Domain Names, Explained in Plain English

When I help someone build a website, one of my favorite moments is seeing their own domain name at the top of the browser. The site they’ve been working on now has an address they can put on a social account, share with a client, or send to a friend.

If you’re just getting started, you might be wondering how to register a domain name. If you already own one, you may want to know whether to connect it or transfer it to WordPress.com. And how do you get an email address that matches your domain name?

These are some of the questions our customer support team (also called Happiness Engineers) answer every day. We’ve brought the answers together in Make Sense of Domains, a free video course that explains your options and walks you through the steps.

Each short lesson covers one part of setting up your domain name. You can follow the course from start to finish or jump straight to the question you have today.

What you’ll learn

Start with an introduction to domain names, then choose from six lessons:

1. Register a domain name
   Choose a new domain name, register it on WordPress.com, and make it the address visitors see.
2. Connecting versus transferring
   Understand what changes with each option, including where you manage your registration and renewal.
3. Connect a domain name you already own
   Use a domain you bought elsewhere with your WordPress.com site while keeping it registered with your current provider.
4. Transfer a domain name
   Move a domain you already own to WordPress.com so you can manage it alongside your site.
5. Add email to your domain name
   Set up an address such as info@yourgroovydomain.com that matches your domain.
6. Manage DNS records
   Learn what DNS records do and how to add or update them for services you use with your domain name.

Make sense of your domain name 

Whether you’re choosing your first domain, using one you bought years ago, or bringing your address to a new WordPress.com site, there’s a lesson to help you take the next step. 

You don’t need to become a domain expert.

Make Sense of Domains is a free, self-guided course you can complete in about 45 minutes, or you can jump directly to the lesson that answers the question you have today.