For building a website, the first and the most important thing that you need is a domain name. The cost of these domains varies on lots of grounds. For example, the domains already owned by individuals come at much higher rates as compared to the ones that have not been taken by anyone. Domain names that are small, contain popular words, and easy-to-remember can even cost thousands of dollars, specifically the ones that have single-word names such as hotels.com, and cars.com, etc.
If you’re looking for used domains, then keep in mind that you may have to pay loads of money to get them. But for new domains, you’ll have to pay a minimal amount along with some additional charges as well that we will talk about later in this blog. Nonetheless, let’s discuss how much you need to pay for getting a domain name for your website.
What is a Domain Name?
Domain names are the addresses of the websites that are being searched on the browser and it is the main portion of any website’s URL. It gets coupled with HTTPS, subdomains, top-level domains, sub-directories, slug, etc. to help users access and navigate through the web pages easily.
For instance, google.com and facebook.com are examples of domain names. Also, every website has an additional address through which machines recognize the website, i.e. IP address. But as far as humans are considered, domain names are used for identifying websites.
What are Domain Registrars?
Domain registrars are the companies or service providers that offer you a simplified way of registering domain names over the web. With the help of these platforms, you’ll get in touch with experienced professionals who will guide you through the registration process. In simple words, they make the registration process seamless and efficient.
Since there are lots of registrars in the market, always ensure to do proper research on them before making the final decision. While you can come across various cheap options, their customer reviews may give a good idea about the quality of the services that they offer. Having full knowledge about a registrar is important because it will be the one responsible for keeping track of your renewals, managing your domain, and taking care of lots of other things. Therefore, always go for due diligence.
How Much Does a New Domain Name Cost?
The average cost of a fresh domain lies between $8 and $14.44, which is usually charged on yearly basis. However, these prices vary in accordance with the domain that you select and your domain registrar. A lot of domain registrars also offer users free domain names along with a free SSL certificate for enabling businesses to enjoy more security for both users and themselves. Following are some of the most popular domain registrars to choose from; they’ve been trusted by millions of users and accrued lots of positive reviews as well:
- GoDaddy
- Bluehost
- Domain.com
- Network Solutions
- HostGator
- DreamHost
The aforementioned price is for .com domains only that stands for “commercial”. This extension or “TLD” is the most used one among others and for obvious reasons but comes at higher rates. Other extensions such as .net, .org, .info, .blog, etc. come at comparatively lesser prices for the same names, but their prices may also vary for different registrars. For domain extensions, it is always suggested to use .com because it is the most popular extension across the globe.
Additional Costs with Domain Names
Along with the one-time domain registration cost, individuals have to pay a few additional costs as well. You should be aware of this as it will sum up the final estimate of the price of your domain name.
1. Yearly Renewals
The registration of these domain names is done on the yearly basis. You will have control over the domain name as long as you successfully renew the registration every year. It is important to check these prices because it is possible that you may get the domain name at cheaper rates but its yearly recurring prices are higher which are eventually decided by registrars.
2. WHOIS and Domain Privacy
ICANN, which is a non-profit organization responsible for coordinating assignments and maintaining domain names, requires every domain registrar to get the contact information of the website owners.
This information is available publicly through WHOIS data for enabling various organizations to contact and collaborate with each other for potential business partnerships. Since the data can be accessed by anyone over the web, it ends up giving lots of unwanted emails or phone calls to the individuals. To prevent this, domain registrars offer an addon that is known as Domain Privacy.
The average cost of this addon is around $9.99 and users have full independence to select or either reject it. However, it automatically gets added to your cart and you have to remove it manually for not paying for it.
3. Business emails
Right after purchasing domain names, registrars offer the addon for setting up business email addresses. It is completely optional to buy this one because a lot of hosting companies offer free professional email addresses and you may also get it while buying a hosting plan for your website.
How Much Premium Domain Names Costs?
Pre-registered domain names are referred to as premium domain names that are usually short, subtle, brandable, and easy to remember. Domain registrars or investors acquire such types of names for reselling them at higher prices.
Their price varies from hundred dollars to even thousands of dollars depending upon its demand in the market. Several factors onto which it depends are its length and domain name potential. These names are easily discoverable and are listed for sale by various private sellers on websites.
Conclusion
The most crucial and basic step for establishing an online website is to buy a domain name. It will be the address for individuals to find and land on your website for using your product or services. It gets added with lots of prefixes or suffixes to provide the address for different web pages of your website. Their cost typically ranges between $8 to $14.99 per year but it varies depending on lots of factors. Also, for getting pre-registered and premium domains, one may need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars.
The domain cost also depends on the domain registrar. Therefore, always make a careful decision while choosing the domain registrar. Also, keep in mind that you’ll also be liable for some additional charges as well that include yearly renewability, business emails, or domain privacy for the prevention of any type of spam, etc.
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