Learn The Steps Involved In Registering And Buying Your Business Website Domain
In this day and age, it’s essential for your small business to have a solid web presence. If you don’t have a website that’s easy to find and remember, people are probably not going to find you or know where to reach you. According to market research firm Blue Corona, 70% to 80% of people reach a company online before visiting it in person or making a purchase, and 97% of people go online when searching for a local business or service.
An important aspect of your business’s internet home is its web address, also known as its domain name. With some forethought and a little research, you can come up with a strong web address that will lead new and recurring customers back to your company. However, coming up with a domain name is only half the issue you also need to know how and where to buy it.
Bonus Tip: Don’t Buy From Squatters
If your dream URL is already registered to someone who doesn’t seem to be using it for anything, you may have come across a so-called squatter sitting on a URL that’s been deemed valuable. While this can be frustrating, Fahey said trying to buy it from them can be expensive, since squatters will usually mark up their URLs far past what any registrar would charge.
“It is normally better to just come up with another domain name,” Fahey said.
How Do Premium Domains Work
A premium domain is made available for sale mainly either by the Registries or by its owners. In both cases, the pricing and buying process differ greatly.
Note: You will need to renew your domain registration every year. This means there are domains that have either expired or tend to expire. You can get them renewed by domain registrars at a regular cost along with the benefit of a backorder service fee.
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How To Register A Domain Name With Namecheap
As the name suggests, this Namecheap offers great value for money. Its .com domains start from $8.88/year, which is a low price compared to the rest of the market.
To buy a domain name on Namecheap, head over to the homepage and insert a name on the search field. Alternatively, head to the Bulk Domain Name Search tool and enter up to 5,000 keywords and find multiple domains at once.
The site will redirect you to the search results page. Feel free to sort the available domains by cost, extension, or alphabetical order. Click Add to Cart on the name you want to register and the Checkout button on the bottom-right corner to continue with the payment process.
The page will preview the order and suggest several add-ons to add to the cart, including PremiumDNS for a performance and security boost. This domain registrar also provides a free privacy and protection feature.
Confirm the order to move on to the next step creating a Namecheap account. Insert your contact information, including your name, phone number, email, and physical address. Enter a company name and tick the Im registering on behalf of a company box if applicable.
Press Continue to go to the Setup page. Here, specify the contact information for the domains registrant, administrator, technical support, and billings. If youre responsible for all these things, select User default account contact. Otherwise, choose to Add new contact where appropriate.
Why You Might Want To Buy A Domain That Is Already Taken
In the vast majority of cases, registering an available domain is going to be your best and most simple bet. Depending on the name and Top-Level-Domain you want to use, you might pay as little as $10 for a one-year registration.
There are three straightforward cases where buying a domain name thats already taken makes sense:
If you find yourself in scenario number one, the easiest move is to consider whether you can use an alternate TLD. Although we recommend .com in most cases, this doesnt mean other TLDs are out of bounds for your site.
On the other hand, if the .com domain you want is relatively popular, using another TLD might not bring you the results you want. In this case, its more likely that users might get confused.
Regardless of what scenario you find yourself in, heres how youll want to proceed. Lets start by talking about what to do if the domain you want has a website attached to it.
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Can I Buy A Domain Name Without Hosting
Yes, you can. Domain registration and web hosting are two different services. You dont need to buy or have a hosting plan to register a domain name.Check if your preferred domain name is available, then buy and register it at a domain name registrar.Whether you have a website or not, the domain name will be yours as long as you renew the registration before it expires.
Search For Your Domain Name’s Availability
Once you have found the right domain registrar for you, you’ll need to search for your domain name using the registrar’s search bar. There are millions of domain names out there, with thousands more added daily.
If you have your heart set on a domain name before doing a search, you might be disappointed to find it is already taken. Keep an open mind and incorporate important keywords into your domain when appropriate.
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Which Domain Name Extensions Are Available
HostGator sells the following top level domain extensions: .com, .club, .co, .space, .us, .website, .org, .net, .store, .press, .me, .blog, .biz, .info, .host, .online, .site, and .tech.
If you’re looking for something a bit more exotic, like .ninja or .beer, we suggest visiting our partner Domain.com
Use A Discount Promo Code
Often times, domain registrars and web hosting companies will offer discounted prices on domain names for new customers. Usually, you can lock in a low price for at least 1-year of registration with a promo code.
In some cases, you can even lock in a discounted rate for the entire length or your initial registration. So for example, if you buy and register a cheap domain for 1 or more years at a time, you can apply the discount code for that entire first term with a multi-year registration.
This is a good idea to take advantage of because sometimes renewal rates go up after the first year if you only register a name for a 1-year period at a time. By applying a discount promo code for a period longer than 1 year helps you avoid increased renewal rates for the initial time period that your domain name is registered.
Tip: Currently, you can apply the discount code GDD1dom to get a discount on GoDaddy domain names on select names for at least the first year of registration.
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How To Buy A Website Domain Name
Luckily, if you sign up for a hosting account with GreenGeeks, you get a free domain name. We also offer website domain purchasing within your account.
This means that buying domain names is possible anytime you want, right from your GreenGeeks account. Prices vary depending on the extension you choose and the number of years you register the domain.
Since GreenGeeks acts as a domain registrar, it is simple and easy to get your free domain name or to buy a domain name from us. Of course, this is only one way to go about a domain name, its also possible to purchase one directly from another person.
Tips When Making Your Ca Purchase
Always register the domain name yourself
Never let third parties, such as a marketing agency, complete a registration on your behalf. This can become a problem if you part ways and no longer have access to the account managing your domain name.
Register common variations of your name
If your company or product is commonly misspelled, register the alternate domain names and forward them to your primary website. This helps protect your brand identity and ensures no one else can register these domain names.
Provide accurate contact information
CIRA and your registrar will use the contact information provided during the registration process to communicate important information about your domain name.
Register a .CA with French-accented characters
The .CA domain registry supports French accented characters within domain names: é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, , ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï, ÿ. When a .CA domain name is registered, all variations with accented characters are reserved for the original registrant exclusively.
Choose a registration term length that works for you
You can register a domain name from one to 10 years at a time. A longer registration period, combined with setting up auto-renewal with your registrar, can help you ensure your .CA domain name remains registered and active.
Protect your domain
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Purchase Your Domain Name And Complete Its Registration
Once you settle on a domain name, its time to purchase it. When you buy through Mailchimp, well let you know the annual cost of the domain name as well as any available discounts.
During the checkout process, youll be required to enter your contact information, including an email address, to register the domain.
Register An Existing Premium Domain
As you now know, many short and prestigious domains are already owned by their owners, even if they are not actively in use. So, in order to register an existing premium domain, you will need to first locate its owner and negotiate the price to buy it. On agreeing upon a price, you will need to transfer the premium domain to link it to your website.
However, this process is that easy & you may have to seek assistance. Here is where domain brokers come to play. These are experienced in handling such big and complex transactions, which can reach the millions. Also, domain name brokers can help you get the best market price for your existing premium domain.
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How To Register A Domain Name: 4 Options
To get a domain name, youll need to call dibs with ICANN. ICANN is a global non-profit authority that maintains records on which domain and IP address belongs to whom and manages access to them.
But ICANN doesnt provide registration services, it only maintains records. Thats where domain name registrars come into play.
The primary role of a register is to:
- Coordinate claims on different domain names.
- Match specific domain names with Domain Name System nameservers.
- Ensure that there are no duplicate domain names.
Technically speaking, you are not buying a domain name from a registrar company, but reserve its usage for a specified time. You can pay to reserve a domain for 1-10 years at a time, depending on the registrar. After your initial subscription expires, youll need to renew it and pay a fee again. You can re-purchase your domain name over and over again.
When registering a domain name, you sign a long-term lease of your domain . You can read more about the domain costs here.
In practice, all of the above is much simpler than you think as we will show below.
Verdict On Who The Best Domain Registrar Is
Naturally, theres no single best domain registrar across the board. Some companies are always going to be better than the other ones, depending on your individual needs and requirements.
Still, here are a couple of quick recommendations from the WebsiteSetup team based on the companies reviewed above:
Comparison Table
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What Are Domain Name Extensions
Domain name extensions help categorize different domain names. Its a special hierarchy, invented for the Internet.
You can choose among popular top-level domain extensions such as:
- .com
- .org
- .net
Or go with a local domain extension such as if you want to focus on building a presence in a specific country:
- .co.uk
- .fr
- .au
Also, theres a bunch of creative domain extensions, launched recently. You can try playing around with them to create a shorter, brandable name. For example:
- Alchemi.st
- Handma.de
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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Building A Website Once You Register A Domain Name
Once you register your domain name for your website, the next step is choosing what type of website you will build, and how you will build it.
There are many ways to build a website, some of them take a lot of specialized knowledge or coding expertise. Other methods are simple enough for anyone to do themselves.
If you are looking to build a website for your own local business, or perhaps a club or organization you belong to, then WordPress is a great way for people without any experience to get a website up and running in no time.
Likewise, if you want to build an affiliate website, or a content-based website, perhaps on a topic you enjoy or a hobby you have, then again using WordPress is probably the best way to get started.
eCommerce or sites with shopping cart capabilities are probably best built using a shopping cart script such as WooCcommerce, which we have other tutorials that you can follow.
Building a basic website is a lot easier than more people realize, as long as you are willing to learn some new skills along the way.
We have a ton of tutorials and help available to get you started. All you need is the willingness to do it. A few hours later, and you could have something amazing up and running.