HTML Help: Register a Domain

How do I get a domain name for a web site?

There are two ways to get a domain. You can visit a domain registrar and register a domain name, or you can do it through most hosting companies when you sign up for hosting. Many hosts even offer free domain registrations with their hosting plans nowadays.

Either way, be prepared to spend some time searching for an available domain name to buy. I say buy, but you only own it as long as you keep paying the yearly maintenance fee. It isn't much, but if you don't renew it the domain name will go back to public availability.

Domain names can be bought for less than $10.00, or it could cost as much as $35.00, depending on the registrar. I've used the $35.00 registrar before, and they are the WORST of the bunch, as is a highly publicized cheap one. Most are adequate though.

You can shop around for a registrar by visiting this list of registrars. Personally, I use Dynadot for the low prices, good customer service, and ease of use.

Free Domain Registration

Lately several hosts have started offering free domain registration with their hosting plans. The hosting plans are very competitively priced so you're not really paying more for hosting than you would anyway.

Some of these hosts are offering the free domain for as long as you keep hosting with them, so you're really saving about $10 to $15 a year. I grabbed my newest domain this way.

Here are a handful of hosts that offer a free domain for life:

Arvixe Web Hosting :: Free domain for life
AvaHost :: Free domain for life
BlueHost :: Free domain for life
Certified Hosting :: Free domain for life
MochaHost :: Free domain for life

Mochahost offers 2 free domains for life with a business account. A business account is only $4.75 a month at the time of this writing. That's a real bargain. I host about a half dozen sites with Bluehost and have been with them for years, they're a good host.

Note: The free domains are yours to keep even if you leave the host. You'd just have to start paying the renewal fees on your own. You can switch registrars and the renewal fees can be less than $10 a year.

This concludes the

HTML Help about How to Register a Domain Name

. Based on your interest in this tutorial you may also be interested in: Hosting Articles | Big List of Web Hosts

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