Do You Need To Buy A Domain Name

Are You Ready To Buy Your Domain Name

We told you there might be some things to do before buying a domain name!

Now that youve reviewed our 5 recommendations, are you ready to buy your own domain?

As a quick review, we talked about domain availability and history, sneaky hidden fees, domain registrars and some domain name freebies.

If you need more info on domains in general, were always here. Domains are our thing here at Nameboy, so were happy to help.

Ready to get your own free domain name and get started on your website?

Good luck! You got this.

Complete Control Over Your Domain

There are some registrars that only provide partial control over your domain.

This could include the registrar adding their own contact information to portions of your domain details , or even preventing you from making critical updates to your domain settings .

Your potential domain provider should be able to tell you their policies on this before you register your domain name, so dont be afraid to ask if youre going to have full control of your own domain before you register it.

Buying An Original Domain Name From Scratch

For many users, creating a domain name is the first step in the journey toward building a consistent, reliable online identityand that step generally involves brainstorming a catchy, original domain name or generating one with one of the many online domain name generators. With a name in mind, users can use name search tools or even a simple Google search to see if the name is available or if other names in use are close enough to cause confusion.

Buying a domain name doesnt necessarily mean making a one-time purchase and owning the name forever. A typical domain name purchase involving an original name actually means that buyers pay for the right to reserve the name exclusively for their own use. To buy rights to a domain name, a user has to register it either directly with a domain registrar or through a hosting provider for terms ranging from a year to several years. To keep rights to the name, a user must renew the registration when it expires or risk losing the name entirely.

Creating an original domain name establishes a new and unique online identity for an individual or business, but it can take time and effort to yield traffic and visibility, especially if the new domain name is poorly optimized for relevant keywords. To reduce confusion, new domain name buyers are often advised to buy as many similar names as possibleeven those with obvious misspellings that reflect mistakes people make when typing in a search bar.

Read Also: How To Make An Email With A Domain

How Do I Choose The Best Domain Name

Great question! Here’s a few core things to consider when choosing your new domain name:

Why Do We Have To Pay For A Domain Name

The question may sound stupid but I find it very difficult to understand that why do we have to pay for a domain name if the web is free? And who do I pay? Why do I have to pay for a domain name?

• 1Dec 9, 2010 at 14:08
• 6If domains were free people would hoard and we’d all be stuck with mycoolblog283.com, just like free webmail is now.Dec 9, 2010 at 20:35
• 1Dec 13, 2010 at 13:01
• 4Why do you have to pay for water? Because someone owns the process of getting it to you.

Simplified answer:

You don’t actually buy the domain name, you rent it from your registrar. The price you pay them is for the service of routing the domain name to an actual server. Without that service a domain name would lead nowhere, they have to point visitors to the right server. They need servers to do that, which you pay for.

If I go to “,” how does my browser know how to find the server for “webmasters.stackexchange.com?” It knows through using DNS lookups, which means it needs to ask a DNS server if it knows the address of webmasters.stackexchange.com.

So who owns those DNS servers? Typically, it will be your Internet provider they aren’t personally responsible for knowing the address of every web site across the ‘Net.

That’s why you have to purchase a domain name, so you can claim ownership and pay for the costs of the services provided by the registry. However, there are services, like DynDNS, that let you buy a sub-domain under a domain name that they own.

Also Check: Do I Have To Pay For Domain Name

What Should My Domain Name Be

Ideally, youre going to be holding on to this domain name for a long time, so choosing the right one is important.

When youre considering a domain name, ask yourself these questions:

• Is it relatively short? Super long domain names are hard to remember and type. Aim for 15 characters or less.
• Does it read well? If people mentally stumble over saying your URL, itll lose some of its impact.
• Is it specific to me? Youre trying to enhance your personal brand, so pick a domain name that helps with that.

To see whether a domain name is available, try Squarespaces domain search engine.

Id start by looking up your first and last name followed by .com. This format is memorable, relevant, and uniqueand as I talked about earlier, owning your name gives you more control over your online identity.

If your name isnt available with the .com extension, consider using a different extension. For example, you could use .bio or .expert if you want to keep it professional, .design or .finance if you want to tie it to your profession, or .cool or .fyi if you want to add a little humor and personality. The options are pretty endless.

You can also experiment with different variations on your name. Here are some ideas:

• first name + middle initial + last name
• first name + middle name + last name
• first initial + middle initial + last name

Alternatively, you can incorporate your profession or interests. Here are some more ideas:

You Can Create Business Emails Instead Of Using Personal Ones Like @gmailcom

Everyone can have a free personal email and thats why a lot of spammers use them to send massive emails. When you use a business email immediately the receiver considers it as more serious and there are more chances to actually read it. A business email is usually associated with a real company and it adds up to your overall credibility.

Even when you give your business card to someone, it seems much better to use a business email compared with some personal email. People immediately think that you are running a serious company or you are working for a big corporation.

Read Also: How To Edit My Domain Website

Tips Before You Buy A Domain Name

When it comes to picking a domain name, its important to help clients look beyond a mere web address for their sites. A domain name will become the anchor of a brand for years to come. Before registering a domain name, its essential to do the work up front to ensure it meets a clients needs over the long run.

And to help you out, here are 10 tips to consider before you buy a domain name.

Protect Your Business With Multiple Domains

At the end of the day, purchasing and owning multiple domain names is in the best interest of your business. By owning more than one name, youre ensuring that your brand grows and those names stay out of the hands of cybersquatters.

Register the domain names you need to protect and grow your brand today with Domain.com.

Natalie Brownell

Domain.com Marketing Manager. She believes in the power of words and loves a good story. She resides in MA and spends her days behind the keyboard with her two feline coworkers. Connect with her on .

Recommended Reading: How Do I Transfer A Godaddy Domain To Someone Else

Trademark Your Business Name

Registering the domain name is not enough to protect your brand name.

If you have just bought a domain name for a new brand, you need to register a trademark for it. This will protect you from infringing domain names and other infringing properties when you need to take legal action against someone trying to cash in on your business name.

When Should I Buy A Domain Name

The best time to register a domain depends on your project and urgency. However, its better to purchase it right away before a competitor claims the web address.

According to Verisign, there were over 363 million website domain registrations across all TLDs at the end of the first quarter of 2021. This figure is likely to grow each year as the number of people and businesses that compete to get a great domain name is increasing.

Moreover, many entrepreneurs consider domain names to be digital assets they buy plenty of good URLs as investments and wait for their value to increase before reselling them further down the road.

If you want to start a new online business but have no time to build an eCommerce site, then register a domain now and make a website later to reserve your brand or business name for the future. A domain name will be yours as long as you keep paying for it. And do not worry, it will not break your bank. For instance, popular e-commerce domain .shop will cost you only $0.99/month.

Also, consider purchasing a domain that includes your name even if youre not ready to create a personal website or portfolio yet. Doing this can give you control of what potential clients, employers, and other people see when they search for you on search engines.

All in all, purchasing a domain name should be a priority for those who are serious about building an online presence or starting a new business. It will help protect a brands identity and future business ideas.

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What Happens If You Don’t Have A Domain Name

Some web hosts, mainly free web hosts, allow youto create a website even if you don’t have a domain name. To do that they create a subdomain which they associate with your website.

For example, if your web host is “example.com” , they may create a subdomain called “chris.example.com”which you can use for your website. Visitors typing “chris.example.com” will end up at your website. You don’t have to pay forsuch a subdomain name, since you don’t actually own it the web host owns “example.com” and can create and delete whatever subdomainsthey wish.

What Steps Can I Take To Ensure My Domain Privacy Is Protected

Some Registrars offer privacy protection services that allow their customers to mask their actual contact details in the Whois search result in order to prevent their private contact information falling into the hands of spammers and scammers. Get in touch with your Registrar to learn more about your options.

Read Also: How To Host Your Own Website And Domain

Where To Buy A Domain Name

When you buy a domain name, you do so through a Domain Registrar that manages the registration of that domain name. For most registrars, youll buy the domain from them and then use a hosting provider to manage the website. Some companies provide both services.

is a great tool for finding domains and integrates well with Googles mail services. Namecheap and Hover are other great options and offer good DNS support and mail hosting in addition to low prices on domains.

You can also buy directly from your hosting provider , but if you want to switch providers, its generally more difficult as youll usually have to transfer the domain to another registrar, sometimes even having it locked down to that specific host.

Create Social Media Accounts

Building social media presence takes times. But you have to create your social media accounts as soon as possible to secure social media URLs.

It is recommended to choose the social media URLs that match to your domain name. For example, my domain name is HostLater.com and my Facebook page URL is http://facebook.com/HostLater. In this way, people can find my page easily. And it will rank higher for the term HostLater .

There are several social networking sites. But you dont have to join all of them. Join social media sites based on your audience. Here is a list of common social media sites.

Read Also: How To Buy Domain From Google

Dont Believe That Boring Is Brandable

And why will there always be another domain name? Because the domain name should always follow the successful business. Sure, you have to have something to start out with but it doesnt have to be perfect. And it doesnt even need to make sense. Why?

Because first, boring domain names are just that boring. Who wants to get books from bookstore.com or search the Internet at searchengine.com or buy jackets from wintercoats.com.

No! We buy books from Amazon, search the Internet at Google, and buy jackets from TheNorthFace.com.

Thats because domain names are really memory hooks if a customer knows your business, then theyll know your domain name .

Do’s And Don’ts Of Securing A Domain Name

Consider these six tips from small-business owners and experts before deciding on a website name.

Entrepreneur

Navigating the world of domain names can be a daunting task if you’re not up to speed on how to get one. With countless caveats and hosting companies out there, it’s easy to be overwhelmed or worse, make a mistake that could ultimately cripple your business.Consider these do’s and don’ts from small-business owners and experts to help secure your company’s domain name.Do: Include a location or keywords in your domain name, if you can.

If your business focuses on a geographic region, try to put the location into the name of your domain, says Jean Bedord, a Silicon Valley-based search consultant and author of the book I’ve Got a Domain Name–Now What??? When Mikalai Krivenko needed a domain for his painting business in Hoboken, N.J., in 2009, his son Yuriy, a Jersey City, N.J.-based search-optimization specialist, suggested he put “Hoboken” in the name. For $11, Krivenko bought hobokenpainter.com, which shows up at the top of keyword searches that include “Hoboken” and “painter.” Whether it’s location, or what your company does, Krivenko advises: “Put the most important keyword for your industry in the domain name.”

Related:

Related: Protecting Your Business with a Trademark

Recommended Reading: How To Connect My Domain To WordPress

Dont Worry About Exact Domain Matching

So a lot of people dont care about building a brand or a business right now they just want the perceived SEO value for keywordkeywordexample.com. After all who cares about the brand when you can get traffic from search engines!

The idea behind this idea is that you could buy a domain name with your target keywords in it and you would rank better in search results for cooking recipesjust because your domain name has cooking recipes in it.

Well it turns out that the search engineers at Google actually already know about this game and strive to even the playing field. They even released an update in September 2012 that explicitly devalues domains with exact match domain names.

So even beyond building a brand you shouldnt choose a domain name simply for its perceived SEO value. Heres Googles Head of Web Spam & SEO Liaison Matt Cutts on the topic.

Which Is The Best Domain Name Search Tool

Weve listed 5 different ways to check the domain name availability for your business. If youre still wondering which domain name search tool to use, our top recommendation is Nameboy.

Its the best tool to find new domain name ideas and domain names that are actually available. Its fast, reliable, and easy to use. Plus, Nameboy also offers great deals with both Domain.com and Bluehost so you can register your domain name at a discount.

Thats all for today! We hope this article helped you learn how to check if a domain name is available to use.

Up next, youll definitely want to check out these resources:

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Recommended Reading: Is Bluehost A Domain Registrar

What Is Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting is a broad term that includes typosquatting. Its what happens when someone registers or uses a domain name in bad faith.

Cybersquatting can negatively affect a business, especially one thats still growing and defining its brand in the market. When someone registers a domain name that uses trademarked words, theyre trying to take legitimate website traffic away from those sites or ransom the names for more money. For example, someone registering a domain name like shophere.amazon.com would be committing an act of cybersquatting against Amazon.com.

Typosquatting is another form of cybersquatting that involves purchasing domain names that are popular misspellings of other domains or clever spellings and using those names in bad faith. Ultimately, cyber and typosquatters are just looking to make a buck and profit from your name. You can prevent this, and protect your brand, by purchasing those misspelled variations of your domain name before someone else does.

Though brand protection is vitally important as we mentioned earlier, its not the only reason to own multiple domain names. Sometimes, owning more than one domain is in an attempt to help our audience.