How to Register a Domain Name in Ghana in 5 minutes

Most people think it is difficult to register domain names. No, not at all. Domain registration in Ghana, just like other countries takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

You can get your website running within the shortest possible time.

Before I take you through the 5 minutes step by step guide, let us get some few explanations right.

Importance of a Domain Name and Domain Registration

Domain names help to identify individuals or businesses online. It is very important to have one. I personally have a lot of them. If I plan to run a business, the first thing I look out for is the domain name.

Having the domain of your business or idea is a good investment. These days, most of the common names have already been bought.

It is, therefore, necessary to secure your domain name before someone else buys it. Else, people would type in your business name online and other companies would be showing instead. They would make the sales in your name.

Domain Related Terms You Should Know

Let us look at some common terms in domain registration:

• TLD: TLD stands for Top Level Domain. Examples are .com, .net, and .org. So, any suffix that comes after the main domain name is the TLD.
• ICANN: ICANN stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. This is the non-profit organization responsible for selling domain names on the internet.
• Nameservers: A name server is a specialized server on the Internet that handles queries or questions from your local computer, about the location of a domain name’s various services. Every web hosting company has a unique name server. This links your domain name with your hosting account. Please contact your web hosting provider for it if you bought your domain from a different provider instead of your hosting provider.
• Subdomains: Subdomains are the subsets of a domain name. For instance, business.facebook.com is a subdomain of facebook.com. These are for free, and most web hosting providers allow for an unlimited number of subdomains.
• Addon domains: These are domains on their own. If your web hosting package allows for additional addon domains, you can buy additional domain names and host on the same control panel. That is what is meant by addon domains.

Things to do Before Buying a Domain Name

Most people rush and make mistakes when it comes to domain registration in Ghana. There are certain things you need to know before choosing the right domain name. Like, the name should be short, etc.

I have written another article on how to choose the best domain names. You may want to check it out.

Domain Registration in Ghana: Step by Step

Follow the steps below to register your domain name in Ghana

1. Head over to OvationHall.com
2. Type the domain name of your choice in the search bar on the site as you can see below. Please remember to include the TLD (.com, .net, or dot org)
3. If the domain is available, click select domain or try again if not available.
4. Clicking on “Select Domain” would take you to the shopping cart page where you click to add the domain to your cart.
5. Click “Check out” and check the DNS Management and Email Forwarding checkboxes.
6. To get the domain for free, Click on “No Hosting! Click to add” just above the checkboxes to add a hosting package. This text is written in red.
7. Choose a package and use the domain already in your shopping cart.
8. Click continue and check out.
9. You can pay through PayPal or Mobile Money.

After Domain Registration, What Else?

Okay, so, you are done with your domain registration in Ghana. What is the next step to take?

First, if you bought the domain and the web hosting package from the same provider, you don’t need to change nameservers. Just go ahead and upload your contents.

If you prefer WordPress or other content management systems, go ahead and install in your Cpanel with ease.

If you bought the domain from a different provider from your hosting account, as I said earlier, please contact your hosting provider for their nameservers, fill it in your domain management account and hold on for less than 48 hours for the DNS propagation to take place.