A domain name is an address that you type into your browser search bar to get redirected to a specific website. A domain simply points to a website’s IP address, which contains all of its content such as text and images. Think of it as your website’s street address.
You can purchase a unique domain name from domain registrars, usually for an annual fee which averages $10-20 USD. With that said, popular domain names can go as high as tens of thousands of dollars. Certain registrars also provide free domains though either with caveats or functionality limitations.
Creating a domain itself is a straightforward process, but only if you understand the nuances and terminology around domains. It is only after gaining a proper understanding of everything to do with domain names that you should decide on and register one. This will maximize its effectiveness for your brand and also potentially make the process less costly for you.
Why Would You Create a Domain
To elaborate on what we have previously discussed, domain names are what point to a website’s IP address. This is done through a structure called the Domain Name System (DNS), which acts as a bridge between the two. You can better understand why we opt to use this system instead of simply typing in the IP address when you look at this:
172.217.13.78
Looks like just a bunch of numbers stringed together, right? Well, this in fact is the numerical IP address of Google. Without domain names, you would have to type in this number to direct yourself to open up Google.
Keeping this in mind, it is simple to see that domain names not only make things more convenient for users but also help websites a ton in regards to their branding.
Aspects Of a Domain
New domain names are being created at an accelerated pace year by year, and the industry itself is expanding very rapidly. According to Verisign, a leader in domain name registry services and internet infrastructure, from 2021 to 2022 there was an increase of over 10 million website registrations across all top-level domains.
For those unacquainted with the term, a top-level domain is the part of the domain address that comes after the dot, such as .com or .net. The half that comes before the top-level domain, usually the name of your website, is known as the second-level domain. Understanding the nuances of both of these halves is key to understanding what things you should keep in mind when naming your own created domain.
Second-Level Domains
These are the more commonly known parts of your domain address that most people would recognize a website by, found on the left-hand side of the dot. Examples of this include Google, Amazon, and Twitter. It can include as many letters, numbers, or special characters as you want.
Top-Level Domain
Top-level domains, also known as domain extensions, are what you find on the right-hand side of the dot in an address. These are usually abbreviated forms of longer words. Some common examples of top-level domains you might recognize can be found below.
| Top-Level Domain | Websites Registered (millions) |
| .com (commercial) | 161.1 |
| .net (network) | 13.2 |
| .org (organization) | 10.6 |
| .cn (China) | 20.6 |
| .de (Germany) | 17.3 |
In total there are about 1500 unique top-level domains for you to choose from, each varying in cost of registration depending on their popularity or purpose.
Process Of Creating Your Own Domain
As discussed previously, the process for registering your own unique domain is quite simple, though it is important to understand the nuances around certain steps.
Decide On a Second-Level Domain Name
The part of the domain address that comes before the extension is very important as it will be heavily linked to the branding of your website or business. It will need to be short for the sake of user convenience, and if possible should be catchy or easy enough to remember where it sticks in your users’ memories.
Though it is possible, it is advised not to contain too many numbers or special characters in your second-level address, as this can cause confusion among your users and ultimately make it more difficult for the website linked to your domain to gain much traction or traffic.
Choose a Top-Level Domain
More goes into choosing a top-level domain than you might think. The commonality of domains such as .com makes it more valuable than .rocks for example. There is also a purpose attached to many of these domains, such as .gov being utilized by governing bodies globally, or with country code top-level domains which is a unique domain that almost every country has.
The .tv extension for example is utilized by sites such as Twitch, suspected to be because of the common misconception that this top-level domain is abbreviated for ‘television’. This is not the case as it is actually the country code top-level domain for the country of Tuvalu, but because of how catchy and relevant the .tv extension is in this case, it sticks better in user memory and has become part of Twitch’s branding.
In this way, it becomes paramount to choose your website’s top-level domain carefully, and before purchasing the full domain as it also becomes difficult to change after the fact.
Find a Domain Name Registrar And Search For Availability
The entire system of domain names is overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which certifies various third parties called domain registrars to sell and manage domain names. These are the places that you will need to purchase from and register your domain name at. Reputable examples include Bluehost and Domain.com.
You should know what you’re looking for when choosing a registrar, as they do offer varying pricing, expiration policies, and add-on services.
Purchase The Domain Name
Once you decide on a domain name that is available through the registrar of your choice, you will then have to pay for the domain. This typically is not a full purchase, however, and is more like a lease where you will have to pay an initial registration fee and then renew your registration (mostly) annually.
Add ID Protection
In the process of registering your site with ICANN, you are required to provide your personal information name, street address, email address, and phone number. Once you fully register a public domain, this information too becomes available to the public.
This can have very harsh repercussions for you personally and is a situation that you should want to try and avoid. Luckily, you can pay the domain registrar that you just registered your domain with to add protection to your personal information, keeping you and your personal details safe from all kinds of deviants.
Costs Of Creating a Domain
As we have discussed, you register your domain through domain registrars on a typically annual payment renewal basis. You can have rights to your registration for one year or you can avail the option of multi-year registration.
The cost of a domain can range from free to tens of thousands of USD. Though the typical average cost for a domain name falls around 10 to 20 USD annually. The factors that affect the cost of a domain range are as follows:
- The demand for the second-level domain name can influence your registration cost
- Each top-level domain has a different perceived value in a hierarchical order
- Different domain registrars can provide unique services and hence charge different registration fees
- If you are buying registration rights to a domain from another person instead of creating a new unique domain name
- If you choose to opt for ID protection services, you will be charged extra
- The type of payment schedule and length of registration can have an effect on the fees you will need to pay
Registration costs are a huge factor to consider, and depending on the specifics of the domain you are obtaining as well as the registrar you are making the transaction through, can rake up costs in the tens of thousands of dollars. However, did you know that there are a number of domain registrars that offer somewhat free, and sometimes fully free domains?
Where You Can Acquire a Free Domain
There are indeed domain registrars that offer free domain registrations. Though many offer these with the caveat that you need to subscribe to a separate payment-based subscription on their site, others simply offer fully free domains for you to use, however with limitations in their functions that you can access.
Wix
This is quite a popular domain registrar in casual spheres, and for good reason. Wix does offer free domain names to its users; however with the stipulation that your full address will include a .wix before the top-level domain. It would read something like ‘yoursite.wix.com’.
This makes Wix a convenient and useful tool for people looking to build websites that are not too professional or serious, such as school projects or small-scale blogs. However, for large companies or businesses, using a domain such as this would be unacceptable, and could very well damage their brand.
Bluehost
This is one of the many domain registrars that do offer ‘free’ domains to their users for a year, but tie them to the purchase of a hosting plan on their website. This can be useful or a cool little add-on if you were already planning on purchasing the hosting plan which comes with other useful perks on its own.
Bluehost and other registrars offering this service can be useful for people that find the base perks of hosting plans appealing, or those that want a free domain that does not have its address tied to the registrar’s name, or a subdomain as discussed in the previous example.
Freenom
This is an example of a domain registrar that offers free domains without tying the offer to caveats or having a subscription to hosting plans. Though all of the TLDs that it offers are country-code TLDs, namely for Tokelau, Mali, Georgia, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea.
This is incredibly useful for users looking to create location-agnostic-based sites, or simply for those that do not care about the top-level domain that they are tied to, and just want rights to a unique domain of their own.
FAQs
What Happens If I Do Not Renew My Domain Name?
Not renewing your domain name will eventually put it in a renewal grace period, where you will have the option still to renew your domain and retain rights over it. Failure to do so then will then result in your domain being deactivated or ‘parked’, and up again for purchase by the public.
How Do You Buy A Parked Domain?
If a domain that you want to purchase is parked, you can easily try to do so by going to the website address itself and contacting the sales team by using the information provided. From there, you simply coordinate with the team to ultimately buy the domain from the authorized registrar.
Can A Registrar Revoke Your Registration At Will?
A registrar reserves the right to revoke your registration, typically if you are engaging in illegal activities or unacceptable behavior. To explicitly protect this right, many contracts include the clause that allows them to delete your domain for no real reason, though this is likely just for legal reasons and would not be used unless deemed necessary.
Wrapping Up
You can create your own unique domain by visiting a domain registrar and purchasing one from them directly. Your domain name should be short and memorable, with user convenience kept in mind. This entire process can be free, or cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, though for the average joe it will most likely cost around an affordable 10-20 USD per year, which is really a steal if you ask us!