need To Change My Name Servers?

When you first buy a domain name, it’s hosted on, or pointing to the domain registrars name servers. You have to change the default Name Servers so your Domain Name points to your new web hosting account.

Don’t worry this is a lot easier than it sounds, Follow along as I lead you through the steps involved.

When you signed up for your web hosting You should have received an email with the details of the particular Name Servers they use.

If for any reason you didn’t get the email after signing up for your web hosting account, or you simply can’t find it, Just contact the web hosts support, You want to find out what their specific name servers are .

The name servers usually look something like …

NS1.YourWebHost.com
NS2.YourWebHost.com

Once you have the correct Name servers, log back into your Domain registrars account, The rest of this tutorial will walk you through the process of changing the name servers if you have bought your domain name through a GoDaddy Account.

Open up the GoDaddy home page in your Web browser and log in using the same username and password you entered when you initially bought your domain name and set up your account.

After you have successfully logged into your account Click on the Domain Manager Tab located in the left sidebar – Refer to the diagram below.

You will then see a page similar to the image you see below.

1. Because I have many domain names on my account I need to specify the domain name I want to direct to my web host Click in the check box for the domain name.
2. Click on the button titled Nameservers located on the top toolbar.

After clicking on the Nameservers icon You should see the following screen.

1. Click the I host my domains with another provider Radio button.
2. Type in your Webhosts Name Servers. Make sure you put in both NS1 and NS2 information.
3. Click OK

Click OK again to complete this task.

And that’s all there is to changing your Domain names name servers.

Your domain name is now pointing to your web host.

Now that you have completed this task you are free to logout of GoDaddy.

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In this article I want to help to reduce some of that anxiety for you, here I will show you a step by step pictorial on the exact steps you would take when you buy a domain name from Godaddy.com

CLICK HERE to go to www.GoDaddy.com

The screen shot you see below is what you can expect to find when you first visit the Godaddy.com home page.

Notice in the image above, you’ll a search box (where you can see the number 1). This is where you type in your desired domain name.

The next step (number 2) is to choose the domain extension you want, for example do you want a .com, .org or .net domain name etc…

and finally (number 3) hit the Go button.

What happens next.

Godaddy will search the whois database to see if your domain name is available or not, this only takes a few seconds depending on your internet speed so be patient, you will get a result back pretty quick.

If your initial search proves to be unsuccessful you have a couple of options,

1; you can choose another Domain name or try a different extension, or 2; look through the suggestions Godaddy has that are similar to your initial request.

Continue your search until you come up with something that you find is available and you are happy with.

Once you find a domain name available and you are happy with, click on the Continue To Registration button.

After clicking on the Continue To Registration button you will then see a screen asking if you want to upgrade your purchase, usually Godaddy will offer you the opportunity to buy the same domain name with a different extension. ie; .net .info…etc

A Word Of Warning,

Godaddy are the absolute masters of trying to get you to add additional products to your order, I think they must have gone to the same marketing school as McDonnalds (want fries with that?)

It really is not necessary to buy any extra domain names.

But if you do, it does provide you with some additional trademark protection and security from someone using a similar domain name and potentially harming your reputation, If you feel this could be an issue for you then by all means follow the suggestions and make the additional purchases.

Click on the No Thanks button to continue.

Your next step is to set up your account.

Just follow the prompts and Complete the required fields.

Once you have completed filling in all of your account information click on the Continue button at the bottom of the screen.

The next screen you should see will be where you can do the following…

1. Register your domain name for your desired length of time, you can choose anywhere from 1 to 10 years. Usually, the longer the registration period; the cheaper your domain name will cost.
2. You also have the option of making your registration public or private. If you decide to leave your information set as public, it will be accessible from www.whois.com. Private registration does cost an additional fee, but it does stop any one finding out who owns a particular domain name.
3. Unless you think you need to add any additional services from Godaddy click on the No Thanks radio button.
4. Click Continue.

A Word About Private Registrations.

There are varied opinions on whether you should choose a private registration or not. One argument against private registration is…

Not only do people think you may have something to hide but Google will as well, I personally couldn’t tell you if it will make any difference to your results in the eyes of Google or not, as far as I’m concerned it is just a rumor, but in saying that, I don’t worry about private registration, maybe I should, I don’t know,

You could always do a Search on the web and look for some articles on the pros and cons of private registration for your domain name and decide for yourself.

Here is an article about the pro’s and cons of private Domain Name registration you may find of interest. Click Here.

The Next Step Is…

Now you need to confirm all of the details you have filled in so far. Make sure you read this page carefully.

On this page you will find

1. You can insert any discount coupons here to receive a discount on your purchase. Make sure you update your cart after inserting your discount code before clicking on the checkout now button.
2. Choose your preferred method of payment.
3. Confirm that you agree to the terms and policy agreement.
4. Click the Continue With Checkout button.

Your next step is to make sure your account details are correct and everything is in order, then simply Checkout.

And thats all there is to It…

Congratulations you have just purchased your first .com domain name.

After your purchase you should receive an email with all of your purchase details. Make sure you receive this email, and keep it in a safe place where you can find it easily if you ever need to refer back to it.

If you are ready to look at purchasing a domain name all you will need to do is Click Here to get your domain name through www.GoDaddy.com and follow steps outlined in this tutorial.

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But…

What do you do if you go to register the domain name, and you find that someone else is already using it?

You could…

• Wait for the name to expire and pray that the domain name doesn’t get updated or renewed.
• Contact the owner of the domain and ask them if they want to sell it.
• Or you could just get a different domain name.

I am going to assume…

You cannot get the domain name that you initially wanted and now you have to come up with a new domain name for your website or blog,

I want to share with you the process I went through when deciding on a domain name for GlobalEvangelists.com.

Take from this what you can and apply it to your situation when coming up with a domain name for yourself.

But before I get started…

I just want to point out that choosing the name of your Church’s website or blog is something that will require a bit of planning and serious consideration on your part, You want a domain name that you will be happy with for the long term.

I know how difficult it can be to come up with good ideas on what you should call your site.

and I must confess, that I have been known to fall prey to rash decisions, quickly rushing in and buying a domain name because I thought It was a great idea and then after stopping and thinking about my overall strategy for the website, realized that I may have acted a bit hastily

My advice is…

Take your time when deciding on the domain name for your church website, it is a very important decision that you will have to live with for the life of your website and if your in it for the long haul, that could be a very long time.

Choosing the right domain name can be a real stumbling block when your getting started with a new website.

The way I like to go about choosing a domain name these days is, I like to take some time and think about what the overall theme and concept of the website will be.

I turn the computer off and write out all the ideas I have for my site,(Habakkuk 2:2.3) I try to create a visual image in my mind and on paper and then actually verbalize what it is that my site is going to be about.

What do you actually want your site to accomplish.

For example; my goal or vision for this site is, I want Global Evangelists.com to be the go to site for churches globally to refer to for advice when setting up their online ministries.

I want to create the best resource online for Churches, Christians or anyone else for that matter, who is open to the gospel, I want to use my talents and help Church’s build their ministries online.

The internet is about leverage…

The thing I love about the web is you may say something online once, but it gets read thousands of times over, lives can be changed and souls saved, all because someone started to build relationships with real people through the web.

So before I could choose a domain name I was happy with (and there were a few I were going to use) I had to verbalize and have a clear image of what it was exactly that I wanted this site to accomplish.

Initially some of the ideas I had for a domain name were revolved around building Christian websites and Church website advice, and how to build a church website and so on…

but…

my vision was so much bigger than just being about building a church website.

I wanted to tell the online Christian population that there is so much more to having a website than just putting a few pages up on the net, promoting your Church, or letting people know what time it is that you catch up on a Sunday.

Everyday on the web people are meeting new people.

Relationships are being formed, people are looking for answers and we as Christians need to understand this.

One of the last things Christ told us to do before he ascended into heaven was to go out into all the world, (Mark 16:15), we need to go to where the people are actually at, and for an ever growing population, that is the internet.

So after hours of brainstorming and refining my vision I started down the road of finding a suitable Domain name.

Then spending a few hours, no actually days, doing all of the usual keyword research and analysis, trying to find the perfect domain name using sites like nameboy.com and makewords.com I did what every Christian should do, I prayed about it and I went to the word.

After about one minute of going through the concordance of my trusty old work bible, I saw the word Evangelist, it practically jumped of the page, that’s when I realized that was the keyword I was looking for.

I then came back to the computer to find out what was available. and there it was www.globalevangelists.com Perfect.

If you want some tips on how to choose a keyword focused domain name I will have to share them with you in another article, but for now here are some tips to keep in mind when choosing your domain name…

• Try to keep your domain name as short as possible.
• Choose a domain name that is easy to remember and spell.
• Avoid using hyphens , it is generally considered that a domain name with hyphens is associated with keyword stuffing and spam.
• Don’t use numbers.
• Avoid using a number to replace a word for example don’t use 4 in the place of “for”.(unless you are movies4u)
• Use descriptive words that will say something about your ministry.
• Avoid the use of “churchy” jargon if you are specifically trying to reach the unsaved.(Acts 16:30)
• and above all else…
• Fall in love with your domain name.

As you can see, these are only a few suggestions for you to consider,

I would suggest you look at websites like makewords.com and nameboy.com to help get the creative juices flowing.

Another important tip that I would like to share with you, is to make sure you check out your new domain names history and if their are any copyright infringements in place. you can do that by choosing the Analise option at makewords.com

The last thing you would want to do is to set up your site and then find out that the domain name you purchased has been associated with Spam or Adult content!

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