Pay For Your Domain By Referring Clientele
Some registrars like HostGator offer free domain names in exchange for referrals. This usually means theyll place an ad for themselves on your site. Its a step up from a page full of clickbait, but its still advertising that you cant control. Most hosts, however, are good sports and keep their ads discreet and conveniently placed.
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.
How To Make A Custom Business Email Address Using Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the leading web hosting providers. It offers a wide range of plans and is an excellent choice for making professional business email. Like other web hosting providers, Bluehost offers free email domain that can be easily personalized.
Following are the steps to make a free domain email address for business using Bluehost.
Step 1) Goto this link and select the basic plan.
Starting out we recommend to subscribe to the basic plan. This plan includes 5 email addresses even though its not mentioned in the pricing table. Please do not get confused with the Microsoft office email that BlueHost is advertising. It is the premium service, and you can switch to MS email once your business picks up. Bluehost will assist you for email migration.
Step 2) You can host your existing domain at Bluehost. If not already registered,Bluehost allows you to search your desired custom free email domain.
Many a times, your desired domain may not be available. You can usedomain name generatortools to come up with uniquedomain name ideas.
Step 3) Enter your business information.
It is important that you select a 12-month plan. By default, 36 months is selected. There is no harm in selecting 36 months, but initially, its a good practice to keep things agile and minimize cost.
Uncheck the following checkboxes:
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Can I Make A Website Without Knowing How To Code
Absolutely, that’s what Website.com is here for! Easily create your free website with the Website.com website maker. Experience thefreedom to make your website: just drag and drop website design features and customize with your own content. Of course, if you doknow how to code, feel free to add advanced functionality with custom HTML elements and access custom code areas in the editor.
How Does My Website Get Found On Google
Earning a top ranking on Google’s results pages can significantly increase your website traffic and strengthen your business.
Website.com has SEO tools to help get your website found on Google and other search engines. Exploresimple one-click mobile optimization, a site map generator, and the ability to employ on-page SEO techniques like image titlesand content keywords.
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Whats The Best Way To Get A Free Domain Name
The best way to register a free business domain is to use a domain registrar that offers free domains as a part of their web hosting plans. For example, Bluehost offers a free domain when you sign up for its $2.95 per month hosting plan. To begin, select a hosting plan, then follow the prompts to search for a domain, select an available one, and buy web hosting. Get step-by-step instructions on the process of domain name registration.
Are Custom Domain Names Free How Much Do They Cost
While a domain name itself is not free, you can get one for free from Website.com.
The cost of a domain name depends on where youre buying it from, as well as the domain extension youre buying. For example, country-specific domain names such as .ca and .co.uk are generally more expensive than the generic .com or .net. A .com domain name typically costs around $10 to $15 per year.
Many other website builders tag on a free 1-year domain registration when you sign up for an annual service plan. But, the free domain offered by Website.com is different in two ways:
But with Website.com, you get to choose from 13 different domain extensions. And while a country-specific domain extension typically costs more than a generic domain extension, if you want to use a .ca domain name instead of a .com, go ahead and be reassured that you wont be charged the difference or extra costs.
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Are Free Domains Really Free
When it comes to finding a domain name for free, there are alarm bells that start to ring. This is primarily due to the fact that we are always told theres no such thing as a free breakfast.
And in my opinion, this is true.
So what about domains? Well, there is the possibility for getting a free domain. However, this is at most only for 1 year or for free with web hosting. So as one point or another, you will have to get your credit card out and fork out some cash.
In saying that, there are free alternatives such as subdomains, but these are not your property, but rather those of the website builder. If you are interested making your own website, check out my post on the top website builders and my reviews of the top ranked web hosting providers.
Free Domain Name Offers
Domain registration is a very easy process. Lets run through all the best options for getting a free domain. The following free domain offers below all come with a catch. You will either need to buy hosting in order to get the free domain name, or have an existing website for that free domain to point to.
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Dreamhost Best WordPress Hosting
DreamHost is another web hosting service provider that offers a free domain name. Like some other web hosting companies, DreamHost also offers both regular shared web hosting and WordPress-specific hosting.
Regardless of which option you go for, youll receive a 97-day money back guarantee, along with unlimited storage and bandwidth.
The shared web hosting offerings are straightforward and easy to understand. You can pick from two packages: the shared starter and the shared unlimited.
Both packages come with a free domain as long as you sign up for a minimum of one year.
The starter package is $2.59 per month with a three-year web hosting plan and $3.95 per month with a one-year plan. If you need email, however, its an additional charge at $1.67 per month.
The unlimited package, which includes email, costs $4.95 per month for both the three-year and one-year plans.
If you prefer dedicated WordPress web hosting, there are three plans to choose from. The WordPress Basic plan is $2.59 per month with a three-year hosting sign up.
The DreamPress plan is $16.95 per month for a three-year term. The VPS for WordPress plan is $27.50 per month if you sign up for three years.
VPS stands for virtual private server. This means your site will be hosted on its own server rather than grouped with other sites. Because the site is managed on a single, dedicated server, it tends to be faster and more responsive.
How To Get A Domain For Free
If you already have hosting services, you wont be able to use this method unless youre ready to upgrade to a better plan or switch to a new host. As such, timing is an important consideration if youre set on getting a domain name for free for the next year.
But if youre starting a website from scratch, you need web hosting services in addition to a domain name.
So, it makes sense to bundle them together. Its an easy and affordable way to get everything you need in one transaction while saving a bit of money.
The biggest consideration is choosing the right host for your website. So, lets talk about how to do that.
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Other Reasons Why A Free Sub
How Do I Get Custom Domain Emails
Using your custom domain name in your email address can build your brand and create a sense of trustthroughout your customer communications. Website.com Elite plans and above include professional emails at your domain name anda mailbox to store your emails. You can read your emails anywhere, or even set up emails to be accessed on your phone!
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What Other Ways Can I Get A Free Domain Name
The method described above is the only way I know of registering a domain name for free without making any compromises.
Next, well explore some of the other methods, and why they should be avoided.
Free ccTLDs There are some services that offer free domain names, providing you use a specific TLD . The TLD is the bit at the end of your domain name. Venture Harbours TLD is .com.
These services should be avoided as they typically offer obscure ccTLDs like .tk or .cf . Not only do these look unprofessional, but theyll make ranking in Google much harder.
Earning your domain as an affiliate Some domain registrars allow you to earn your domain name by referring other customers. While theres nothing inherently wrong with this, its probably more hassle than its worth.
Using a free subdomain Lots of free website builders and services like WordPress.com will provide your with a free subdomain like yourwebsite.wordpress.com.
There are a few reasons why Id recommend avoiding this. First of all, it means that you do not own your domain name, WordPress does.
Secondly, it looked unprofessional and is harder for people to remember.
Thirdly, youre limited to using the website builder platform that gives you the subdomain. Often, free website builders are extremely limiting, so this makes growing your websites audience a huge challenge.
Add Domain Id Protection
When you register a domain name with ICANN, you must provide your contact information including your name, phone number, physical address, and email address.
As soon as your domain name is registered, this contact information becomes available to the public unless you pay for domain privacy through your domain registrar. This domain privacy will shield your information from view keeping your personal information safe from spammers or worse, identity thieves.
Once you’ve got the domain name in hand, you’re ready to find hosting and build your website. Consider a free CMS, like HubSpot, to design your website, strategize for SEO, and create a blog.
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Pay For Your Domain With Advertising
Its possible to get a free domain name by allowing companies to place advertising on your website. This is usually in the form of banner ads that serve as clickbait. The revenue generated by users that follow links to your advertisers site generates the revenue needed to offset the price of registering your domain name.
The problem with this is three-fold. First, you have little to no control over what is advertised on your site. If you run www.modestwear.com, shoppers likely wont be impressed with banner ads for racy lingerie. Next, clickbait ads tend to slow sites down, annoying viewers who may never return to your site and finally, when visitors click ads, it takes them away from your content and you dont get a penny for the referral.
But What If You Want To Change Hosting Companies
I used to use a web hosting company that offered free domain names, but only for as long as you were their customer.
This is totally unethical. Your domain name should be owned by you. If you dont have full control over it, youre asking for trouble further down the line.
Thankfully, Bluehost are a bit different. Here are what their terms say about domain ownership when you register a free domain with them:
If youre dissatisfied with your experience at Bluehost, you wont lose your domain name. Youll be free to transfer it or simply point it elsewhere at your convenience. You retain ownership of your domain until the end of its registration period, unless you elect to extend it.
If you want to register a free domain name with Bluehost, you can do so here.
The process is really simple and only takes about 60 seconds. If you want to know how to install a WordPress website on Bluehost, weve written a step-by-step walk through here.
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