Domain Names
What is a Domain Name and How Do I Get One?
At some point in your research process, maybe on this very site, you ran across the phrase “domain name” and are already wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into. It’s not scary, we promise! Every web site has a domain name, which is simply the URL or address that it lives at (i.e., www.yourcompany.com). That’s it! And it’s easy enough to get one.
We typically recommend a vendor like GoDaddy.com or Google Domains to purchase your web site’s domain name, though really there are probably hundreds of sites where you can buy one. You can expect to pay anywhere from $10-20 a year to own a domain name. Costs can increase if you are trying to purchase a high value or very specific name from another owner.
When you purchase your domain name, we always recommend purchasing for at least five years (you often save money in bulk vs. going year-to-year). This also means that you can set it to alert you when it is close to expiring, at which time, if you are still using the domain name, you should renew immediately. If a domain name expires, it can be very difficult (and very expensive) to get it back. Worse, you may not be able to and switching abruptly to a new domain name after many years may make it really tough for your existing customers and prospects to find you.
A few tips for when you are purchasing your domain:
Try searching for your business name or a variation of it first. Sometimes you can add the city or another descriptive word if your first choice is not available for purchase. Generally extra punctuation (hyphens) can be confusing and people often won’t remember to include them.
Domain names should be relatively short, easy to remember, and easy to spell
Capitalization does not matter when it comes to your domain name. You can capitalize certain letters for marketing purposes, but visitors can enter it in any case and it will take them to the page.
You can have more than one domain name point to the same web site. Sometimes it makes sense to do this for marketing purposes or if you are transitioning from one domain or business name to another.
Does your business or organization have a catchphrase that could be a good domain name? For example, Pack Athletics uses the hashtag and marketing line “All About the Pack” across all of of its materials, so the domain www.allaboutthepack.com is memorable and unique for their business.
Make sure it’s available! Sites like GoDaddy.com or Google Domains have search bars where you can enter the URL you are considering to see if it is available (and the cost).
If the .com version of your desired domain is not available, consider a .co extension. Generally .org is reserved for nonprofit organizations and .edu is for educational institutions. Some visitors may consider extensions like .net or .info to be a bit outdated, but it is an option if that is your preference.
Some domain registrars will offer you an upgrade option for privacy protection. All that means is that is that without privacy protection anyone searching for information on your domain through WHOIS, an ICANN-mandated service can find basic information about a registered domain, such as domain owner contact information, domain availability status and the company with which the domain is registered. If you choose to purchase the extra protection, the registrar (such as GoDaddy) will act as a clearing house between anyone seeking information and your contact information will stay private.
Web Site Hosting
If you’ve gone the DIY route or already have a web site, you may also be paying hosting fees. When you work with us, your site will generally be built on the Squarespace platform. In this case, you will have a subscription with Squarespace that is renewed annually, which includes all of your hosting fees, SSL certificate, analytics, and a full content management system that is updated regularly. The only additional expense will be the purchase of a domain name and you will be able to cancel any existing hosting plan that you are paying for once the new site is live.
WordPress sites require both a domain and separate hosting account, which will be discussed in more detail during your project planning if you go this route.
Was this helpful? Let us know what you think or if we can answer any questions for you regarding the purchase of your domain name!
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