Short Is Better Than Long
In general, when it comes to the length of your domain, shorter is better.
According to research from Domain Registration.com, the most common name length is approximately 12 characters.
All of this data shows that you should keep your domain name concise.
Aim for 6-14 characters and remember the shorter, the better. Most likely the shorter domain names are taken a LONG time ago and sold for thousands of dollars. If you cant find something short, make it brandable.
Our own site websitesetup.org is exactly 12 characters.
Pay For A Premium Site Builder Plan
A free name is usually included in the premium plans of website builders. For example, Wix, Squarespace, Zyro. When you buy a premium plan, you get a free site name and the opportunity to create a website on a reliable website builder using a wide range of features.
Its a good way to simply and quickly get a domain name, not in a subdomain.
Usually, website builders offer fairly expensive premium plans, which can nullify your savings in getting a free domain. However, here you get a domain and the ability to create a website based on templates and get support from the service team.
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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I Already Have A Domain Name Can I Use It For My Websitecom Website
Yes! All Website.com Premium plans come with a custom domain name for free, but if you prefer, you are welcome to use one thatyou already own with your site builder plan, at no added cost! There are 2 options for using your own domain name:
Option 1) You can keep your domain name with your existing domain registrar, and simply point the site built with the Website.comsite builder to your preferred domain name .
Option 2) Depending on your domain extension, you can transfer your domain to Website.com. A transfer is included for freewith a premium plan subscription. With this option, you will get your domain renewal for free with your Website.com subscription.
Just contact our support team to ask about any of these options!
But Wait What If My Domain Name Is Taken
You have options. You could come up with a new name, slightly modify the domain name with a suffix, or try a different extension than .com. You could also use Whois to contact the current domain owner and get their asking price. If the domain is privately registered, you could also use a broker to negotiate on your behalf. It all depends on how badly you want that name. At the very least, it doesnt hurt to reach out. Youll be able to tell from the looks of the site whether itll be expensive to purchase or not. Theres no market rate for buying a domain name from somebody. It could cost you $10, or in the case of insurance.coms 2010 sale $35.6 million!
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How Can I Get A Free Website
There are a number of ways to get a free website, from using site builders such as Weebly with a subdomain to using an open source content management system, such as WordPress. Those building a professional business website will find WordPress to be the best solution, which is free to use and enables you to connect a custom domain with third-party web hosting. Learn more about how to build your small business website.
How Can Ionos Afford To Offer Free Domains
First of all, IONOS is not a free domain name service provider in general. We usually have very competitive pricing for our domain customers however, you will not be able to enjoy free domains all the time. The reason we can occasionally give away domains at little or no cost is that our large customer base enables us to attract a lot of registries that work with us.
One example of such cooperation might be a registry that launches a new TLD but does not intend to do all of the marketing and sales activities by themselves. Nevertheless they would like to see quick growth in their user base and to reach this goal they give IONOS very attractive offers. Then, for example, we can sometimes offer free domain registration.
On the one hand, this is a great opportunity for our customers to benefit from fantastic offers, on the other hand it can evoke the wrong impression about the hosting industry in general. In the long run, it is impossible to offer free domain name registration and cheap web hosting services at a high quality level.
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How Can I Get A Free Domain For Com
You only need to register for any of the web hosting plans that offer a free domain name. However, make sure the value is enough for you to buy the .com TLD.For example, if you sign up for Hostingers Premium or Business shared hosting plans, you will get a free domain for one year with the value equivalent of a .com TLD.
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 address.
According to Verisign, there were over 363 million 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.
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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Web Hosts And Domain Names
You needn’t go to a dedicated registration service to buy a domain name, though. The best web hosting services, such as DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds routinely offer a registration mechanism as part of the sign-up process. Hosting services typically offer a free domain name when you sign up for a web hosting package.
Keep in mind, however, that free domain names are usually free only for one or two years, after which the registrar will bill you for the annual or biennial fee. In other words, the provider of the free domain name pays only for the first billing from the registrar. Also take note of whether or not the provider charges a fee for setting up a domain name. Most services offer to transfer an existing domain name to their servers at no cost, but sometimes you’ll find a setup fee over and above the registrar’s fee.
Please note that not all web hosts give you the option to register a domain name. Cloudways, for example, is a solid web host that requires you to purchase a domain name from elsewhere.
Registrars offer a wide variety of registration durationsone year, three, five, and even ten. Be careful about registering for more than a year, though. First, there might be restrictions on your ability to transfer the domain name should the registrar give poor service. Second, the registrar could go out of business, leaving your domain name without a host. Check the policies closely.
Tips When Registering A Domain Name
Obtaining the right domain name from the start is important, especially if youre creating a business or personal brand website. Changing domains is not only expensive but also potentially damages search engine rankings and conversion rates.
With this in mind, here are some things to consider when buying a domain name:
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Register Your Domain Name To Give Your Website The Uniqueness It Deserves
While registering your domain name may be a short-term task, its a long-term commitment. Whatever youre building a website for, your domain will act as the anchor of your online presence and stick with you for years to come.
It can help your SEO, act as a pathway for users to learn more about your brand, and make it easier for customers to spread the word about your products.
How To Get A Domain Name From Domaincom
Domain.com is a reputable domain registrar, launched in 1998. Over 1.2 million websites are registered with them.
Domain.com features the most popular top level domains such as .com, .net, .org, .co, along with over 25 county-specific domain extensions .
They are mostly selling affordable domain names with most names priced in the $9.99-$12.99/year range. If you are lucky, you can also steal a deal and buy your domain name for as low as $2.99/year.
For that price you get:
- 1-year domain ownership.
- Free SSL certificate for extra security.
- Automatic email forwarding to your domain.
- DNS registration and management tools.
Also, you can purchase extra Domain Privacy+Protection for your domain . In this case, your personal details will not be displayed publicly in the WHOIS/ICANN directories. Plus, the registrar will also run extra security checks.
Sounds sweet? Heres how to register a domain name on Domain.com.
Step 1: Run a quick search to verify that the domain name you are eying is available.
Step 2: Pick your domain extension. Go for .com since its the most familiar option among users and thus, people, tend to type .com before trying anything else.
Your choice gets automatically added to your cart with a 2-year privacy protection subscription. This ones optional, so you can remove it during the next step. Also, you can change your domain renewal period from one year to five years.
Moreover, you can pick some add-on services such as:
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What Do I Do If The Website Name I Want Is Taken
If the domain name you want is already registered, you have a few options. First, check out the recommended, similar domain names in your search results to see if one of those works. You should also consider an available domain name with an extension other than .COM, such as .IO, .CLUB, or .ROCKS. There are hundreds of new TLDs to consider. If youre really set on securing your first choice of domain, find the current registrant using Whois Lookup and see if they are willing to sell it. Learn more
Use A Thesaurus For Domain Name Ideas
Okay, so no matter what I say about picking a domain name thats brandable, simple, has a good ring to it, is easy to memorize, and so on and so forth, the fact of the matter is that coming up with a truly good name is hard.
Sometimes, youll easily go through tens of different terms before you settle on that perfect one, while other times nothing will seem good enough. In that case, Thesaurus.com can be the secret weapon in your arsenal.
The site will help you find synonyms and also provide quick definitions to help you not to make a silly mistake by building your domain name around a word with a meaning youve misunderstood.
Note: As I mentioned above, its not advisable to just go with a standard, dictionary word as your domain name, even if it comes from a thesaurus. Always add some modifiers to it, or turn it into something original by changing a few letters here and there.
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Choose A Domain Name Registrar
A registrar is a company that reserves and registers domain names on your behalf. When you purchase a domain name, either directly from a registrar or through a web-hosting service, its registered to the DNS for you.
Though there are more than a thousand accredited registrars, its best to stick with more well-known providers. Using a common provider will make it easier to find info on managing your domain and to troubleshoot issues you might have with syncing your domain to other services.
Domains can be purchased from a number of different types of businesses. You might choose to purchase one from a website-building platform , a web-hosting service , or directly from a domain registrar .
How Can Hostinger Offer Domains For Free
We do it because for many years we have proudly been an ICANN accredited registrar! Pair that with partnerships with multiple renowned registrar and a massive user base! This gives us the opportunity to share in our privilege by being able to provide the best to our users.
We at Hostinger, believe that the power of the internet to everyone. Thats why we provide hosting for some of the lowest prices in the industry and add a domain for free to boot!
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What Is A Domain Name
Every website on the internet has an IP address. These addresses point to a websites location think of them like GPS coordinates. The IP address, which is generally a set of numbers, usually resembles something like this:
216.27.61.137
Unfortunately, trying to remember all of those numbers in order to navigate to a website can be challenging. Thats where domain names step in and lend a hand.
A structure called the Domain Name System translates those IP addresses into names that are simple to remember. Those names are called domain names.
Your website’s domain is what people enter into the address bar on their browsers to point it toward your website. In the simplest terms, if an IP address is your websites GPS coordinates, the domain is its street address. Some examples are mailchimp.com and google.com.
When someone types a domain into a browser, it gets routed through a DNS server. That server translates the name to figure out which IP address it points to. Then it grabs the data for that website and delivers it to the browser. This process happens in a matter of seconds, letting you find and view a website fast.