Where To Register Your Domain Name
Youve decided on the name you want, but where do you get it? I mean, the site you built with Wix is nice and all, but having a site at narwhals.wix.com is really hurting your branding strategy.
Well, you have a lot of options. The choice just comes down to what you need. Check prices for your desired domain name on all of the sites! Look at their policies to see if theyd have any problem with the sort of content you want to publish. See if their values match your own. If youre new to all of this, find out if they prioritize newbie-friendly features or expert-level features.
That said, I do have a few recommendations:
The Reliable Brand
For reliability and sheer name recognition, GoDaddy is hard to beat. Theyve been around since well, almost the beginning of the internet, and have a long history of pretty good service. My own personal experiences are mixed: I like their domain services. Im generally unimpressed with their hosting services . But if you just want to register domains, they have a history of standing by their customers when things go wrong.
For Good Deals
To get the best pricing, well the domain name economy is something else entirely. Most domain names that arent filled with super common keywords will average around $10-15 USD per year, as Im writing this. But the actual price can be affected by the keywords in question, the language, the TLD, whether or not the domain name is related to a currently booming industry almost everything.
Considerations For The Starter Domain Approach
- Make sure the names will translate cleanly. The two names have to be very closely related. Ideally theyre so close you could use the desired name everywhere outside of the actual domain name, including in your logo.
- Its a risk there is no guarantee your desired target domain name will be there when you are ready.
- I recommend getting into discussions with the broker or domain owner of your desired name as soon as possible. Even if you know there isnt any chance you can afford it today. They dont need to know that. This is actually a huge advantage for you, because it is common that over time the owner will drop the price as they realize their high price isnt going to happen.
How To Buy A Domain Name That Is Taken
Last updated on March 26th, 2021 by Editorial Staff | Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us.
We often hear from readers who want to buy a domain name thats already been taken.
If youre in that position, then you might be wondering how to go about getting hold of a domain name that someone already owns.
The easiest solution would be to find another suitable domain name. However, sometimes this may not be the best option.
In this article, were going to share our expert tips on how to buy a taken domain and give you some insider tips on what to watch out for. We will also cover few proven strategies that you can use if your domain isnt available.
Note: Unlike other guides on the internet, this resource is based on our actual collective experience of buying premium domains. We have spent anywhere from few hundred to few million dollars in buying premium domains and established website businesses.
The Basics of Buying a Domain Name Thats Already Taken
All websites need a domain name. It is your websites address on the internet. See our beginners guide on how domain names work if youre not 100% sure what a domain name actually is.
But what if the domain name you want is already taken?
In that case, you have two options: come up with a different name or buy the one you really want from its current owner.
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How To Register It With Godaddy
If youre ready to make your mark on the internet but are not sure how to actually register your domain name, heres a step-by-step process for registering your available domain name with GoDaddy.
1. Enter the name in GoDaddys domain name search bar.
2. Click Add to Cart.
3. If desired, register additional extensions to protect your online brand. Click Add to Cart for each additional domain name.
4. Click Continue to Cart.
5. Select a domain privacy plan, or click No Thanks.
6. Decide if you want to attach your domain name to a free starter website.
Keep the box checked for Start your website for free if you want to attach your domain name to a free trial of GoDaddys Website Builder. Uncheck the box if you want to pass.
7. Decide if you want to attach your domain name to a professional email address.
Choose from three professional email plans or keep the box checked to No Thanks.
8. Click Continue to Cart.
9. Sign into your GoDaddy account or click Create Account.
Youll be prompted to enter your billing and payment information. GoDaddy offers several payment methods so choose the one thats most convenient for you. You will need to provide your billing address but if youve chosen domain privacy in the previous step, that information will not be visible to the public.
10. Review your order under My Items and click Complete Purchase.
Consider registering your domain name for a longer term to save money in the long run and prevent accidental expiration.
Follow The Registrars Checkout Process
Next, use the registrars tool to see if it can sell you your desired domain and TLD.
If you can buy your domain, select a plan, and follow the registrars checkout process. Some registrars will offer a base plan with add-ons like a professional email address tied to your domain. Others offer methods that scale with your needs.
Many registrars will also offer you multiple TLDs as a bundle deal . These plans are perfect for anyone concerned about visitors struggling to find the correct address or competitors buying the domain.
Once you reach the checkout process, youll need to provide your registrar with your:
- Contact details
- Payment information
If you dont want your contact information to be public, make sure you purchase domain privacy.
You should also check the duration of your registration carefully. Many registrars will allow you to buy your name for several years at a time, but you may want to select a shorter plan if you havent used that registrar before.
Choosing a shorter plan to start with will allow you to switch if you arent happy with your registrars speed, security, service, or anything else.
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Check Where You’re Planning To Buy The Domain
- Ensure the domain will be registered in your name. Make sure your supplier will register you as the domain’s owner. If the domain is registered in their name, they could take control of the domain and hold you to ransom. There are plenty of options for registering your Domain. Some of the more popular registrars include: 123-Reg, GoDaddy, Domain.com, 1& 1 Ionos, names.co.uk and fasthosts.
- Ask about flexibility. It’s hard to predict how your company will change, so find a supplier offering flexibility. Make sure you can change all DNS settings, as this enables you to use the domain with services from other suppliers.
- Make sure you can renew automatically. Even large companies somehow forget to renew their domain names, so opt for a supplier that will renew yours automatically.
- See what support is included. Look for support that matches your technical knowledge. If you don’t have much experience of using domain names, it may be worth paying a little more for a supplier offering better support.
- Search for online reviews. Before you pay, see how others rate the domain name companies you’re thinking of buying from.
Can You Get A Domain Name For Free
So far, weve covered two ways to buy a domain name. But can you get one for free? The answer is yes. There are three ways to get a free domain:
While you can get a good domain name for free, you should consider how professional your domain makes your website look. Your TLD conveys legitimacy, authority, and trustworthiness to visitors.
People trust familiar TLDs the most, and over 37% of domains currently have the TLD .com. So, while you might be able to get a .ml or .tumblr domain for free, investing in the .com domain may pay off better long term.
Also Check: How To Connect Godaddy Domain To WordPress
Let Tools Help You Out
If youre stuck in the brainstorming phase, then let the following online tool help make the brainstorming process easier:
- Impossibility: This tool lets you enter a variety of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, and itll combine words to find available domains.
- Panabee: This tool will offer you dozens of different variants based on your chosen domain name.
- Lean Domain Search: This tool will add popular words and phrases to the beginning and end of your chosen domain.
Create Email Accounts With Your New Domain
Using an email address with your new domain name, such as email@yourdomain.com,will increase your credibility, whether you use it as a contact address or to communicate with business partners.
If you use Hostingers hosting service, you can easily create an email address:
If youre looking for a more premium email service, feel free to check out Titan business email hosting here.
Pro Tip
Use a password generator like LastPass to create a random and secure password for your business email address.
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What Do I Do Once I Have Bought My Domain Name
After buying a domain name, you can connect your domain name to a website to publish it to the world. When people type in your connected domain name, theyll see the website youve built. Of course, youll also need a server to host your website on.
First, make sure you write down your login information for your domain registrar of choice. This login information is important when it comes time to connect your domain to your website or renew your domain registration. You can always contact your registrar for help logging in to manage your domain, but its easier to store your login information somewhere safe. You can use a secure password manager if you want to store this information on your phone or computer, or you can simply write it down on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere safe.
When you use a website builder like Mailchimp, you can easily connect your domain name in just a few minutes. Youll also need to choose a web hosting provider, which essentially acts as a server to store the files that make your website work. You can purchase both your hosting package and your domain name separately and connect them to your website using a website builder. However, you also have the option of purchasing a domain name directly through Mailchimp when you build your website.
Bring your brand to life with your own website. Design from scratch, connect a domain, analyze traffic, and optimize for SEO.
Why Buy A Domain With Godaddy
- GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain registrar, and 21+ million customers trust us with 84+ million domains.
- Domains include free privacy protection forever.**
- 24/7 phone and chat support. Talk to a real person in your preferred language.
- Simple domain set up. You dont need any technical skills.
- Easily find available domains from over 500 domain extensions.
- Up to 100 subdomains to create a custom web address.
- Real-time monitoring to make sure you’re always up and running.
- Quick, simple tools to forward your domains to any existing website.
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How To Choose And Purchase A Domain Name
Entrepreneur
In his book Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Website, SEO and online expert Jon Rognerud shows you how to build a high-performance website and get top ranking on all search engines. In this edited excerpt, the author outlines how to go about selecting and purchasing a domain name for your site that will help people find you.
Shutterstock
Choosing and purchasing a domain name is an extremely important part of designing your website, because that becomes the name of your website. To buy a domain name, you can do so directly from your web hosting provider or through a separate domain name service . If you’re using a separate domain name service for your server, make sure you choose one such as no-IP. com, which assigns you a static IP address, the numerical address that identifies your computer. If this address is ever-changing , you won’t be able to successfully assign a domain name to your server. I personally use Register.com, Namecheap.com, or GoDaddy.com because I like the independence that these services provide.
Go to GoDaddy.com/domains/searchbulk.aspx and enter keywords that you’re thinking about, and GoDaddy will format them and check the various extensions and names. It will automatically check to see if they’re registered and remove ones already taken, leaving you with a list of keyword-rich domains that are available for you!
Here’s a list of where you can buy/research domains:
Dont Add Hyphens Or Other Elements
Adding numbers and hyphens to your domain name is going to make it much more difficult for your visitors to remember. You want your domain name to stick in the mind of your visitors, not be something they have to write down to get it right.
Plus, you run the risk of your visitors navigating to the non-hyphened version of your site, and losing traffic over the long-term.
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Make Sure Your Domain Name Is Brandable
Because your domain name will be a part of your brand forever. If youre running a business, it would be amazing if you could get a domain name that is the same as your business name. If youre building a personal website, using your actual name is a pretty good idea, too.
But there are times when thats not possible. Maybe your name is John Smith, or the local equivalent. Maybe your business is called General Store. Thats when you have to get creative.
For personal websites, people often add on bits, like so: iamjohnsmith.com, johnsmithdesign.com, photosbysmith.com, and so on. This sort of domain name can also help you out by giving people an idea of what you do, on top of who you are.
Company websites use a similar approach, with names like wearegeneralstore.com, or they might use a location-specific domain such as generalstoreprinceton.com.
As a last resort, you might use adjectives and generally descriptive words. A local delivery company might use timelydeliveries.com, if their preferred domain name was already taken. This sort of domain is also good for sites that are more about sharing information than advertising a specific company. For example, a food blog might be called quickfoodreviews.com.
Help Yourself To Some Domain Name Generators
This is another kind of helper that you can use if youre finding it hard to come up with a cool domain name, and thus, by extension, your business name as well.
These tools are very simple to use, but also surprisingly helpful. All they need is one keyword from you a seed keyword and, in return, they give you tens or even hundreds of suggestions, full of valid and available domain names that you can register right away.
The best such tools include:
- LeanDomainSearch, created by the guys at Automattic . For example, this is what you get when looking up coffee:
- Business name generator by Shopify works similarly to the above, and also helps you build a Shopify store with the domain name of your choice.
- Nameboy is a bit more old-school especially in its design but its still useful. This one needs more specific input, and does a better job once you have a general direction you want to follow with your name.
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How Much Domain Names Cost
There are two options when it comes to getting your domain name:
Regardless of which option you go with, youll pay an annual registration fee of $7$15/year on average. If you are acquiring the name on top of that, youll pay an additional acquisition price.
The cost of acquiring a domain name varies widely: You can easily spend 45 figures on a name. In some cases you can find a good one for hundreds of dollars. Some domain names arent for sale at all, while others have sold for millions of dollars.
Register Your Corresponding Social Media Handles
Social media is key these days whether we like it or not.
The average web-connected human , and, in total, a month. Thats BILLION.
What Im trying to say is: People are much more likely to check whats going on with your brand on Facebook than by actually visiting your website. This is just one of the reasons why you absolutely have to have your professional profiles set up on the most popular social media sites.
Whenever possible, get the same handles as your domain name. If these are taken, be creative and use some suffixes or prefixes. Some options: now, daily, hq, get, app. For example, my fictional Lotterio.com brand could go by LotterioHQ on Twitter.
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