How Much To Register A Website

Ownership a domain proper name is a big decision.

On ane paw, you want to get the best name possible considering yous know that it's an of import part of your brand. On the other hand, your budget is limited, and then you need to be set up to compromise.

But how much does a domain proper noun toll? And too: how much should you exist willing to spend on a domain name?

Why Your Domain Name Matters

You might retrieve that your domain name is not a big bargain. Subsequently all, it'south just a web address, not a visitor name, right?

However, the reality is that choosing a domain proper name is a very of import decision because it affects your branding, your traffic, and your brownie.

So you'd like to kick off your freelancing business organisation only take no thought how much your domain will cost, uh? 😵 We ran the numbers and put together this guide to assist yous make the best phone call! Click to Tweet

Your Domain Name and Branding

People often recollect that the word "brand" means a company name.

However, a brand is much more than than that, your brand is the overall visitor image that you lot present to the world.

It'southward important to brand sure that everything in your business organization, from the company name to the domain name to the website design to the content to the tone of voice, works together and conveys the image that you desire to convey.

Imagine that you are conducting a job interview and you think that the candidate is cracking.

She is professional, she has the relevant experience, she seems similar a slap-up fit in terms of the company civilization…

But when she leaves, yous take some other look at her resume and y'all observe that her email address is [email protected].

No crime to the sk8ergurls out there, simply permit's keep it real: an email address like that would brand you lot question your original impression of her.

Well, information technology'south the same with branding. If everything near your company conveys a sure image but your domain name doesn't fit that image at all, it volition put potential customers on guard.

And the last thing you want to do is give them a reason to be suspicious.

Your Domain Name and Traffic

Your domain name plays a role in search rankings.

Equally the SEO expert Brian Dean explains in his article "Google'southward 200 Ranking Factors: The Consummate List (2019)", while putting keywords in the domain name doesn't give yous the boost that it used to, it still serves every bit a relevancy point.

Likewise, if the target keyword appears as the first word in the domain name, information technology volition give yous an edge over websites that have that same keyword in the middle or at the end of a domain proper name (or not at all).

Moreover, there'south also the straight traffic aspect to consider, significant the people who get to your website by typing your address in their browser.

If your domain name is hard to recollect you volition lose some of these people because they will misspell information technology and volition get taken to… God knows where.

Remember, ownership traffic is expensive, so you need to do everything y'all can to maximize your organic traffic.

Credibility

Not all domain names are created equal.

According to Growth Annoy inquiry, .com is the most trusted TLD extension out at that place.

Also, when people misremember a website accost, they are iii.8 times more likely to assume that it ends in .com than anything else.

Here's how the most pop domain extensions stack upwards in terms of perceived trustworthiness:

TLDs compared in terms of perceived trustworthiness

Of course, information technology'due south important to remember that this was presumably done with a generic 1500 people sample, which means that your target audition might perceive certain domain extensions differently.

For example, .io extension might seem weird to virtually people, simply information technology's probably condom to say that techies trust it given how trendy information technology is in the tech world.

At that place are as well regional extensions to consider. For example, if you are targeting a Lithuanian audience, then using the .lt extension is perfectly fine just people exterior of Lithuania probably wouldn't be receptive to it.

All this means that you need to give your domain name the thought it deserves.

How Much Should You Await to Pay for a Domain Proper noun?

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 co-ordinate to different aspects, with its availability and its Tiptop-Level Domain being the 2 most important. In fact, unavailable domain names require you lot to make an offer to the current owner, which isn't regulated by whatever maximum toll (lasvegas.com was sold for $90 One thousand thousand).

When it comes to Pinnacle-Level Domains, instead, you can wait to pay anything from $0.99 up to hundreds or thousands of dollars. On average, though, domain names cost from $0.99 upwards to $12 per month.

How to Choose a Domain Name

As we have explained in our commodity How to Cull a Domain Name, there are half dozen main things that you need to consider when you're buying one.

ane. Your Domain Name Should Be Easy to Remember

You lot want to make sure that your domain name is easy to remember. But what exactly does that hateful?

Basically, the more items y'all ask someone to retrieve, the harder it is for them to do that.

When it comes to domain names, every give-and-take and symbol is a separate particular, which is something to keep in listen when yous are considering diverse options.

For example, www.luciddreaming.com is easier to recollect than www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com (note that hyphen employ is especially disruptive).

Try to keep your domain curt, avert using symbols, and get a well-known extension.

2. Your Domain Proper noun Should Exist Piece of cake to Blazon on Mobile Devices

Practise you know what happened on June 29th, 2007?

I'll requite yous a few hints: Apple. Steve Jobs. iPhone. Yeah, you lot guessed it: on that day Steve Jobs presented the first iPhone, which changed the globe forever.

Now, a petty fleck 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 take to practice with domain names?

Well, in the first quarter of 2019, mobile traffic accounted for 48.71% of global website traffic and it's safe to say that this number is merely going to increase.

This means that information technology's best if your domain name is easy to type on a mobile phone.

3. Your Domain Name Should Be Optimized for Search Engines

A keyword in the domain name won't requite you lot a huge advantage over your competitors in terms of search rankings.

However, it can give y'all a slight border, which is nada to scoff at given how crazy the competition to announced on the first page of Google'southward search results is.

That being said, it is not necessary, so if you can't notice a mode to comprise a keyword in your domain name and then don't push button information technology.

4. Your Domain Name Should Be Brandable

Your domain name needs to brandable.

Basically, when people hear your domain proper name, it needs to sound like a legit business in your industry and take a hip vibe.

Then, for instance, if you were starting a remote jobs board, yous could name it world wide web.remotejobsboard.com… Just doesn't remoteok.io sound much better?

Of course, you need to have industry standards into account, ho-hum names work for businesses that need to announced formal.

Say, if yous run a funeral habitation, so it's important to be serious, no i wants to hold a wake in a "hip" funeral home.

Notwithstanding, yous probably don't demand to be formal, so get artistic!

5. Your Domain Proper noun Shouldn't Break Whatever Legal Terms

There was a fourth dimension when the Internet was the Wild Westward.

Those days are long gone. Now it's full of corporations with deep pockets that volition sue you lot into bankruptcy if you fifty-fifty look at them the incorrect way. That'southward why it's important to be careful.

Imagine this. You come up upwardly with a not bad proper name. You register it. You launch your website. And and then, simply every bit your business starts gaining momentum, you are hit with a cease and desist letter.

"What the… ??" is your beginning thought.

But and so, every bit yous decipher the legalese, you realize that evidently your domain name is trademarked, which means that you lot are in a world of trouble.

You can avoid this by doing due diligence.

For instance, you can bank check US trademarks on the The states Patent and Trademark Office's website.

Alternatively, you can check for the trademarks for whatsoever country you lot want to operate in through the local equivalent of the USPTO.

And, of course, Google can assist you as well, considering if cypher comes upward on it, so you lot probably don't need to worry.

Now, unfortunately, if you came upward with a cool name, the chances are that you lot are not the first person to do so, which means that you might end upward having to get dorsum to the drawing board.

However, keep in listen that finding yourself back at square ane is much meliorate than getting hit with a lawsuit, so don't cutting corners hither.

six. Selection the Right TLD for Your Domain Proper noun

Your TLD affects your brownie, so information technology'south important to cull wisely.

Check out this graph on the topic:

TLDs ranked based on trust, memorability, and times used

These are the extensions that y'all should consider if you are serving a global audience.

Of class, .com domain names are much more expensive than the rest, so y'all might have to compromise at that place if you don't have the budget for it.

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Don't Get Stuck in Analysis Paralysis

Choosing your domain name is a serious decision. You should care for it with respect and give it the idea it deserves.

That existence said, it's also important to not get stuck in analysis paralysis. A good domain name that you tin register today is better than a perfect domain proper name that takes three months to come upwards with.

What to Exercise if You Can't Become the Domain Proper noun Y'all Desire?

It's non always possible to get the domain proper name yous want. What should you practice then?

It might exist unavailable or parked. You can contact the owner and brand them an offer. Alternatively, you tin can alter your domain proper name by adding a word to it. For instance, if you lot are using your product name, consider adding the word "become" to it, as Baste did with www.getdrip.com.

It might be outside your budget. Y'all tin can significantly reduce the toll of your domain name by choosing a less pop domain extension. Simply don't go overboard with this. A whacky extension that no 1 has ever seen before might hurt your brand.

Information technology might be trademarked, like "WordPress". When that'due south the case information technology'due south best to but drop the idea and go back to the drawing board. Don't play with fire if you don't want to go burned.

Yes, information technology's really annoying when yous tin can't become a domain name that yous want, but your just choice is to go artistic. And who knows, maybe you'll come up with something even amend?

How Much Does a Domain Name Price?

And then, how much does a domain name cost? That's a pretty tricky question to answer since the domain proper name price range is insane.

On GoDaddy, for example, you can get an .xyz domain name for $0.99. While www.lasvegas.com was sold for $xc million dorsum in 2005.

At present, this is the full range of domain name prices, $0.99 and $90 million represents the contrary ends of the spectrum.

But what determines how much a domain name costs?

Availability

Obviously, if the domain name is available, it volition be cheaper than it would exist if it were already endemic by someone. Wanting something that only 1 person tin can sell you lot puts you in a very weak position when it comes to negotiating the price.

This is peculiarly truthful if that person can look y'all upward and determine that you lot take coin. In fact, there are people who intentionally buy domain names that someone might desire in the hereafter.

It's best to come with a domain name that is available if you want to relieve money.

Keywords

Keywords vary wildly in terms of the search volume which impacts the cost of the domains that use a item keyword.

Moreover, they likewise vary in terms of profitability, which likewise affects how much a domain name with a particular keyword costs.

For example, the keyword "Las Vegas" has massive search volume, since there's ever a lot of people who desire to visit Las Vegas. Additionally, this keyword is incredibly easy to monetize since tourists need a identify to stay, a car to hire, shows to see, etc.

That explains world wide web.lasvegas.com's $90 million price tag.

However, since keywords in the domain proper noun don't thing every bit much equally they used to, it's probably best to use a unique name without lucrative keywords.

Domain Extension

Your choice of a domain extension can have a massive touch on the domain name price.

Basically, if you want that .com, you meliorate be willing to pay meridian dollar for it.

For example, when Kyle Byers did his domain extension study, he used a made upward domain proper name "mattressranking.tld."

At that time, you lot could get that domain proper noun with a reputable domain extension for $12-$15, with the exception of the .com extension which cost an additional $4,250.

You demand to evaluate whether you actually need .com (or non). How important brownie is to you?

Don't Forget the Extra Costs

It's easy to focus so much on purchasing a domain name that you lot forget about the additional costs associated with it.

Obviously, a domain name is not a 1-off purchase, it needs to be renewed every yr, which will mostly price yous the same amount of money that you paid to go it (expensive domain names are an exception to this because they price much more to purchase than to maintain).

However, so in that location are also diverse add-ons that yous tin buy, the most popular of which is privacy protection that ensures that your personal or business details don't come up when people expect up your domain name.

Mostly, these extra costs don't add together up too much merely it's still something that you should keep in mind.

How Much Should Y'all Pay for a Domain Name?

Okay, so how much should you pay for a domain name?

Well, it all depends on your upkeep, if you are a billionaire and want to purchase www.lasvegas.com, become for it.

However, you probably aren't a billionaire, which means that y'all need to retrieve carefully most how much you are willing to invest in a domain name.

At that place is a mutual error that beginning-time entrepreneurs make. They use their express startup capital to create an appearance of a serious business. They become an expensive domain proper noun, custom web pattern, concern cards, etc. But all that isn't doing business organization, information technology's playing business.

Certain, you lot need to look professional, but yous shouldn't let that distract y'all from what actually puts money in your pocket, which is selling your products or services.

Basically, when you lot are only starting out, y'all should only be spending coin on things that directly contribute to your lesser line. Everything else tin can wait.

Thefacebook.com 2004 — Thefacebook.com, in 2004 (Image source: web.annal.org)

For example, when Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004, it was called The Facebook and hosted on www.thefacebook.com.

Facebook purchased its current domain proper noun in 2005 for $200,000.

At that point, Mark Zuckerberg had validated his idea, the social network was growing chop-chop, and Facebook had already received their beginning investment from the PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Zuckerberg wanted to call his social network Facebook from the start, just the domain proper noun wasn't available, then he simply added the word "the" to it and got to work.

When you lot are simply starting out, you demand to be scrappy, you lot want to use that startup capital to give yourself as much runway as possible.

That ways getting a inexpensive domain name, even if information technology'southward not the one that you actually want, and focusing on generating revenue.

Once you go your business off the footing, you tin can invest in a ameliorate domain name by getting a better proper noun, a better extension, or both.

Be patient. If you have a viable business idea then you will eventually have enough money to comfortably afford a better domain name. But don't put the cart earlier the horse.

Where Y'all Can Buy a Domain Proper name

Companies that sell domain names are chosen domain registrars.

There are quite a few domain registrars out there. How can you decide which 1 should yous go with?

What Should You lot Wait For In A Domain Registrar?

We discussed this in-depth in our "How to Select the Best Domain Registrar (Our Recommendations)" article.

Here are the most important things that you should look for:

Depression pricing. Y'all don't want to spend more money than y'all accept to. Fortunately, the competition in this manufacture is violent, so all major companies offer affordable pricing.

Free WHOIS protection. People can expect up the details of any domain proper noun and detect out who owns it. This might present privacy issues. Information technology's all-time to use WHOIS protection which prevents snoopers from seeing this information.

Auto-renewals. If you lot don't renew a domain name information technology eventually goes back on the market place. This might cause serious problems if some enterprising individual snatches your domain name and then offers to sell it back to you for a substantial amount of coin. That'south why it'due south best to go with a domain registrar that automatically renews your domain name.

Besides, if a domain registrar is not transparent about their pricing, you should see that as a red flag and stay away.

Another thing to lookout out for is a bad user interface. You shouldn't demand a computer scientific discipline Ph.D. to figure out how to practice basic tasks such every bit parking or transferring domains.

Finally, if a domain registrar doesn't offer 24/7 customer support, it might be too risky to employ their services. What if something goes wrong and yous demand immediate assist? Yous can lose a lot of money in potential revenue if the trouble isn't solved right away.

GoDaddy vs Namecheap

Fifty-fifty if you follow the criteria provided above, choosing the right visitor might be challenging.

You tin simplify this task by narrowing the list downwardly to the 2 most popular options: GoDaddy and Namecheap.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the most popular domain registrar in the industry, with over xviii million customers.

Nonetheless, beingness the biggest doesn't always mean information technology'southward the best. If you await at reviews online regarding GoDaddy you'll most likely discover a lot of negative. They offer a variety of services, such equally WordPress hosting, and therefore this will also impact their reputation if i product isn't equally good as another.

Namecheap

Namecheap is another popular domain name provider and one of GoDaddy's biggest competitors. According to their press release, they manage over 10 million domains.

Which One Should You Get With?

It's all-time to look up your desired domain proper noun on both websites to encounter which company can offer you a better bargain.

Namecheap offers .com domains at a lower cost than GoDaddy (both for the commencement year and on renewal). Even so it's important to remember that money is not the but thing that matters, so y'all might desire to have a closer look at GoDaddy'south and Namecheap's track record in terms of their views and their behavior to see which company's values resonate with you more than.

Non sold on GoDaddy or Namecheap? Make sure to read our Google Domain Reviews (Pros vs Cons) web log post.

Summary

Your domain name matters. But do y'all know what's even more important? Your cashflow.

Sure, don't be stingy with your domain name, you probably need something more serious than a $0.99 one.

However, don't blow tons of money on it either because information technology won't make or intermission your business.

Go an affordable domain name, launch your website, and beginning hustling.

You can always upgrade in one case you are generating revenue. Or even sell your site.

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