Can I Own A Domain Name Outright
Purchasing an existing domain name gives a buyer outright ownership of the name. But, it still has to be registered under the new owners name with the appropriate fees paid to a registrar or hosting company, and the new owner becomes responsible for renewing the registration at the appropriate time.
Sell Your Domain Name
Stuff happens. Maybe inspiration struck at 3 a.m., when an amazing new domain name woke you from a dead sleep. And that other domain you already registered? It can still help you out.
You can get it in front of interested buyers via domain aftermarket sites that only take a small percentage of the sale.
One such aftermarket option is GoDaddy Auctions.
For an annual fee and a percentage of the sale, you can list your domain name for auction or set a buy now price and GoDaddy will handle all the details.
Related: 5 tried-and-true tips for selling domain names for profit
Cost To Register A Domain Name
According to HostGator, domain name cost ranges from free to tens of thousands of dollars, with the average domain name settling around $10-$12 annually. These factors will affect what you’d pay for a specific domain:
- The demand for the particular name you choose
- The TLD domain extension
- The domain registrar you’re purchasing from
- Whether the domain has already been purchased by someone else
- Whether you commit to an annual payment or another payment schedule
- Add-ons such as privacy
Whether you choose a free or paid domain will depend on your budget and your website’s purpose. For example, you might need a basic website or something simple and temporary. In that case, a free domain name might be a good option.
However, paid domain names look more professional and are more likely to grow with your brand. You should ultimately decide what will work best for your business and goals.
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What Happens If I Dont Renew My Domain Name
If you didnt set auto-renewal or forgot to manually do so despite the reminders from your domain registrar, your domain name will expire. This means several things:
- Your website will no longer be accessible by anyone who types your URL.
- The domain name will be available for sale again, typically in 30-days or so after expiration.
- It can also be auctioned on a website domain auction.
In essence, failure to pay a renewal fee means lost access to your domain.
Loss Of Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is something that you have more control over when changing your domain name. If you have frequent direct traffic site visitors , you risk losing them when you change your domain name. They may type in your old domain and when the site doesnt load, think that youve gone offline permanently.
You can mitigate this risk by using redirects and messaging. Implement a 301 redirect from your old domain to your new one for a period of at least 120 days.
Many site visitors will catch on and notice the new domain name, but you cant bank on everyone being observant. Instead, think about including a message or pop-up on your site announcing your new domain name or rebrand to make sure they see it and use the new domain name moving forward.
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The Domain Registration Dilemma
When you set up hosting for a website, you can also register your domain through your host . For a lot of people, keeping all your website stuff in the same place sounds like a good idea. You only have to keep up with one set of login information, and you know that your hosts technical support staff will make sure everything is configured correctly.
However, you also have the option to register your domain elsewhere and simply point it to your host. This is what I strongly recommend for a number of reasons.
Keep your domain in one place. If you ever get mad at your web host and decide to move your site, youll also probably want to transfer your domain if its registered with the old host. Domain transfers can be annoying, time-consuming, and confusing. But if youve registered the domain elsewhere, you dont have to do anything except update your DNS settings to point to the new host.
Register all your domains together. You might be thinking, But I only have one website! That may be true, but for many of us, websites are addicting. For example, I own 45 domains right now. If I need to manage them, like when I transferred all my files to my new servers, I can just go to my registrar and mass update the DNS settings.
Claim Your Free Domain
Once your payment goes through, youll have the option to claim your free domain name.
Select this option unless you want to buy additional domains or connect other domains you own.
From there, Hostinger will walk you through the process of selecting a domain name thats available. You can search right on their site.
Hostinger offers domains with different extensions, including:
- .com
- .us
- .club
In most instances, a .com domain will be the only one I recommend. But there are two reasons why you might get an alternative domain extension: price and availability.
Getting a .site or .tech domain is cheaper than a .com extension. But in this case, youre getting a year for free anyways.
Price aside, .com domains will be better for the long-term success of your website.
I recommend getting your domain name set up right away. If you skip this step now or click out of the window for any reason, dont worry, you can always claim your free domain by on your Hostinger dashboard:
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Can I Just Purchase A Domain
Anyone can buy a domain name. To do so, you visit a domain name registrar, such as A2, GoDaddy, or Namecheap, key in the domain you want to buy, and pay a fee. You cant buy just any domain, of courseonly one that isnt already registered by another person or business and that bears a valid domain suffix.
Upsells You Dont Actually Need
When buying a domain or web hosting, youll eventually get to the upsell page. Youll need to make up your own mind, if you actually need these services. Though as a good rule of thumb this is what to look out for:
- Hosting, most of the time everything you need is already in the hosting package
- Registrar, only buy the domain including privacy protection
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How To Create A Free Website With Your Own Domain
Apart from buying a new domain name from the website builder or hosting provider, there is a possibility to connect the one you have previously owned. It doesnt matter where you have got it you can attach or transfer it to your new account, following the guidelines the system generates.
Standard plan of actions looks similar to that listed in the previous part of the article. However, there are also a few nuances you need to consider to make the domain name connection process a success.
- Firstly, there is no need to buy a new domain from the system you work with. This eventually saves your effort, time and money.
- Secondly, you shouldnt forget to modify the DNS settings to make the domain eligible for transfer, if needed.
Typically, youll have to log into your domain name control panel and modify the NS records for your domain according to the instructions provided by the chosen website builder or hosting provider. The entire procedure doesnt take it long and can be completed even by a newbie.
Best Value: Cheap Web Hosting With A Free Domain Name
Its certainly tough to argue with free hosting and subdomain, but here we go: registering a custom domain costs less than $5 per month and instantly gives your website tons more credibility. Clients, coworkers, vendors, and employers will take your resumé, portfolio, or messages more seriously, and potential customers will view you as significantly more trustworthy.
Plus, by investing just a few dollars per month, youll find much more reliable and speedy hosting infrastructure, hundreds of one-click software installations, and 24/7 customer support available through phone, chat, and email. By generating modest amounts of revenue, these hosting providers can offer a custom domain registration totally free of charge. There will likely be a renewal fee of roughly $10 to $15 per year after your first year of service, but hosts typically offer domain names for significantly cheaper than do free hosts and website builders.
That reliability and legitimacy go a long way in the stability of your website. Because of razor-thin margins and depleted revenues, free web hosting services regularly shut down with very little notice disappearing into the ether and taking users sites with them. When GeoCities ended its hosting service in 2009, for instance, roughly 38 million websites were lost for good. You wouldnt want that to happen to you, right? Then read through these reviews of our favorite hosts that combine ultimate affordability with a free domain name.
Read Also: Transfer Squarespace Domain To Shopify
How Much Does Hosting Cost
Given how much cutting-edge technology it takes, the cost to build a website is surprisingly low. As you can see earlier in the article, several no-cost options exist that can get you online relatively easily. As your site gains prominence, however, you should expect to pay at least a little bit to keep up with your growth.
Like any other form of shopping, what you spend on web hosting depends on what exactly you buy. , making it the most common and affordable service.
Cloud or VPS plans represent the logical next step for growing businesses, and costs start at roughly $5 to $20 monthly. Dedicated servers are typically reserved for established, large-scale businesses and applications, and as such are the most expensive often costing upward of $75 per month.
Beyond the storage space, bandwidth, and memory included with your hosting plan, be aware there may be a few other expenditures. Domain names are typically free for the first year but can cost $10 to $15 annually in the future. You may also choose to upgrade your hosting and collaboration tools to premium versions of G Suite or Office 365, just like purchasing add-ons for extra security, domain privacy, or marketing tools.
Loss Of Money And Time
Want to know a really good way to waste your time and money? Go through the process of changing your domain name simply because you dont like it or feel a need for a change.
While primary domain name registrations arent expensive, some premium domain names are a bigger investment. Either way, if youre changing your domain for the sake of change, thats money that doesnt need to be spent and can be invested in your business in other ways.
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Learn How To Transfer Your Domain To Another Hosting Provider
The first time you registered a domain name for your website, you had to go through either a domain name registrar or a hosting provider. But if, for whatever reason faster load times, smoother ease of use, cheaper renewal prices you want to move your domain name from one host to another, its completely possible! The only restriction is that youll have to wait at least 60 days after purchasing a domain before you can transfer it.
The process of transferring a domain is easy, but it takes some time. Thats because youll need to wait for both your current domain name registrar and the host youre switching to to authorize the domain name transfer.
Here are the steps broken down:
Two Methods For Buying A Domain Name
Fortunately, it doesnt really matter where you buy your domain. At the end of the day, a domain is a domain, and you wont find any variations in quality based on where you buy one.
The biggest difference from one domain registrar to the next is the pricesome offer domains for just a few dollars a year and others can go as high as $20 per year or more. There are two ways to get a domain name, one of which is free for the first year and the other is not.
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Get Your Name Servers
Once you register your domain you’ll want to get the names of your web host’s primary and secondary name servers, and save the information in a good place. It is often in the FAQs section on their site, or under a category like “domain name”, “DNS” or “domain name transfer”.
If you can’t find it, email customer service. You’ll need the information to point your domain name to your webhost . If you got your webhost and domain at the same place then you don’t have to worry about this.
A Domain Name Has Authority
Hosting your content on a third party blogging or social media platform can seem unprofessional, and undermine your efforts to build a business or professional identity. Since these hosted platforms are often used for personal blogs and other kinds of informal sharing, it can be harder to establish your site as a trustworthy, authoritative source in your niche. Thats where domain name registration comes in. Your own domain name can let potential customers and clients know that youre a legitimate business with long term plans.
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Change Your Domain Name To Suit Business Needs
Having a domain name is important if you want to establish credibility with customers in the online space. Its an easy way to signal to shoppers what youre selling and to gain a foothold in your market. The edge you gain through landing that perfect domain name is well worth the time and money investments required.
Unfortunately, some people wind up with a domain name that accomplishes none of those things. As a result, they are forced to change the name. Fortunately, this process is simple: follow the steps listed above to land the perfect domain name.
Kristin Crabb
Content Marketing Strategist working in the digital marketing industry. Skilled in SEO-focused content creation, keyword research and competitive analysis, interactive content, web content optimization, and landing page creation.
Two Options Explained: Website Builder Vs Hosting
The range of web development tools is really extensive and versatile, but there are still two trusted web development options. You can either use a website builder or pick reliable hosting that provides free domain connection feature.
Lets have a look at two platforms, which are the most popular and credible representatives of both types of systems. These are Wix and Bluehost.
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