Buying A Domain Off An Existing Company
If your desired domain name is already taken by an existing company, you can approach the website owner and make them an offer to purchase the domain.
First, try visiting the existing website. This can give you an idea of whether the owner would be interested in selling it. If its an active business getting a lot of traffic, its not likely that the owner would be willing to part with it. But if the website is a placeholder, or seems to have been updated last in the early 2000s, its quite possible that youll be able to buy it without a problem.
If you cant find the owners contact info on the page, try to find it through a WHOIS service. Then, think over how much youd be willing to pay for the domain. Once youve made up your mind, contact the site owner and negotiate the purchase.
Domain Pricing Made Easy
In addition to creating a hosting account, registering a domain name is one of the most important business decisions youll make. It offers you a way to maintain an online presence and increase visibility for your brand. However, it can take some effort to do the necessary due diligence, and ensure that youre getting the best bang for your buck.
In this post, we discussed some key considerations to keep in mind when shopping for a domain name. These include:
Ready to buy a domain name? With our domains, you can expect straightforward pricing, access to hundreds of unique TLDs, easy management, and more!
About the Author: Ellice
Armed with 10+ years of experience in social , Ellice is DreamHost’s resident social media marketing expert. A native Angeleno, her passions include trivia, bunnies, bowling, and social justice for all.
Getting A Domain Name With Ueni
As a company that exists to help small businesses, we knew that domain names were a particular pain point for many businesses when it came to getting online. So we decided to make it as easy as possible for our clients.
In addition to helping you get a website for your business up and running, UENI also enables you to get a domain name and hosting all services under a single roof! All of our paid plans come with the ability to add a custom domain name for your business at no extra cost. You can also connect to any other domain names you already own.
And, the best thing about it is that you dont even have to do anything simply give us the brief and well get to work! Unlike other website builders that you have to interact with and build your website by yourself, UENI does it all for you.
Our team will make sure you get the best possible website for your business in less than three days. Well create all the content, and it will be entirely operational from day one: youll be able to take payments, make sales, have your customers book services, and more.
Check out our pricing plans to learn more!
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What Factors Affect The Cost Of A Domain
There are multiple factors that can have an impact on the price of a domain name:
While there are many factors ad parties that play a role in the price of a domain, there are also hidden costs that you should look out for.
How Much Does A Website Domain Cost
If youre just getting started online, then the best course of action is to choose a new domain. A new domain will be cheaper, and allows you to build your own brand from scratch.
Typically, youll be paying around $10-$12 for a new domain, depending upon the domain name extension you choose.
Thats what most of the people reading this right now can expect, but its not the whole answer to what domain registration costs. On the low end, you may be able to register a domain for free . On the high end, popular domain names have sold for as high as tens of millions of dollars.
Thats a pretty huge range in cost. To figure out what accounts for the difference between the extremes and what you can expect, read on for the most important information you need to know about domain registration costs.
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Why Are There Price Differences When It Comes To Domains
While the Domain Name System like the Internets phonebook is endlessly big, no one wants to have a cryptic sequence of numbers and letters as their web address. In additional, many top-level domains or domain extensions have different levels of prestige. This, in turn, is mirrored in the price. While traditional endings like .com or .org are among the most popular domain endings, new TLDs are only slowly gaining in popularity.
There are also many different domain providers. Their price differences are usually not obvious, but some providers have special offers every now and then. While price should not be the only factor in choosing a domain provider, it is definitely worth comparing several providers.
To help you understand what youre actually paying for, well briefly explain the structure of a domain. Every domain is made up of various building blocks, that together technically speaking make up the fully qualified domain name . If you look at your browsers address bar, the domain starts after the protocol specification ” rel=”nofollow”> ). This is followed by:
- Third-level domain: Sub-domain for websites this is usually www
- Second-level domain: Domain name freely selectable often contains the brand name or the name of the web project
- Top-level domain: Domain ending TLDs are limited differentiated between two types:
| $2040 | Generic |
How Much Should You Expect To Pay For A Domain Name
A domain name is the written counterpart of an IP address, which is a string of numbers.
The cost related to buying a domain name varies according to different aspects, with its availability and its Top-Level Domain being the two most important. In fact, unavailable domain names require you to make an offer to the current owner, which isnt regulated by any maximum price .
When it comes to Top-Level Domains, instead, you can expect to pay anything from $0.99 up to hundreds or thousands of dollars. On average, though, domain names cost from $0.99 up to $12 per month.
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Things To Check Before Buying A Domain Name
Before you decide to buy a domain, there are 4 things to consider to make the process as straightforward as possible:
- Hidden fees and pricing we already mentioned that the prices you see on a domain name registrars website are introductory and could change after one year of service. We also reflected on hidden fees that you should be aware of before you make a purchase. Pay special attention to the fine print before you agree to anything.
- Data and privacy protection certain domain companies charge additional fees for hiding your personal and company information. Since this is vital to keeping your data away from spammers, check the privacy policy before you make a purchase.
- Auto-renewal and cancellation policies auto-renewal is one of the hidden charges that most domain name registrars wont tell you about. If you plan on using a domain for more than one year, its fine, but if you dont need it for more than a year, look for a provider that allows you to choose if you want a renewal. You should also check the cancellation policy if you decide to transfer your domain to another provider.
- Subdomains pay special attention to subdomains as they are treated as separate names by search engines and have separate rankings. Since they are viewed as separate websites, this could be a disadvantage if you plan on using them in the long run.
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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What Are The Prices Of Domain Names In 2022
When youre looking to buy a domain, its only normal to want to know everything about the prices. Buying a new domain generally costs somewhere between $10$20 per year, but the cost varies depending on the domain provider you purchase your domain from.
The type of domain also determines the price. Different domain providers offer different pricing packages and features. In other words, you should invest some time into shopping around before you decide to make a purchase.
There are two most common types of domain names:
- Top-level domains TLDs are reliable and trustworthy and include the most popular domain name extensions like .edu, .net, and .com.
- Country code top-level domains ccTLDs are reliable because they add national legitimacy to a website.
Lets take a look at some of the prices from the most popular domain name registrars:
- non-premium TLDs $12.99 per year
Namecheap $399 699 + Free Lifetime Privacy Protection
You all know how complicated some of these domain registrars can be. And no one really wants to have to deal with that! Luckily, Namecheap has made a name for itself for its simple services and pocket-friendly prices.
The hosts rates range from $0.88 per year for domains such as .us, .men, .faith, and .cricket to $8.88 per year or domains such as .com. However, there are more costly domains that cost up to $2,488 per year for domains such as .security. In addition, the company also offers additional features like free domain parking, free email forwarding, and free web redirection.
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Premium Domain Name Cost
Premium domain names are pre-registered high-quality aftermarket domains that are more brandable and memorable. These domain names are available for sale at a high price that can go up to millions of dollars.
People invest in these premium domains by purchasing high-quality aftermarket domains to sell later at a higher price for profit. The price depends on the uniqueness of the name, domain, length, and overall brand potential.
The difference between a regular domain with a premium aftermarket domain is the length of the domain name. High-quality domain names are often short, closely associated with a service or industry, and have popular TLDs like .com, .in, and .net.
The most expensive domain names sold include LasVegas.com for $90 million, CarInsurance.com for $49.7 million, and Insurance.com for $35.6 million.
The benefits of registering a premium domain name are:
- Easy to remember. Visitors or your target audience wont misspell or confuse your website with a different name as premium domain names are more intuitive.
- Better branding. Premium domain names cast your business in the best light, giving credibility that increases visitors trust.
- Better search ranking. A business working in a specific industry can get higher traffic by having a premium domain name, such as Insurance.com.
- Investment. The more people use the internet, the higher the prices of these domains can go since they will be able to reach more customers.
Final Answer: How Much Does A Domain Name Cost
With all that said and done, how much does a domain name cost at the end of the day? The answer isnt so straightforward. Depending on the domain name and its value, expect to pay anywhere between an average of ten dollars to thousands of dollars. It also depends on the sales and offers that are available at the time you purchase your domain, and sometimes you can snag a great deal.
Theres also a yearly renewal fee of around $10 to $25, or up to a couple of hundred dollars. It all depends on the domain extension. Sometimes it makes sense to spend a lot and invest in your site or business other times, a simple $10 domain will be more than fine.
Whatever you decide to do, go with the best you can afford, as well as what will make the most sense for your site, business and goals.
Are you still wondering about domain name costs? All sorted?
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Domain Name Cost: Final Thoughts
The simple answer to how much is a domain name is: it depends on your needs. Registering a new domain should never break the bank, though prices will increase after the first year. But if you need an aftermarket domain, be prepared to pay a lot more. In any case, privacy protection, domain transferring, and auto-renewal shouldnt add much, if anything, to the cost of your domain name.
Generally, the cost of a brand new domain name will be between $10-20 a year, which will fluctuate depending on introductory and renewal prices.
Choosing a registrar also depends on what youre looking for whether thats simply a registrar, a hosting provider included, or a registration with a website builder, there are options for every commitment level.
Picking A Domain Name
Once you have decided which TLD to use, its time to determine the best domain name for your business. An important first consideration is the length of the domain name. Keep it as short as possible. The shorter the domain name, the easier it will be to remember and type correctly. Shorter domain names are also visually more appealing on marketing materials, both physical and digital. Thisisarray.com looks much cleaner than something like Wearethecompanyarraydigital.com and is much easier to remember and type. This is an obvious exaggeration but the more concise your web address, the better chance you have of gaining web traffic. Spelling is also important try not to get too creative with spelling, thatll just confuse users. Stick with common spellings in your domain name.
Whenever possible, domain names should also represent the brand or image that you or your company are trying to portray. Generally, companies will try to get their actual company name or at least a part of it as their domain name because it makes it much easier to remember or find through a search engine. For example, walmart.com, amazon.com, and google.com all use the company name as the domain name. Even if a user cant remember the specific website domain, they are likely to type in the company name into a search engine and find the site that way.
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How Does Domain Name Hosting Work
To understand how domain name hosting works, it is essential to understand how a domain name actually works. When you enter a domain name into your internet browser, it sends a request to the Domain Name System.
The Domain Name System then looks up the name servers associated with that domain name. It communicates your request to the name servers, which then forward that request to the web server hosting the site. The web server then relays the information associated with that site back to the browser.
The name servers are managed by the domain web host, and the web server is managed by your website host. The domain name hosts responsibility is to register your domain name with the DNS and maintain the name servers so that your domain name remains active online.
Buying An Expired Domain Name
At this point, you may be wondering if its possible to buy a domain back after it has expired. The good news is, if you renew it within the grace period, you can still keep it.
Every domain registrar differs, but this can be anywhere from 30 to 90 days. Sometimes, the grace period is entirely dependent on the type of TLD of the domain. The grace period could be as low as ten days or even zero.
So, its definitely worth it to check the fine print with the domain registrar before finalizing your order.
Most of the time, youll get an email to notify you in advance that your domain name is expiring soon. Often, youll also get offers to renew early at a discount, which can help to bring down domain name costs. Then, you can log in, select your domain name for renewal and check out.
In many instances, you can also search specifically for expired domains that you can buy as well. You can check the documentation of your registrar or contact them for specific steps.
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