A domain name is simply how your website is recognised on the internet. A domain name can be for your personal, professional or business use and may reflect the services and products offered by your site. An example of a domain name would be “mybusiness.com” or “myfriends.net”.
As in the above example, “mybusiness” and “myfriends” are domain names which are followed by domain extensions which in this case are “.com” and “.net”. There are many such extensions available for you which can used to localize a business (“mybusiness.asia”, “mybiz.in”) or describe what your website is about (“johndoe.me”)
How much does it cost to register and maintain a domain name?
A domain needs to be registered with a domain registrar. Lancebridge does offer domain registration services and depending on the domain extension, the cost will vary.
Currently for “.com”,”.net” and “.org”, which are the popular extensions, the price is 12.50 US dollars /year. To maintain the domain, you will be required to keep your contact information updated and renew the domain yearly. You can also register/renew a domain name for mutliple years.
Tips for deciding on a domain name.
Deciding on domain may not be as easy as it looks. Some tips to help you out with your domain name are provided below.
- Your domain needs to be short and easy to remember.
- The domain needs to be meaningful and should not be out of context or misread (expertsexchange.com).
- For easy readability, it might be a good idea to add a hyphen in between words. (experts-exchange.com).
- The first domain name that comes to your mind may not be the one you will keep for years to come. It is always good idea to think about the domain name or have alternatives for a day or two to get the feel of it.
- If you feel the domain name you have come up with is “awesome” but you are worried that someone else will register it before you decide on it, then go ahead and register it as the cost per year for a domain name will not break your bank.
- Though the popular domain extensions are “.com”, “.net” and “.org”. It might be worthwhile to check other extensions too which may actually define your site in a better way.
- If your website may become popular, maybe it is a good idea to register more than one extensions or variations to avoid others misusing your brand. (mysite.com, mysite.net, my-site.com).
- Most importantly, your domain name must be free of legal conflicts with trademarks belonging to other businesses.
You can check the availability of your desired domain name by clicking here.
If you need any help in deciding or registering a domain name, please do not hesitate to contact us via our contact form