How Much Does It Cost To Maintain A Domain Name

What Is A Domain

The easiest way to understand what is a domain is to imagine your website as a building. If your website was a home, your domain name would be its address. More precisely, every website in the world is attributed a specific IP address. But since this one comes in the shape of a series of numbers and dots, it makes it extremely hard for human visitors to remember and type. This is why domain names were created – which is basically the legible label connected to the specific IP of a site. All domains live on the domain name system , which is a universal system that assigns addresses to servers and web pages.

Example: Want to access our website builder? You can use our domain: Wix.com or our IP address: 185.230.63.164. Either way, you will arrive on the same page.

What Does The Domain Price Include

The price that you pay for a domain should include all of the basic services that the registrar has to do. This includes registering your new domain and assigning it to the IP address. The registration and renewal price should also include the ICANN fee. ICANN charges a very small annual fee for every domain on the web. Its also charged for transfers. Currently, the ICANN fee is only $0.18.

Some registrars also offer additional services. The most popular is domain privacy, which helps to keep some of your personal information on the WHOIS database private. This comes with an additional cost. You may also encounter hidden fees. Make sure that you read the fine print to ensure that the registrar you choose doesnt have unnecessary fees tacked on.

What Factors Impact The Cost Of A Domain Name

As I have mentioned, the cost of a domain name does differ depending on a number of different factors, including the registrar you choose. Below, I am going to talk you through some of the factors and the role they play on domain name cost so you can get a better understanding of why quotes differ for domain names across the web.

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What Do Website Maintenance Fees Include

As you browse website maintenance rates, its essential to look at what the provider includes with their services. If you purchase a package without looking at the deliverables, you can end up not only wasting money but also getting locked into the wrong service contract.

For the best experience, you want a service provider that includes the following as a part of their website maintenance pricing:

Depending on your business, these services wont apply to your company.

For example, if your company operates offline, then you dont need to worry about maintenance to your ecommerce system. Your business may also have an internal team member to handle technical issues, which can remove tech support expenses from your website maintenance costs.

Keep reading to learn more about each feature of website maintenance pricing.

Social Media Marketing And Advertising

With social media marketing and advertising, businesses can spend $4000 to $7000 per month.

What is social media marketing and advertising?

Social media marketing focuses on improving your companys brand awareness via social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. In some cases, social media can also drive website visits and purchases.

While brand awareness doesnt provide immediate value, it can lead to long-term gains. A user that follows your business on social media, for example, may become more loyal due to your active presence. They may even refer friends and family to your business.

Thats why more than 50 percent of users that follow a brand on social media are loyal to it.

Why does social media marketing and advertising matter?

For consumers today, social media is a go-to hub for product recommendations, as well as customer service. Studies show that 74 percent of people use social media when making a purchase decision, with 80 percent receiving advice about a purchase through a social media platform.

With social media marketing, your business can place your company front-and-center. Plus, you can take an active role in user discussions about your products and services. You can even respond to user reviews, comments, and questions to maximize your impact.

How much does social media marketing and advertising cost?

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How Much Does A Website Domain Cost

If youre just getting started online, then the best course of action is to choose a new domain. A new domain will be cheaper, and allows you to build your own brand from scratch.

Typically, youll be paying around $10-$12 for a new domain, depending upon the domain name extension you choose.

Thats what most of the people reading this right now can expect, but its not the whole answer to what domain registration costs. On the low end, you may be able to register a domain for free . On the high end, popular domain names have sold for as high as tens of millions of dollars.

Thats a pretty huge range in cost. To figure out what accounts for the difference between the extremes and what you can expect, read on for the most important information you need to know about domain registration costs.

Buying A Domain That Is Already Registered

There is still a chance to get the domain name, even if its already registered.

The first option is to contact the owner and make an offer or request. Contact the owner using the contact form on the website with the domain you want or using WHOIS to find the owners contact information.

These registered domains might also go back on sale. Snapnames.com shows domains that have recently become available. This marketplace allows bidding on an already registered name.

Sometimes, you will get a recommendation of alternative titles. Instead of going through the hassle of contacting the previous owner, find a similar name that is still relatable to your needs.

To demonstrate, the domain example.com is already taken. However, there is an alternative of using example-services.com instead. You can use domain name generators to help you with that!

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Upsells On Web Hosting Email And Other Software

The last group deals with upsells, these often come after the domain registration. Most people need domains for either of two things: they want to create a custom email address, or they want to build a website. Or both.

Domain name registrars know this, so they will try to help you out and sell you their own services that cover these needs.

Most commonly, you can expect upsells like:

• Email hosting. This gives you server space to handle your email inboxes and allow you to create a custom email under your own domain like john@yoursite.com. This can cost from $1 per inbox a month, all the way to $10 per inbox a month.
• Google Workspace integration. This is also about email hosting, but this time, your emails will be hosted on Googles servers. Starts from $6 per user a month. As an alternative to Google, you can also find offers for Microsoft 365, a similar service.

• Web hosting. Server space for your future website. Starts from $1 a month for basic server space for one site and go up to hundreds of dollars. On a good side, in some cases web hosting providers offer free domains for the first year.
• Website builders. These tools make it easy to build a website on your own by using a simple visual interface no coding required. Your experience with them can vary, so its probably not worth buying a builder bundled with your domain.

Whether you should opt for any of these hosting upgrades is up to you.

Avoid Hyphens Or Odd Spellings

How often do you use punctuation when searching for something online? My guess is rarely. The last thing you want is a domain name that requires extra effort from your visitors. Using something like, the-best-shirts-youll-ever-wear.com no matter how compelling wont do you any favors.

When possible, avoid using uncommon spellings or numbers. Is that a 4 or a four? What about 2, to, two or too? You catch my drift. If anyone ever shares your domain via word-of-mouth, your name could get lost in translation.

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Search Engine Optimization Costs

Quite simply, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is what keeps your business in Googles good books. SEO professionals make sure that each and every aspect of your website is fine-tuned to appear at the top of search engine results pages.

SEO agency packages run from $270 to $800 per project, and include services such as:

• Keyword research and targeting
• Competitive analysis

Registrar Of Your Choice

Domain registration costs will depend on the services that a registrar offers. Some domain registrars will provide simple registrations, while some will offer packages that include web hosting services.

Select a registrar that suits your needs and budget best. If a domain registrar is too expensive, try looking at other registrars that might have a better offer. Whichever registrar you choose, its crucial to make sure that its an ICANN accredited registrar.

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Dont Forget The Extra Costs

Its easy to focus so much on purchasing a domain name that you forget about the additional costs associated with it.

Obviously, a domain name is not a one-off purchase, it needs to be renewed every year, which will generally cost you the same amount of money that you paid to get it .

However, then there are also various add-ons that you can buy, the most popular of which is privacy protection that ensures that your personal or business details dont come up when people look up your domain name.

Generally, these extra costs dont add up too much but its still something that you should keep in mind.

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Cost Of Registering The Domain Name Itself

There are countless companies that can register a domain name for you. Those companies are usually referred to as domain name registrars.

The main product that every registrar sells is the same a domain name. Domain bought from one registrar is no different than the same domain bought from another registrar.

Despite that, even though they all sell the same thing, the prices between registrars can vary. This is why its important to do your research and not overpay when it comes to the main domain name cost.

Apart from the price differences between registrars, different domain extensions come with different price tags too even from the same registrar. For example, a .shoes domain is going to be more expensive than the traditional TLDs such as .com or .org domain.

On top of that, youll also find that each domain extension has a different price tag with each registrar, which adds a whole new level of complexity to this pricing puzzle.

To make this more approachable, weve done the research for you. Heres a comparison of the registration prices for the most popular domain extensions with the most popular registrars:

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Purchase The Domain Name

When you have settled on the domain name and a suffix, you will pay to register the domain name with the domain registrar. This is not a one-time purchase, however. Typically, you will pay to own the domain name for one year, after which you can renew your registration for a fee. You can expect a registration fee of about $10 to $15.

Sign In And Go To Settings > Domains > Buy A Domain

You can choose from the following top level domains for your domain.

• .biz

• org.uk

Note

When you select Buy domain, you may be redirected to your Microsoft partner’s website if the tenant is purchased/managed through a Microsoft partner.

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Estimating A Domain Name Value

If you want to estimate a domain name value properly, you first need to know about the most important features that determine the value:

• TLD .com is still the most desirable option, as well as being common and recognizable. If your domain includes .com, its value will go up.
• Traffic and popularity the volume of traffic a website drives is a crucial factor in estimating the domains value, as that name already comes with an existing target audience and has a well-established ranking on search engines.
• Keywords since your ranking depends on SEO, keywords in your domain name are vital to achieving the highest ranking on Google. If a domain name includes a popular keyword, this could increase its value.
• Brandability the most popular websites on the web have unique, memorable, and clear domain names that are attention-grabbing, trendy, and catchy. If your domain is like that, it will cost more.
• Spelling believe it or not, but unexpected spelling can help increase your domains value. It could make your name more brandable.
• Length the shorter a name is, the easier it is to remember. Its crucial to making a domain more valuable.

Now that you know what to look for, you can estimate a domain name value by following these steps.

How Much Does A Premium Domain Name Cost

Premium domain names are domains that are already registered and are up for sale on a domain aftermarket service. The price for premium domain names can vary widely, depending on the current demand. As such, the pricing can range from a 3-figure number up to a 7-figure number.

When it comes to choosing a domain name, there are a few things to consider:

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The Importance Of Renewing Your Domain Name

Letting your domain name unknowingly expire can end up being a pretty negative experience for your website. If you miss the renewal period and your domain expires your site will not only go offline, but you increase the chances that a competitor could actually steal your domain.

This means that all of your hard work to increase your traffic levels and grow your business will have been for nothing.

Even if a competitor doesnt steal your domain name you still run the risk of having your site go offline, which can lead to lost revenue and a poor user experience.

If you want to avoid the pitfalls mentioned above, then do yourself a favor and renew your domain before its too late.