Domain name can be registered with one company, and then the web site is hosted with another company.  More and more web hosting companies provide free domain names now, as long as you stay with this company.  Since almost all big web hosting companies provide domain name registration, it will be better if you can find a good web hosting deal first, like listed in the Web Hosting page. 

Here is the instructions for registering a Domain Name:

1.    Find a trustable domain name registrar company by word of mouth or research on Internet.  We recommend the following top domain name registrars, since they are reliable and trustable.

Go Daddy - Biggest domain name registrar

1&1 - Reg. price $8.99. Special $6.99 Discount Price. Plus free privacy + free email.

Network Solutions - Register Your Domain Name Here
Network Solutions - Transfer to Network Solutions

Dotster - Buy one domain, get one free!
Dotster - Transfer your domain for just $6.99 and get a year free!
 

2.    There are quite a few root domain name you can choose from, like .com (most popular), .net, .org, etc.  Some root domain names are country specific, like .us, .ca, .de.  Some domain names are for special purpose, like .mobi, .biz.  The prices are different for different root names.  Just choose the one you want the most.  Normally, we recommend .com root name, because when people try to access your site, they tend to input .com first.  If you made your site famous but with some root name other than .com, then the yoursitename.com domain may steal some of those traffic belongs to your site.

3.    Think a name you like the most and put it into the box before root domain name (let's say .com), to make it looks like "yourdomainname.com".  Please try to find a easy to remember, easy to spell, no offese name as much as possible.  For example, "ebay.com" is a good domain name, but "wefaerfdffdf.com" is not good.  The system will check if this domain name has been registered by other people.  If no, then you can move on to finish the process.  Otherwise, you need to think another name and try again.  Some system may provide some available names related to what you have just input.  If you think anyone of them is acceptable, you can just select it and move on.

4.    Once the domain name you want is available, you can choose how many years you want to hold the domain name.  Please note that the registration fee is not refundable.  After the years you paid for, you can choose renew your registration, or stop paying for it to let it expire, or even sell the domain name before expire if possible. 

5.    Then you may choose if you want to host your web site with this company or not.  If you want to host your site with another company, you will need to change the DNS Server information for your web site.  Otherwise, nothing needs to be changed.

6.    All other add-on services are optional and can be added any time later.

7.    Then follow the instruction on screen to finish mailing address information, billing information to finish the purchase of the domain name.

8.    The company will send you the login account name and password normally through email in couple of minutes.  Then you can use them log into the registrar company's web site to further configure your domain.