Pick The Right Tld For Your Domain Name
Your TLD affects your credibility, so its important to choose wisely.
Check out this graph on the topic:
These are the extensions that you should consider if you are serving a global audience.
Of course, .com domain names are much more expensive than the rest, so you might have to compromise there if you dont have the budget for it.
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:
Considerations Before You Buy A Domain Through Shopify
Before you buy a domain through Shopify, review the following considerations:
- Email hosting services aren’t provided on Shopify. Instead, you can connect your Shopify-managed domain to a third-party email hosting service.
- Some domain extensions include WHOIS privacy, which is a service that keeps your personal contact information hidden from public domain registration records. If you want WHOIS privacy, then make sure that your domain extension isn’t on the WHOIS exceptions list.
- Some domain extensions have specific residency or business registration requirements. Make sure that you can meet these requirements, because you might need to verify your registration information. If you can’t meet these requirements, then your domain might be suspended.
- A new SSL certificate is created automatically when you buy a domain through Shopify. You dont need to buy SSL encryption for your domain.
- You need to pay the registration fee every year to renew your domain subscription. Domain renewals are charged separately from your monthly subscription charges. The exact pricing depends on which domain extension you choose.
- Domain hosting services are only available with a paid Shopify plan. If you want to close your store or your Shopify account, and you want to keep using your domain, then you need to transfer your domain before you close your store. You can transfer your domain to one of the following:
- another domain registrar
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How To Decide On A Domain Name
Your brand says everything about you, your values, your identity, and what you promise to deliver. Why should your domain name be any different? Before choosing one, its important that you educate yourself on the different styles and types of domain names out there so you can make the best decision for your needs.
A new startup business should select a domain name that parallelsor even better, matchesthe company name to direct customers to your site without any confusion. This is a great opportunity to choose a name for your business that is unique and available as a domain before announcing yourself to the world.
If you already own an existing business and your company name or certain keywords you wish to use are not available, a little creativity might be needed to select a domain name. Well get into that later in this article.
How To Choose A Good Domain Name
The advice I’ve been giving my students since the early 2000s about choosing domain names still holds today. Unfortunately it is way harder to do because all one or two word combinations with a .com have been claimed. So to get the perfect name you might have to pay a premium to someone who already owns it.
You want to search for domain names that are:
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Subdomain Names With Dots
Although I said that you cannot buy a domain name with embedded dots, you can still create a domain where thereare embedded dots. For example, if you were to look up at your browser’s address bar right now, you will noticethat this site has a web address of “www.thesitewizard.com”, where there is a dot separating “www” from my maindomain “thesitewizard.com”. Since I own the domain called “thesitewizard.com”, I can create any number ofweb addresses ending with “.thesitewizard.com” that I want. These new addresses, like”www.thesitewizard.com”, are often referred to as subdomains. They are subdomains of my main address, thesitewizard.com.
As such, even though you cannot buy a domain name like “this.is.an.example.com”, nothing stops youfrom buying a domain called “example.com” , and then creating a subdomain namecalled “this.is.an.example.com”. Once you own the main domain, you can create any number of subdomainsthat you want.
Embedded Spaces And Dots
The short answer to the questions asked is that you won’t be able to buy a domain name like”an example.com” or “an.example.com” where there are embedded spaces or dotsin the name you choose.
Don’t be confused here. When I say you can’t buy a domain name with embedded dots, I meant that you can’t buyone where the dots occur in the portion of the name that you choose I’m not talking about the partthat separates that name from its suffix. That is, a domain name registrar does not sell domain names of theform “an.example.com” but they allow domain namesof the form “example.com” or “example.co.uk” .
In other words, there’s no need to debate whether to buy a domain name with spaces and dots in between.You can’t do it.
However, all is not lost. There are other ways of separating the words.
Read Also: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Shopify
How Long Does My Domain Name Registration Last How Do I Renew My Domain
How long your domain registration lasts can vary depending on the domain you purchase. Many domain name registrars will allow customers to register domains for 10 years at a time, but typically customers will register domains for one to three years.If you want to extend your registration, its easy to renew your domain with GoDaddy. You can choose to manually renew or set up auto-renewal, so you ensure it stays registered to you.
How Much Does A Domain Name Cost
The exact cost of your new domain name will vary based on the registrar, the specific top-level domain you’ve chosen, and the quality of the domain name. Domain.com is proud to offer more than 300 unique TLDs to help your new website stand out. Some domains may be pricier due to their intrinsic benefits, like being short and memorable, or the use of very competitive keywords such as cars.com. Browse our premium domains to jumpstart your website performance.
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Verify Ownership Of Your New Domain
Paying for your domain might seem like the last step in the process, but you also need to verify your ownership. This step lets you send email using the domain and keeps other people from using it without your permission.
If you purchase your domain through Mailchimp, this process is simple. Youll receive a verification email after you complete your purchase. Simply click on the Verify Domain button in the email and follow the instructions on the next page, and you can start using your domain to build your brand. Youll only ever have to complete this step once.
Check For Trademark Infringement
Both major and minor brands alike take issue with others using their trademarked names. Even if youve just made an innocent mistake, the legal hassle involved in a lawsuit and having to rearrange your web presence could be costly.
You can avoid these situations by using a trademark lookup tool before you finalize your choice.
Read Also: How To Transfer Domain From Wix To Shopify
Which One Should You Go With
Its best to look up your desired domain name on both websites to see which company can offer you a better deal.
Namecheap offers .com domains at a lower price than GoDaddy . Yet its important to remember that money is not the only thing that matters, so you might want to take a closer look at GoDaddys and Namecheaps track record in terms of their views and their behavior to see which companys values resonate with you more.
Not sold on GoDaddy or Namecheap? Make sure to read our blog post.
What To Do If You Cant Get The Domain Name You Want
Its not always possible to get the domain name you want. What should you do then?
- It might be unavailable or parked. You can contact the owner and make them an offer. Alternatively, you can modify your domain name by adding a word to it. For example, if you are using your product name, consider adding the word get to it, as Drip did with www.getdrip.com.
- It might be outside your budget. You can significantly reduce the cost of your domain name by choosing a less popular domain extension. Just dont go overboard with this. A whacky extension that no one has ever seen before might hurt your brand.
- It might be trademarked, like WordPress. When thats the case its best to just drop the idea and go back to the drawing board. Dont play with fire if you dont want to get burned.
Yes, its really annoying when you cant get a domain name that you want, but your only option is to get creative. And who knows, maybe youll come up with something even better?
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Should You Buy A Domain Name
Bestselling Author, World Traveler, International Speaker, former Senior Customer Experience & Marketing Strategist
I started buying domain names over 20 years ago. Not, like some people, as an investment, but because whenever I had a business idea I’d scout out relevant domain names and grab any good ones while I could. I held on to some of them for decades because I couldn’t quite accept that I was never going to use them. Now, however, I’m certain that I don’t want to start another business, so I have begun selling off my collection.
But should you buy domain names from people like me? Why? When? For how much?
Your domain name is a crucial element of your marketing. It should match your business name or the type of business you have. In fact, I’ve always looked for a domain name before deciding what to name my company or new product. If you can’t find a good name that is still available, it may make sense to buy one.
If you can’t find a good name that is still available, it may make sense to buy one.
You may have been scared off by hearing about domains selling for crazy amounts. The most expensive domain name ever sold, for example, was apparently cars.com which sold for $872 million!
A good domain name is worth a lot more than a billboard or newspaper ad.
So Is Private Registration Worth It
As I said, legal issues with domain ownership probably wont be an issue for you. The general rule of thinking is that domain registrars want repeat business. They want to keep making sales. In order to do that, they need to be trustworthy. If they start trying to steal domain names from people and get into legal battles, its going to drive customers away. They want you to keep coming back and paying for private registration.
So ultimately, its up to you to weigh the pros and cons. Are you okay with having your personal information released to the world? Are you okay with getting spam emails, phone calls, and snail mail?
Id say the best choice is to get a PO box and second email address, then fill out that information when registering a domain name. That way your home address and primary email address arent on display, and you dont have much of a need for private registration. But renting a PO box can be much more expensive than private registration, so it may not be ideal for everyone.
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What Should My Domain Name Be
Ideally, youre going to be holding on to this domain name for a long time, so choosing the right one is important.
When youre considering a domain name, ask yourself these questions:
- Is it relatively short? Super long domain names are hard to remember and type. Aim for 15 characters or less.
- Does it read well? If people mentally stumble over saying your URL, itll lose some of its impact.
- Is it specific to me? Youre trying to enhance your personal brand, so pick a domain name that helps with that.
To see whether a domain name is available, try Squarespaces domain search engine.
Id start by looking up your first and last name followed by .com. This format is memorable, relevant, and uniqueand as I talked about earlier, owning your name gives you more control over your online identity.
If your name isnt available with the .com extension, consider using a different extension. For example, you could use .bio or .expert if you want to keep it professional, .design or .finance if you want to tie it to your profession, or .cool or .fyi if you want to add a little humor and personality. The options are pretty endless.
You can also experiment with different variations on your name. Here are some ideas:
- first name + middle initial + last name
- first name + middle name + last name
- first initial + middle initial + last name
Alternatively, you can incorporate your profession or interests. Here are some more ideas: