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How To Buy A Domain Name For A Website?

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buying a domain name

Are you planning to start your own website or a blog? The first thing that comes into mind is a domain name and how to buy a domain name for a website. But before diving deep into the topic, let us understand a few important things.

What is meant by domain?

In general, a domain is an area of control or a sphere of knowledge. In computing and telecommunication, a domain is a bunch of information identified by a name. Typically, the knowledge is a collection of facts about some program entities or a number of network points or addresses.

For instance, the domain name “example.com” might translate to the physical address 199.136.636.9. Other examples of domain names are lenskart.com and icai.org. To identify the brand, it is much easier to search using a domain name rather than searching with a numeric IP address.

Before you decide to buy a domain you need to know about the domain name, how to select your domain name correctly, its availability, and to register your domain.

Types of domains

There are different types of domains available on the internet but mainly the domains are categorized into two parts i.e. second-level domain and top-level domain.

1. Second-level domains

It is the type of domain that helps in deciding the name of the website. It is the unique name that you choose as it is the brand name that everybody will remember and recognize your venture with this name.

In the web address, an SLD (SECOND LEVEL DOMAIN) is on the left side of the extension. It may contain as many letters, numbers, special characters, etc. but it’s always recommended to keep it short and simple.

For e.g. the domain google.com, Google is a second-level domain.

2. Top level domains

TLD (Top-Level Domain) is majorly known as Extension. It appears on the right side of SLD after the dot. The most popular ones are

  • .COM: It is the first TLD launched. It represents “commercial”. It is used for business and commercial enterprises.
  • .NET: It is used for technology and network organization, but now even business organizations uses “ .NET “ because of the non-availability of the SLD with “.com”.
  • .EDU: It is used for educational institutes like schools, colleges, universities, institutes, etc. Majorly in India, it is not used, but in other countries every education institute uses it.
  • .ORG: Short for “organization,” earlier this was used for non-profit organizations but later it became popular among schools, communities, and for-profit enterprises.
  • .GOV: Short for “government,” this is mainly used by government organizations and agencies.
  • .MIL: It is used for “military,” this TLD is formed solely for use by branches of the U.S. military.

Things to keep in mind while buying a domain name

Here are a few things that you should consider before you plan to buy a domain.

1. Choose a reliable domain register

Domain registrars play a significant role in the domain name procurement process. To get your domain name registered, you should look for a name that is listed on the Internet corporation for assigned names and numbers (ICANN), which is the non-profit organization responsible for coordinating all of the numerical spaces on the internet. There are different domian registrars like Godaddy, Bluehost, Mailchimp etc.

2. Check Domain name availability

The next step in the journey is to search your domain name availability. This can be done with the help of various domain availability checker tools which are offered by the registrar itself Godaddy allows you to check whether your domain name is available or not, which enables us to know the name that we want is available or not

3. Choose the best domain name

When you’re checking for available domain names, you’ll often find that your first, second, and tenth choices are already taken. Some of the approaches you can take when this happens are

  • Keep searching: search for a domain name that is close to your product or service. It should be unique, flexible, and catchy. Keep searching for synonyms of your preferred domain name.
  • Choose another extension: several times an SLD is registered with .com, so you can try registering it with another TLD such as. NET, ORG.
  • Reach out to the owner: Several times a domain is registered but not much in use, so in that case, you can contact the owner and can give an offer to purchase it from him.

Where to buy a domain from

Once the domain name is decided, it’s time to find a Domain registrar. The domain registrar is the company from whom you will purchase the domain. Before finalizing the registrar, you must keep in mind the following points:

  1. Domain Transfer policy:     The policy should not be too cumbersome.
  2. Pricing:     Some companies offer cheaper prices for 1st year. In 2nd year during renewal, they would increase the rate. In some cases, domain registration may lock you for a longer period.
  3. Expiration Policy:    The domain name requires to be renewed yearly. In case you forgot to renew it, it will expire and someone else may buy it to utilize the brand value associated with the domain name. So buy it from a registrar who offers automatic domain renewal and a small grace period.
  4. Privacy Protection:    As the owner of the domain name you are supposed to furnish your personal details to the registrar. Proper privacy protection hides your personal information and keeps your identity secure.

Important factors to be considered while choosing a domain name:-

1. Use the .com extension as much as possible

As much as possible use .com as the extension, because it gets preference among popular search engines. Approximately 43% of all domains have .com extensions.

The people of the US prefer the .com extension. However .org or .net are also good. You can use .in if you want to limit your business in India basically.  It is better to avoid weird extensions like “.club”, “.space”, “.pizza” etc.

2. The name should be brandable over generic

Brandable means catchy and unique that stands apart from others while a generic name is common and difficult to remember.

A domain name usually represents your company, your activities, and what you stand for. People remember and share your company through the domain name.

3. The shorter the better

Aim for 6 to 14 characters. A long name may establish some level of trust, but will not help in improving SEO ranking.

Source: datagenetics.com

Research by DataGenetics.com, a blog by Nick Berry, shows that the most common name length is approximately 12 characters.

4. The name should be easy to type

It should be easy to spell and hence easy to type because mistyping your domain name may end up the visitor reaching a different website.

5. Easy to pronounce

 It should be easy to pronounce so that it can be easily shared by visitors by word of mouth.

 6. Use of hyphens or numbers should be avoided

  The use of hyphens or numbers makes the name difficult to pronounce.

7. Better to use niche keywords in the name

As much as possible try to use niche keywords in the name that reflects your website because the use of niche keywords helps in improving the SEO ranking.

But avoid stuffing keywords awkwardly into your domain. It may make the name generic.

8. Think long-term over the short term

Consider your domain as your life partner. You can not change your life partner too frequently. A domain name cannot be edited.

It is to be changed. But the change of domain name will cost you dearly in terms of money, branding and SEO ranking

9. Avoid being involved in any trademark-related entanglement

Check that your domain name or any part of it is not already trademarked because it may entangle you in some legal battles in the short or long run. Avoid this possibility. It may waste your money, time, and mental energy.

10. If possible use a domain name generator

   To make things easier take the help of some domain name generator tools like:-

i) Wordoid

This tool helps you in recreating an acceptable name. It plugs in a word. Tries to create names by placing this word at the start, in middle, or at the end. 

ii) Lean Domain Searchiii) Domainhole

4. Purchase your domain name and complete your registration

Paying for your domain is the last step in buying your domain name and keeps other people from using it without your permission.

Paying to buy a domain name is fairly very simple. You’ll receive a verification email after you complete your purchase. You need to press the verify domain button in the email and proceed with the instruction on the other page and you are good to go to start your domain to create your brand name. 

How to buy a pre-owned domain 

Certain times you have the option to purchase the domain that belongs to someone else. It is also known as 3rd party domain purchase. Calling at the steps to purchase the domain from someone else:

1. Find the owner’s contact information

Locate the owner of the domain by looking up their contact information through the WHOIS directory. If the contact information is not listed then you can find it on the owner’s domain website.

2. Negotiate a fair price

Once you got the contact information of the seller, make a contact with him. Quote a fair price for the domain. If you are unable to quote then conduct research about it in the market. You can even hire a broker on your behalf to purchase the domain.

3. Complete the purchase using escrow

Avoid wiring money to a stranger on the internet. It’s just a bad idea. It is recommended to use escrow for the satisfaction of both parties in order to have a low risk as possible.

Connecting your domain to MailChimp

If you have bought the domain from a third party or mail chimp, you can still transfer your domain name and can connect to your Mailchimp account. As you connect your domain name with your Mailchimp account, you can access a custom landing page as well as a Mailchimp-hosted website. If you are not having a website, then Mailchimp facilitates you with a free website builder which allows you to make a website without no coding skills.

Find a custom domain for your site

Whether you’re working on a blog, an online portfolio, or an online shop, Mailchimp offers custom domains that can make all the difference to your online presence. And there’s no reason to stop there. Use Mailchimp to build your website and connect it to our all-in-one marketing platform to really make your offerings stand out from the rest.

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