What Do You Get With Google Domains

Godaddy Offers Website Hosting Google Domains Gives Referrals

Google Domains offers a simple control panel allowing you to manage your domain and related services. You can control your DNS, website nameservers, email settings, and other general settings from one location. However, Google Domains doesnt offer website hosting. Theyre partnered with several website builders you can use to create your website, but that requires that you manually configure your hosting and Google Domains. There is Google Sites, but this is only really suitable for very basic websites and configuring your domain to work with Google Sites is more complicated than it should be!

For those new to website building and domain management, GoDaddy makes things easier. During the signup process, you can opt-in for a free trial to GoDaddys site builder. Then, if you choose, you can sign up for a plan and use GoDaddy as your hosting provider.

If you do so, your domain is automatically added to and configured for your hosting plan no technical tasks are required on your part.

One option with Google Domains is to use your domain name in conjunction with a website builder like Wix. In addition to a free plan,Wix has plans starting at as little as $16.00, and its extremely beginner-friendly.

However, GoDaddys WordPress plans are relatively expensive if youre looking for WordPress plans, you can easily get a better deal elsewhere. Check out our top-rated hosts for WordPress to learn more.

Is Google Domains Better Than Other Registrars

Setting aside the clear pricing model and all of those additional perks you get with Google Domains, deciding whether Google Domains is actually worth it is still not an easy call to make. For me, it comes down to a couple of things:

First, the core product with all domain registrars is always the same its registering a domain name on your behalf and keeping it alive. So, in this regard, Googles product is just like everyone elses the domain names arent any better than what you can get elsewhere.

Second, as cool as the extra perks are, things such as WHOIS privacy, website builder integration, subdomains and email aliases arent exactly game-changing, and youll find other companies offering them as well. Google Domains is by no means revolutionary.

At the end of the day, what matters most for 99% of the users is the price of the specific domain theyre interested in. Therefore, getting a domain at Google Domains probably only makes sense if the TLD you want is cheaper than with the competition. Heres the official pricing table of the domain TLDs available, and here are the prices offered by the most notable competitors, so you can do your own research.

Now, on to the hands-on part of this Google Domains review:

Godaddy Has Great Initial Pricing But Raises Your Domain Fee

GoDaddy offers initially low prices on domain names. Many popular domain name extensions, such as .com, benefit from a huge discount for your first year. However, you can only take advantage of this deal if you purchase a 2-year plan or longer.

Once your first few years are up, youll lose this discount and GoDaddy will renew your domain name for a significantly higher price.

Google Domains doesnt offer any form of discount on your first few years, but prices are still reasonable. A major advantage of Google Domains is that youll pay the same price to renew as you did to register.

So, in short: GoDaddy is cheaper in the short term, whereas Google Domains offers better value in the long term. However, its worth noting that Hostinger offers a free domain name for the first year with its affordable Premium Shared Hosting plan.

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You Can Hook Up Your Domain To G Suite

G Suite gives you and your team access to integrated Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet, Gmail services and more. Its paid for separately, but Google Domains lets you integrate it with your new domain with no hassle.

This also allows you to set up a range of custom email addresses for you and your team all under your main domain name.

The current price of G Suite starts from $6 per user per month.

Everything Runs Via Googles Dns Servers

DNS servers are critical elements of the web infrastructure their task is to take your domain name and translate it into a form of a web address that other computers on the internet can understand. Without DNS servers, a domain name would be useless.

If you register your domain through Google Domains, that domain is going to use the same DNS servers as the main Google search engine. Read: Theyre quite efficient, allegedly.

Whats also important about this is you dont have to pay anything extra to get access to those DNS servers. For comparison, the PremiumDNS add-on at Namecheap is $4.88 a year.

Read Also: How To Obtain A Org Domain

Google Domains Review: Conclusion

Overall, Google Domains is okay as a domain registrar. Its no game-changer, and its hard to see it dominating the market anytime soon, since its only available in a handful of countries.

That said, the interface is excellent, and the domain registration process itself is very straightforward. The overall experience is similar to what Google got us used to with other tools in its portfolio. What really stands out is Googles easy checkout and the lack of upsells or hidden fees. If youre a beginner to domain buying, this is something youll surely appreciate!

However, setting the interfaces aside, most people will probably still only decide to go with Google Domains if the specific domain name extension theyre after is cheaper than it is with other registrars. To find out if thats the case for you, check out our comparison of the top domain registrars and their prices.

Selection Of Country & Specific Tlds

Although Google Domains has a wide selection of generic domains, they do not support country-level or all high-dollar domains that other domain registrars do. As of 2022, they have around 300 TLDs available. For example, .fm is a common podcast domain.

with Namecheap that domain extension is available.

Recommended Reading: How To Transfer A Domain Name To Google

There Are No Hidden Fees During Checkout

Hidden fees are the scourge of the domain registration industry. There are very few registrars that wont try to upsell you on additional services or upgrades that you dont necessarily need.

Google Domains is one of the good guys: It doesnt force you to buy anything other than the domain itself, and there are no surprises on the checkout page. Google Domains doesnt even charge you the ICANN registration fee.

It Lets You Set Up Email Aliases And Email Forwarding

Google Domains lets you create up to a hundred email aliases, and then have them forward emails automatically to other email accounts.

For example, if you dont want to create a new email address to handle customer support, but you still want your customers to be able to send requests to , then this is where an alias comes in. An alias will grab all of the emails people send to the support address and forward them to some other existing email address.

Also Check: How Much Do Domain Names Sell For

Its Important To Remember That A Domain Is Not A Website

Its not email or any other service you can access on the Internet. A domain name is analogous to your home address in the offline world it helps people locate your property.

A domain name simply tells an Internet service where to go to get whatever it wants .

If you are looking to set up a website, youll still need to get something to host your website in addition to purchasing from Google Domains. I have reviews of possible options to host your domain name. The options are:

Google Domains For Seo Reasons

Before looking at the next steps, I have to touch on one bit of SEO mythology. In the SEO world, there are 3 camps on Google products.

The first camp says that Google is inherently untrustworthy. They say you should never use their products because they just spy on you and are out to punish you. Its all about tricking and outsmarting Google.

The second camp says that Google is SEO. They say you should use all their products and do everything they say. Google will always prefer their own products and will reward everyone that uses them. Its all about cooperating and sucking up to Google.

The third camp says that neither of the first two camps relies on evidence or testing. The answer to all things SEO is it depends. Use Google products that suit your business dont use Google products that dont work for you. Either way, focus on testing and doing the right things for your customers.

I have never seen any evidence that Google Domains helps with SEO.

Dont buy into SEO snake oil when you are looking for a domain name registrar. The only tested SEO truth is that the internet is made up of domain names. And you do need a custom domain to build a long-term project around.

The registrar you choose should be based on pricing, convenience, usability, and support.

• are just looking to register a few generic domains for your business
• value simplicity and transparency
• dont need a wide product selection
• dont need a super-competitive price point
• trust Google as a company

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How To Register A Domain Name With Google

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Google has recently launched its domain registration service, meaning you can now purchase domain names through Google just like you would through GoDaddy or another domain registrar. If you already have a website and domain, getting registered and indexed with Google Search can increase your visibility and traffic. Keep in mind that Google Domains might not be available in your country, so check that out.

Google Domains Is Strictly A Domain Registration Service

They allow you to claim, register, transfer & manage domain names plus allow your domain to resolve via their DNS servers.

Google does not offer complementary services such as web hosting in the traditional sense.

Google does have a simple website builder with , but for most is too limited. They also have email and business services through . Google Workspace does require a custom domain name to get started.

Ill explore this point more later below, but its important to understand Googles purpose with Google Domains.

They want getting online simpler & less daunting for very small and/or less tech-savvy businesses that means getting these businesses a domain name.

And even further, it means making the process of getting a domain as simple & transparent as possible.

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Google Forwards Your Emails Godaddy Offers Email Services

One advantage of having your own domain is setting up a professional email address. Both Google Domains and GoDaddy allow you to give off a professional email presence, but how they work is starkly different.

With your Google Domains domain, you can create up to 100 email aliases that will forward to an email address of your choosing. By contrast, GoDaddy provides a truly professional email setup, but for a fee.

GoDaddy offers three email plans, with their smallest plan offering 5 GB of email storage along with the ability to sync email, calendars, and contacts across all your devices. For those who want a separate email plan rather than using Gmail or their personal email, this is a solid alternative but does incur a monthly fee.

Getting Your Site On Google Search

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What Is Google Domains

In short, is a domain registration service offered by Google.

On the surface, its product is very similar to what other domain registrars have been doing for years you can go to Google Domains and register a brand new domain name or transfer an existing domain. You can then use that domain to launch a website, create custom email accounts, integrate it with third-party services, and so on.

However, the devils in the details, and there are some specific traits that make Google Domains unique among its competitors:

Google Domains Review: Tlds And Prices

Apart from the classic .com or .net, Google Domains also gives you access to a really nice selection of other TLDs 200 of them.

That said, there are still some notable local TLDs missing . On the plus side, when it comes to custom TLDs, youll find some really interesting options, including .accountants, .limo, .actor, .cleaning, design, store, .tech, .dental, .studio, .investments, .shoes, .university, .wine, and many other niche TLDs.

Overall, Google Domains wont disappoint in 99% of the cases when talking TLDs. However, not all of them are that affordable.

Heres how Google Domains offering compares with GoDaddys and Namecheaps:

Although the prices at Google Domains may not look too stunning in this comparison, the great thing about Googles offering is the domain renewal prices are the same as the initial registration fees, which isnt the standard in this market. With some registrars, you can find that renewing your domain name for the second period can set you back as much as twice the initial price.

Just to give you an example, GoDaddy offers .org domains at the initial price of $9.17, but renewing them after that first period costs $21.17. For a .com, its $12.17 vs $18.17. Google Domains is much more transparent with pricing and will often be cheaper in the long run.

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Purchasing A Domain Through Google

Large Selection Domain Extensions

In 2014, ICANN, the internets governing body, added a lot more top-level domains . This introduced a wide new selection into the domain name market, which use to be limited to .com, .net, a few other generics plus country-designated TLDs.

Now more businesses are looking for unique TLDs and domain extension options like .kitchen or .academy among hundreds of others. The issue now is making sure your domain registrar has all the ones you want to register.

There is one catch Google Domains does not have every country designated TLDs. Its a US-only service and has only generic TLDs . If you want a .ie domain from the country Ireland youll be out of luck.

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