A domain name can be registered by an individual or an organization in a supervised and defined process.
A regulated registration
The registration of a domain name is an operation that is carried out online with a registrar or its reseller. Registrars must be accredited by ICANN, the organization that coordinates the domain name allocation system, for generic domain names or by the registry operator for other extensions. Thus, for France, the registry operator (also called registry) is AFNIC. Each registry operator is inevitably affiliated with ICANN.
The choice of the registrar
A search on a search engine will give you dozens of different results. The choice of a registrar is not neutral, it is better to take a few minutes before choosing the registrar where the domain name will be registered. On the one hand, because the choice may vary depending on the future use of the domain name. On the other hand, because prices can vary. Finally, because registrars have different qualities, particularly in terms of ease of management, customer relations and services.
Mandatory information to be transmitted
When registering, it is necessary to provide several mandatory information such as personal or professional details that must be accurate and updated in case of change. It will also be necessary to comply with the conditions of use established by the registrar and the registry operator.
The registered data is then put on a free public directory called whois. A service of anonymization to not make public certain personal information exists and must respect the rules relating to the RGPD.
Renew your domain name regularly
Although in common language, the term owner is used for the person or organization that owns a domain name, in reality, it is a holder (also called registrant). Indeed, a domain name must be regularly renewed. The domain name can be registered by its holder for a minimum period of one year, the registration period can generally be up to 10 years. It is necessary to renew it before or on its anniversary date of registration.