Owning a domain name and hosting for a website can cost thousands. But in Nepal you have an option of a free domain name that costs zero for your lifetime, which is amazing for nepali citizens. You can run your personal website or a business website with a free domain name.
There are two types of domain name .com and .com.np. .com domain is a world competitive domain name whereas .com.np domain name is a country competitive domain name. Depending on where your targeted consumers are, you can choose your domain name. .com.np domain targets nepali consumers, but if you are planning to target international consumers then this domain might not be suitable for you and you might opt for a .com domain.
To make your domain registration process easier, we have prepared a 5 steps guide to get your own domain name.
1.sign up in .np domain registration website
First of all, you need to go to the official site of register .com.np website and sign up using your email and password. Upon signing up they send an email with a link in which they ask for a re-enter of your username and password and your account is successfully created.
2. Check domain availability
Domain is a name that represents your website name. for eg. www.facebbook.com or www.youtube.com , facebook and youtube are domain names. While choosing for a domain name if you are applying for a .com domain you can choose whichever name that isn't taken but in .com.np it should be directly connected to you. For example my name is Bimala Shrestha and I cannot apply for Anju or Garima. That kind of name doesn't get approved by the mercantile company. If you have unique name you can easily pickup your domain name but if you have a common name, you can try putting in some numbers or your surname.
3. Fill up the online registration form
After getting your availbilty of your domain name you can go to the further process or next page where you need to fill up the form of domain request. Fill all the required details and for the name server, if you have already taken the hosting then they will provide name server like hosting.com.np but if you haven’t, you can consider for hosting plan otherwise you can use Cloudflare's hosting services that are free of costs. For the technical contact you can just click where it gives option to copy administrative contact, that way process will be faster.
4. Required document
i) Citizenship or passport
Completion of form it requires documents to prove that you are Nepali citizen. You can either upload your citizenship that contains both of sides or passport. Scanned copy or photo of your file must be on jpg or jepg format that is less than 200 kb. If you need to edit your document you can use Canva app to simplify your work or any editing app that is easy for you.
ii) Cover letter
Another required document for the registration is cover letter. It is a descriptive letter that is written to the manager of mercantile company mentioning why do you need your domain name. Here is a sample letter that you can use as a reference and don't forget to include your signature at the end of letter.
Date: ________
To,
The manger,
Mercantile company Nepal
Subject: request for .com.np domain
With reference, I would like to register my domain name bimalashrestha.com.np. I have already submitted the online domain registration form and attached the scan copy of my citizenship/ passport with this application.
I would be really grateful if you register my bimalashrestha.com.np as soon as possible. Thank you for taking time to consider my application.
Sincerely
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5. Check status
After uploading required documents, upon verify, the mercantile company approves your domain request. It takes 2-6 days for the verification. But if it shows it isn't approved for insufficient information or any other reason, you can redo the form considering reason. Then wait for the status of approval. After approve you can connect your domain name with your hosting and your website is ready to go.