How to Buy a Domain Name

In the 21st century it is crucial for your business to have an online presence. According to the latest research, more than 70% of consumers use online shops and find services online, therefore having a website will mean having an increasing number of customers. Well, how can one acquire a website? Upon getting a website maker or hiring a freelancer to do the job, you will first of all need to have a domain name for your website.

What is a domain name?

Domain name is the address to your website. It is the name the visitors type in the browser to find your website.

How to buy a domain name?

Even though buying a domain name might feel simple by just getting your business name as your domain address, there are still some careful steps to take to buy one. Here is the best way to buy a domain name.

Use a domain checker

Having your business name as your domain name is the most optimal solution for your website, however your desired name might not be available. You check the availability of a domain name through a domain checker. If the domain name happens to be taken, there are still several things you can do.

Try a longer or shorter version of your desired name (for instance, adding “a” , “the”, “my” or omitting such words may give tangible results)

Try another domain extension. (There are many options including “org”, “net”, “edu” for educational structures)
Negotiate with the owner. (You may convince the original owners into selling the domain name to you)

Where to buy a domain name?

The best place to buy a domain name is a domain name registrar. Domain name registrar is a company that sells domain names and allows the buyers to register them. As mentioned above, there are many extensions you can choose for your domain name, however not all registrars have a license to sell all of them. Therefore while choosing a registrar consider the options it can give to you. Here are some other factors you can keep in mind while choosing one.

Domain transmits

You won’t need this if you are content with your domain registrars. However, if you decide to change your registrar, you can easily transfer your domain name to another domain registrar.

One thing you need to remember that domain transfers get available usually after the first 60 days of the registration. The domain registrar companies decide for themselves the minimal amount of time the user will have to use their software.

Usually there are no complications when it comes to transferring your domain name, however some companies may charge extra to compensate their expenses. To avoid later disappointments, make sure you read the domain transfer policy thoroughly before acquiring a domain registrar.

Domain Expiration

Well, domain names have expiration dates and sometimes failing to renew your ownership over a domain name may result in losing your business name or your competitor acquiring it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to remember when your domain name expires and renew it. To avoid extra restraint, you can set up automatic renewals. Despite the availability of auto-renewals, it is advisable to read the domain expiration policy , as sometimes domain registrars offer grace periods, which is basically the period given to the owner to renew the domain name after its expiration.

Pricing

Some domain registrar companies have low prices of the domain registration the first year, but then may cost significantly more expensive after renewals. Therefore, it is important to go through the whole pricing policy including the renewals, transfers and understand the best pricing plan. If you are buying a domain name for the first time, it is advisable to get it for one year and then renew it, however, you can also buy domain names with two up to ten years of licence. Read the policy and decide it yourself.

Extras

Even though you might initially not need extra services from the domain registrar, it is good to know what else you can get from it. The domain registrar companies usually have domain privacy, domain protection, and parking services. Some of them may even provide you with WordPress hosting, client management services, website builders, email hosting services and more.

As you might have already grasped, choosing a good domain registrar can save you from many problems. Therefore, based on the criteria discussed above, here are some of the most effective domain registrar companies.

• Domain.com

Domain.com is one of the most popular domain registrar companies. It offers all the premium features one may need while choosing a domain name. The registrar has a domain search tool for you to make your domain name research. It has a wide range of available extensions, including local extensions (.ru, .r, .am and more).
The premium version has all the domain management tools one may need including private registration, whois protection, easy transfers, effective DNS management, bulk registration and more.

• Bluehost

Blusehost is the official partner of WordPress website hosting. With the hosting, they also offer a domain name registration service.

For WPBeginner users, the domain names are completely free. Bluehost also gives away SSL certificates and a discount on web hosting.

Bluehost is pretty much user friendly making beginners’ journey ten times easier. The interface comes with WordPress pre-installed. The domain registrar also gives the website owners the ability to unlimited subdomains, malware protection and more.

To sum, deciding where to buy a domain name may not be an easy task. You might even feel the need to hire a coder to help you with the process. You can hire a freelance programmer by following this link. Even if you end up with a programmer, make sure you keep in mind everything you need in order to acquire a good domain name.