One of the best feelings in the world is finding that perfect domain name for your business or personal website. You did your research, you brainstormed until your head hurt, and you finally found one that describes your brand perfectly and is available for purchase. And now, you’re just itching to make it yours forever. But is it possible to buy a domain name permanently?
Unfortunately, it is impossible to buy a domain name and own it forever. Domains are often leased for a set term, such as one year, and must be renewed periodically or they will expire. When a domain name expires, it becomes available for anyone to register. The maximum amount of time you can lease a domain for is 10 years, after which you’ll have to renew the lease.
Perhaps not the answer you were hoping for – but wait! There are a few ways in which you can keep your domain name for a very, very long time, even if you can’t “technically” buy it. In this article, we’ll show you some tips and tricks for holding on to your domain for as long as possible. Read on!
Why Can’t I Buy A Domain Name Forever?
After hearing that it’s impossible to buy a domain name forever, you might be wondering why that is. After all, when you buy a house or a car, those are yours until you sell them – so why can’t the same be true for domain names?
Domain name registration is managed by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN is a non-profit organization that was established in 1998 to help maintain the internet’s infrastructure. According to ICANN rules, no one can own a domain name outright – but you can lease it for a certain amount of time.
Here are the reasons why:
- Democratization: The internet is a global resource, used by people all over the world. ICANN’s mission is to keep it that way – and that means making sure that no one person or organization can control too much of it. If you could buy a domain name forever, that would give you an unfair advantage over everyone else.
For example – Imagine if someone bought a hundred of the most popular domain names, and then held on to them forever. They could charge other people huge sums of money to use those domains, or they could redirect all of that traffic to their own website. Not only would that be unfair – it would be a disaster for the internet as a whole.
- Ease of use: If you could buy a domain name forever, that would create a lot of confusion when it came time to transfer ownership. For example, let’s say you wanted to sell your website. The buyer would have to contact ICANN and go through a whole process to prove that they were the new rightful owner of the domain – and that process would be different for every domain name. It would be a nightmare!
- Maintenance: The internet is constantly evolving, and new features are always being added. If you could buy a domain name forever, that would mean that ICANN would never be able to take it away from you – even if you stopped paying your hosting fees, or if you started using the domain for illegal activities. That would make it very hard to keep the internet running smoothly.
So – those are the main reasons why you can’t buy a domain name forever. But like we said, there are ways to keep your domain name for a very long time – even if you can’t technically own it.
4 Ways To Keep Your Domain Name For A Long Time
Just because you can’t buy a domain name forever doesn’t mean you have to give it up after a few years. There are a few things you can do to ensure that your domain stays with you for a long time to come.
- Lease For The Maximum Amount Of Time
The first and most obvious way to keep your domain name for a long time is to simply lease it for the maximum amount of time allowed. That’s 10 years. Once those 10 years are up, you can renew the lease – and as long as you keep renewing it, you can keep the domain name for as long as you want.
Of course, this only works if you’re sure you’ll want the domain name for at least 10 years. If there’s any chance you might want to sell the website or let the domain lapse, this isn’t the best option for you.
Fun Fact: GoDaddy, one of the most popular domain registrars, will allow you to lease a domain name for 10 years for as little as $200. That’s just $20 per year – a pretty good deal! The same is true for most other registrars, where it’s more cost-effective to lease for a longer period of time.
- Enable Auto-Renew
If you’re not sure you want to commit to a 10-year lease, another option is to enable auto-renew on your domain name. That way, it will automatically renew every year – and as long as you keep paying your hosting fees, the domain will stay active.
The only thing that you’ll need to make sure is that you have a good payment method on file – otherwise, your domain could lapse if your payment fails. Ensure your registrar has your current credit card information, or set up auto-pay with a service like PayPal.
- Subscribe For Expiration Protection
If you really want to make sure your domain doesn’t lapse, another option is to subscribe for expiration protection. This means that even if you forget to renew your domain, the registrar will give you a grace period of 3-6 months to renew it.
This is a great option if you’re worried about forgetting to renew your domain name. But it’s also worth noting that most registrars will send you multiple reminder emails before your domain expires – so you’re unlikely to forget in the first place.
- Go For A 100-Year Lease
Shocking, isn’t it? Here we are going on and on about how you can’t buy a domain name for more than 10 years – and now we’re telling you that you can lease one for 100 years! How?
A lot of registrars nowadays offer an option to lease a domain name for 100 years, instead of the usual 10. The catch? You’re not technically buying the domain – you’re just pre-paying for 10 years of renewals.
After every 10 years, the registrar will automatically renew your domain name for another 10 years, and so on until a full century has passed. Obviously, this is a great option if you want to keep your domain name long-term – but it’s also a bit more expensive than the other options on this list.
Note: Network Solutions is a registrar that offers 100-year leases for domain names. Prices start at around $9.99 a year, which means a total cost of just under $1,000 for the full century. You can find the full terms and conditions for this plan right here – https://www.networksolutions.com/domain-name-registration/popup-100-yr-term.jsp.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about buying a domain name.
Q.1. How much does it cost to buy a domain name?
A. The price of a domain name can vary depending on the registrar you use, the length of the lease, and other factors. In general, however, you can expect to pay anywhere from $10-$20 per year for a standard domain name.
Q.2. Where can I buy a domain name from?
A. There are tons of different places where you can buy a domain name. Some of the most popular registrars include GoDaddy (https://www.godaddy.com/), Namecheap (https://www.namecheap.com/), and Domain.com (https://www.domain.com/).
Q.3. Can someone steal my domain name if I don’t renew it?
A. Yes, if you let your domain name lapse, it could be snapped up by someone else. This is why it’s important to either renew your domain name before it expires, or set up auto-renew so that you don’t have to worry about it.
Final Thoughts
Today, there are over 1.7 billion websites on the internet – and that number is only going to grow in the years to come. That’s a whole lot of domain names that have already been taken! So once you’ve found the dream domain name for your website, it’s important to hold on to it. We hope this article has taught you how to do just that! Keep our tips in mind and you’ll be able to keep your domain name safe and sound for as long as you need it.