Free Domain Name With Wixcom
Last but not least on my list is Wix.com, which currently provides a free .com domain name when signing up for any of their website builder plans.
While this is still a great method to acquire a domain name for free when making a website.
I did decide to rank it lower as the price is quite expensive, especially when compared to the web hosting alternatives.
Currently, the Wix personal plan will run you $10/mo which includes a domain name, 2GB bandwidth, 3GB storage, and 30 minutes of video storage.
So while this is a more pricey option, for those that want a truly effortless way to make a website while also getting a free domain name, Wix is still a worthy contender.
Is It Possible To Get a 100% Free Domain Name?
Yes, but you will have to make some sacrifices. As an example, .tk domain names are 100% free. However, if they are not used on a website, the ownership can be taken from you.
Also, .tk domains have been known to be abused by spammers and hosters of malware. Which in turn has caused these free domain names to be banned by some webmasters and in many cases are not trusted by consumers.
However, if you are looking to create an internal website project to increase your skills. Then these 100% free domain names are ok to use.
Can I Get a Free Domain Name With Web Hosting?
So before deciding on a web hosting provider, be sure to check their domain renewal prices, as some companies will drastically increase the prices to recoup the free price tag.
Ways To Get A Free Domain Name
| Option A | ||
|---|---|---|
| Free domain with a web hosting plan | Free domain with all-in-one site builder plan | Free domain from a domain name registrar |
| Best For: | ||
| Those building a site with WordPress | Those building a site with a site builder | Personal use |
| -Get a free .com -Professional and legit -Secure -Free business email | -Get a free .com -Professional and legit -Secure -Free business email | -Get a free .tk, .ml, or .cf -Appears unprofessional -Not secure -No business email |
| Providers: | ||
| –Freenom–Dot TK–GetFreeDomain.Name |
Make Sure Your Website Is Well
Think of your website as a library.
Your website structure will become increasingly important the more content you add to your website.
When learning how to create a website, you need to get expert at organizing your site in a way that makes sense to your visitors and easy for them to get around it.
A crucial part here is the navigation menu. Once youve created some pages, its time to make them available to your visitors on the site. You can do that under Appearance > Menus.
The first step here, is to give your new menu a name, then click Create Menu.
After that, you can choose which content to add to it on the left. For example, tick the boxes next to pages you want to appear in the menu, then click Add to Menu.
You can drag and drop menu items to your desired order and even turn them into sub-items by moving them underneath others like below. Once you are satisfied, choose the menu position where youd like for this menu to appear .
Click Save Menu again and go to your sites front end to see the new menu in action.
Ultimately, you want to reflect a structure that makes sense for your site and helps visitors get to where they need to go.
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Select A Web Hosting Plan
Now we need to choose a hosting plan.
Bluehost offers a few different shared hosting plans. Heres a look at the different price points for each of those plans:
Heres what goes into each plan and what you could end up getting:
Basic
- Dedicated IP
My suggestion: The Basic plan.
Its more than enough for most of you reading this. Plus, you can always upgrade to another plan down the road as your website scales. Check out our full Bluehost web hosting review for more information about these plans.
Again, youll get a free domain name for one year regardless of the plan you choose.
Choose A Domain Name Suffix Such As Com Or Net
After settling on the domain name, consider the suffix. The most popular suffix is .com, although .net and .org are also popular. These are considered to be top-level domains, or the highest-level domain suffixes in the domain naming system.
There are also other varieties to consider, such as country code top-level domains. These domain names end in a suffix that is particular to a specific country. A website in Germany might end in .de, for example.
Finally, there is another class of domain name suffixes called “sponsored, top-level domains,” which are sponsored by a specific community related to the domain name. For example, .gov is for the U.S. government and .edu is for education organizations.
For most websites, .com is the best suffix for its ease of use, but if you have a specialized website, you might consider a country code or sponsored top-level domain.
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Pay For A Premium Site Builder Plan
Keeping in the same vein as above, youll likely notice if you build a site with Wix that you may not have to settle for the free subdomain.
The catch? Youll need to bump up to a paid plan with your website builder.
This may not be a worthwhile solution for some folks. Paying for a premium site builder plan is likely to not only negate the savings of a free domainitll almost certainly cost you more. Plus, whatever savings disappear after one year.
But, if youre setting up an ecommerce site or something else that needs the enhanced features of a premium Wix or Squarespace plan anyway, this can be a way to mitigate some of that first-year expense.
And, fortunately, even the base-level paid plans for Wix and Squarespace come with this bonus. In the case of Zyro, youll need to choose their Unleashed plan or higher. Fortunately, Zyro often slashes prices on their paid plans, too, for the first year.
However, be very careful to research the rates at which these domains will renew. You dont want to get stuck with a bad deal that totally wipes away the savings of the first year for free and is more expensive in the end than just paying for a domain from the get-go.
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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Domain Registrar Ad Programs
Domain registrars sometimes offer to give you a free domain in exchange for running ads on your website.
Dont do this.
Theres nothing wrong with ads on your website. However, you wont have any control over the ads and their placement with this method. This will not only hinder the experience for your website visitors, but it will also damage your SEO ranking.
Plus, what if your website got one million views? You wouldnt see a dime from those ads. All you get is a free domain.
If you want to run ads on your website, do it through a legitimate advertising network, like Google. Dont exchange ads for a free domain.
Option B: Get A Free Domain Name With A Site Builder Plan
You dont have to be a web developernor do you have to hire oneto get a professional website. All-in-one site builders, such as Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix, all give you the ability to build your own site easily and code-free. And, because these plans are all-inclusive, youll get a free domain with your plan of choice, in addition to everything else you need to build and maintain your small business website.
| PROS | |
|---|---|
| Free domain with leading site builders | Must purchase a plan to get a domain |
| Free .com domains with plans | Site builders are generally more expensive than WordPress |
| Easiest way to build a site no web design experience required | |
| Professional and credible appearance |
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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.
Free Website With Own Domain Is It Possible
Do you wonder if its possible to set up a website with your own domain without any budget investment? There are several ways to do that due to the availability of domain name registrars that provide such an opportunity. The range of platforms to start a free website and to host it for free afterwards is quite extensive as well.
There is one thing, however, you should be aware of. Free web building and hosting services mostly work well for small projects meant for personal use. If you intend to launch a full-featured website with powerful integrations and design customization options, this variant wont make any sense for you. This is because such a domain name wont belong to you and, thus, you wont be able to manage and set it up with regard to your project/business requirements. Hosting a free website with GitHub pages or other suchlike services may be a suitable solution for simple websites, but not for large-scale projects.
If you still intend to host your website for free, you will face the need to pick a domain name zone for your project. Thats not quite easy as popular domain zones like.com or .gov, for example, are rarely provided at no cost. Instead, you can get a domain with less widespread extensions like a generic , a reserved or a second level domain. The latter usually consist of two parts and belong to financial/governmental projects. To get such a free domain, you may contact a domain registrar or a hosting provider of your choice.
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How To Register Your Website’s Domain Name
The first domain name in history was Symbolics.com, which was registered on March 15, 1985. Today, there are more than 300 million domain names, with millions more added each year. A domain name is essentially the address that visitors will type into their browser address bar to arrive at your website.
Domain names allow users to easily connect to other computer IP addresses by typing in an address like “Google.com” instead of Google’s numerical IP address of “74.125.239.116.” In other words, domain names make our lives a lot easier.
Your domain name is an important part of establishing your brand. No two domain names can be exactly alike, although they can be similar. Ideally, your domain name will be unique and distinctive, so users don’t confuse it with other domain names or different businesses.
You might be wondering isn’t a domain name, then, simply a website? Although they are similar, domain names and websites have important differences. Your domain name is the address for your website it is what people use to find your website, which consists of pages, images, and other files.
Choosing and registering a domain name is often the first step when building a website. Read on to learn how to register a domain name.
Why A Good Domain Name Is Important
A domain name is your unique identifier among billions of other websites on the web. Thats why having a memorable and easy-to-type name is essential for having an online presence.
Your domain name serves as an extension of your personal or business name. In that sense it:
- Improves recognition and awareness.
- Adds extra credibility to your venture.
- Eventually boosts visitors recall.
Also, choosing a good domain name is important for SEO. Several years ago exact match domains were all the rage, but today most people choose brandable domain names.
Memorable domain names get typed to Google more frequently. Algorithms keep track of that and assign more authority to your website. As the branded search volume grows, your domain name earns extra authority points, so that it gets easier to rank for related keywords.
With that being said, lets move on to the how-to part.
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How To Make A Website With Your Own Domain For Free
Author: Howard Steele
So, youve decided to create a website with own domain name for free. Someone may say that this is impossible as quality websites require deep web design expertise and application of professional web building tools. However, thats not quite so.
Creating a personal or a business website at no cost or using your own domain is possible, if you are aware of the most popular web design options and professional web building software you can use to complete the task.
When it comes to free website development, there are several things to consider. To start with, you should pick the right web building tool, many of which come with free subdomains or offer integrated free domain connection option.
If you already own a domain and wish to attach it to your website, you will have to take care of that during website setup. Mind that domain costs differ as well as the terms implied by their providers. Thus, the process of free website development is not that easy and it definitely requires certain web design background or awareness of coding nuances.
To simplify the task, we have singled out several must-have points that will help you cope with all the stages of the web design process successfully and with maximum benefit.