Well Cover Cost Hidden Fees The Best Domain Registrars And More
Your domain name functions as your websites address in Internet-land, so having one thats simple and relevant will make it much easier for people to find you. If youve ever misspelled a long location name on Google Maps and ended up in the middle of nowhere, then you can probably appreciate the beauty of straightforward place names.
Its easy to see why people are willing to break the bank to secure a snappy domain name it increases site traffic pretty much by design. Some of the most popular domains, like hotels.com or business.com, have literally sold for millions of dollars. But resist the urge to stock up on lottery tickets million-dollar domain names are not the norm. In fact, for most of our plebeian purposes, registration cost wont come to more than $20 annually, max.
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:
TLDs ranked based on trust, memorability, and times used
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.
Your Domain Name Should Be Easy To Type On Mobile Devices
Do you know what happened on June 29th, 2007?
Ill give you a few hints: Apple. Steve Jobs. iPhone. Yes, you guessed it: on that day Steve Jobs presented the first iPhone, which changed the world forever.
Now, a little bit more than a decade later, we are all struggling with smartphone addiction, and we got to the point where dumbphones are making a comeback. But what does this have to do with domain names?
Well, in the first quarter of 2019, mobile traffic accounted for 48.71% of global website traffic and its safe to say that this number is only going to increase.
This means that its best if your domain name is easy to type on a mobile phone.
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Key Parameters For Determining The Price Of A Premium Domain Name
The first parameter that determines the value and price of a premium domain name is its age.
Many persons attempting to sell *premium domain names* attempt to sell you on price alone.
Lets just say that anything less than 15 years old is not premium.
In addition to age, price and value vary based on spelling or wording, traffic that the domain is already receiving, and economic trends throughout the world.
For the premium location that will drive traffic to your business, youre going to have to pay a premium lease.
Again, this same action applies when purchasing or leasing a premium domain name.
Do You Really Own Your Domain Name
Just because you pay the domain name bill doesn’t mean you own it.
That’s right. You may not be the legal owner. Whoever is the legal owner of your domain name, that person has total control over it including – what Web site it points to, what domain name registrar maintains it, changing information about your domain name account, controlling who administers it, and being able to sell it.
In the many classes I’ve taught there’s always someone who unfortunately has to deal with this issue. Here are some tips on how to find out who owns your domain and what to do if it isn’t you.
First find out who owns it – Go to the WhoIs database and search for your domain. Whatever contact information is listed for both the “Registrant” fields and the “Administrator” fields, all of it, including any email addresses for these two fields, should be yours.
If you find this information is not yours, there are three possible reasons:
1. Private Listing – If you see something like “Domains by Proxy” listed as the registrant, more than likely the domain has a private listing which protects your privacy by not displaying your contact information. Contact your registrar to find out what contact information is behind the private registration. This is often stored in a separate account with a separate username and password.
Remedies – If a hijacking of your domain name has occurred here’s what you can do:
Here are some helpful links describing their policies:
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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?
Differentiate Support From Sales
Some registrars don’t have support staff, but instead have salespeople who are trained to get you to buy add-on services you might not need, while pretending to offer customer support. Read reviews about your registrar’s support team, or try calling their support line before purchasing. You want a registrar that offers courteous and professional service and assistance, not one that views you as a cash register they keep trying to ring.
Buying a domain name should be fun and exciting
As a rite of passage for any new business or online venture, buying a domain name should be fun and exciting. With careful research before you choose a domain registrar, you can sidestep some unfortunate traps and make sure your domainâand your businessâare in good hands for years to come.
Buying a domain
At Google, transparency, privacy and security are part of our mission. Customers who use Google Domains get a full suite of free services, including privacy protection, and no hidden fees, ever. If you’re looking to compare your options, we invite you to take a look at the.
Ready to get started with a registrar you can trust? Start your domain search now at.
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Domain Name Fees To Watch Out For
Sometimes you might not be getting as good a deal as you think when registering your domain name. Below youll learn about some hidden charges youll want to watch out for:
- Hidden fees. A lot of times what might seem like a good deal up front wont actually be a good deal. Sometimes fees will be buried within the terms of service. Look out for things like transfer fees, increased renewal fees, long-term domain contracts and more.
- Short-term discounts. Some domain registrars will offer seemingly good discounts, but this discount will only apply if you register for a long-term contract, or pay for multiple years up front. Short-term coupons can help you get a cheap domain up front, but make sure the costs wont increase drastically after the first year.
- Scams. Some domain registrars that offer ridiculously cheap, or even free, domain names will end up charging very high administration fees, or even manipulating your Whois records. Make sure youre only buying your domain name from a reputable seller.
What Is A Premium Domain And Is It Worth Getting One
You have come up with a great new idea for a website and you only need a good domain name? A quick check on a WHOIS lookup website shows that the domain is available, but you see a price of $500 or even $5000 when you try to register it? You can get a new .com domain for as low as $8.38, so how come the one you want is so expensive? You have most probably come across a premium domain name. Below, we answer some of the most common questions regarding these domains.
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How Much Is A Website Domain Name
If youre looking to build a website, then one of the first things youll need to do is buy a domain name for your new project. But, how much is a domain name actually going to cost you?
Well, that depends upon a bunch of factors, as the cost of a domain name can vary based on several factors. For example, be prepared to spend a bit of money on domains that someone else already owns.
Some older domains have gone for millions of dollars, specifically domains that are very broad such as single word domain names like insurance.com, hotels.com, and investing.com
So, if you want a single word, used domain, then be prepared to spend a lot of money on your domain name.
On the other side of the equation, you have new domains. The average cost for a brand new domain will typically be anywhere from $10-12, depending upon the registrar you choose and the length of your registration contract.
Below youll learn why some domains are more valuable than others, the average costs for getting a domain name, and some tips to help you get started.
What You’ll Learn…
What Is A Domain Name
Domain names, or domains, are vital for keeping the internet organized. Every page or website on the internet has a domain name.
Domain names mean that when we do an internet search we can find the right website. They work sort of like an address book for the internet. Without them, it would be nearly impossible to find your way through the millions of pages out there.
The Domain Name System assigns these names but you can also purchase or register your own domain name. This means you can have an individual domain name that is relevant to your website.
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Why Do We Have To Pay For A Domain Name
The question may sound stupid but I find it very difficult to understand that why do we have to pay for a domain name if the web is free? And who do I pay? Why do I have to pay for a domain name?
- 1Dec 9 ’10 at 14:08
- 6If domains were free people would hoard and we’d all be stuck with mycoolblog283.com, just like free webmail is now.Dec 9 ’10 at 20:35
- 1Dec 13 ’10 at 13:01
- 4Why do you have to pay for water? Because someone owns the process of getting it to you.
Simplified answer:
You don’t actually buy the domain name, you rent it from your registrar. The price you pay them is for the service of routing the domain name to an actual server. Without that service a domain name would lead nowhere, they have to point visitors to the right server. They need servers to do that, which you pay for.
If I go to “,” how does my browser know how to find the server for “webmasters.stackexchange.com?” It knows through using DNS lookups, which means it needs to ask a DNS server if it knows the address of webmasters.stackexchange.com.
So who owns those DNS servers? Typically, it will be your Internet provider they aren’t personally responsible for knowing the address of every web site across the ‘Net.
That’s why you have to purchase a domain name, so you can claim ownership and pay for the costs of the services provided by the registry. However, there are services, like DynDNS, that let you buy a sub-domain under a domain name that they own.
Dont Let Your Domain Name Go To The Sharks
If you miss your renewal AND let your domain pass the redemption period, it will drop from the registry and either go to auction or become available to anyone else that would like to register your name. If youve let your domain name drop through the redemption period, dont count on being able to renew it. Often times if its a good name, people will backorder the domain name. Yes, there are internet sharks waiting around for a good piece of bait to drop into the water. This involves paying a domain name catching service to try to grab the domain name the second it drops and becomes available. These drop-catching services charge a fee for their service and if there are multiple backorders for the same domain name, the service often sends the name to auction.
Your expired domain name will go to auction if multiple people have put in backorders at domain name catching services. Domain names that go to auctions will have multiple people bidding on the domain name. The highest bidder wins the name. If this happens to your domain name, the new owner may not be willing to sell it to you, after all, they battled for it at auction. If they are willing to part with the domain name, you can expect that theyll want to be paid for their trouble and effort to get the name.
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Your Domain Name Should Be Brandable
Your domain name needs to brandable.
Basically, when people hear your domain name, it needs to sound like a legit business in your industry and have a hip vibe.
So, for example, if you were starting a remote jobs board, you could name it www.remotejobsboard.com But doesnt remoteok.io sound much better?
Remoteok.io
Of course, you need to take industry standards into account, boring names work for businesses that need to appear formal.
Say, if you run a funeral home, then its important to be serious, no one wants to hold a wake in a hip funeral home.
However, you probably dont need to be formal, so get creative!
Who Is Responsible For Domains
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit organization that creates and implements the policies for domain names. ICANN was established in 1998 to ensure the Internet remains usable by everyone.
ICANN gives permission to sell domain names to companies called Domain Name Registrars. These domain name registrars are allowed to make changes to the domain names registry and pay a small fee to ICANN every time they need to register a domain name.
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