A crucial part of marketing a new online business is having a domain name that reflects your brand.
Great domain names are easily memorable and quick to type. Once you have a new business idea and some thoughts about what the name will be, you’ll need to purchase a domain, register it, and host your website somewhere.
This process can feel complicated and cumbersome, so we put together a quick facts guide on choosing the best domain registrar for your business.
A domain name is a unique internet address that lets people easily find your website online. As you go through the process of choosing your domain name, you’ll also need to pick a place to register it. That’s where domain registrars come in. A domain registrar is the entity through which you purchase and set up your domain; it also assigns your URL to a unique IP address.
You’ll want to vet the different domain registrars before you make a final decision. Here’s what to look for:
Most domain registrars require you to pay one year at a time, or you can pay for multiple years to get a discount. The price for your first year of registration is often lower than the rate for subsequent years. So, while a low year-one rate might catch your eye, you’ll want to make sure that the next renewal prices are both affordable and in line with those of other registrars.
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Registering a domain is associated with personal details like your name, address, and email. That information is recorded by WHOIS and managed by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This means that anyone can look up who owns a domain and how to contact them by mail, phone, or email. Many domain owners choose to protect this personal information. You’ll want to make sure that any domain registrar you choose offers the option to hide that personal information if you don’t want it to be shared on the web.
A domain transfer is when you move a domain from one registrar to another. This is a handy option if you find a lower renewal price elsewhere or decide to go with another option. Check to see how much flexibility you’ll have if you choose to transfer your domain in the future.
Some domain registrars offer all-in-one packages that include website hosting, an email domain, alternate top-level domains (like .store, .biz, or .co), etc. These packages are often more affordable and make getting your website up and running easier. Look at what bundles or add-ons a registrar offers so you can get a better deal or manage everything in one place.
These are the best places to register a domain name. We’ll walk through the four criteria listed above for each one to help you make an informed decision about which domain registrar is right for you.
Shopify is the best domain registrar if you’re looking to set up an online store.
If you’ve never set up your website before—or even if you have—convenience is enormous. You need an overwhelming amount of tools and platforms if you set up each component of a website, and especially an online store, individually. You need a domain registrar, a server to host your domain, a website design, and, most likely, email and customer support functionality. It’s possible to do all of this individually, but speaking from experience, it gets complicated, and it’s easy to fall a rabbit hole pretty quickly.
Shopify allows you to get all of this in one place. Registering your domain with Shopify is connected to your online store immediately, so you won’t have to worry about third-party connections or complicated technical setup processes.
Prices are slightly more expensive than other domain registrars, but renewal fees are reasonable. Shopify is best suited for those looking to set up an online store, though, so if you don’t need that functionality, it might not be the right choice for you.
Namecheap is an affordable option for domain registration and offers a nice web hosting bundle. Despite touting great customer support on its website, customer reviews say that the service isn’t the best, so keep that in mind.
This is a good option if you’re looking for a fair price and package that includes WHOIS protection and web hosting.
Hover has been around since 2008, and what’s great about it is its simplicity. If all you need is to register a domain without all the bells and whistles, this is a great option for you. Hover Connect allows you to connect essential services like Etsy, Facebook, or Shopify.
Google Domains is no frills—it’s even simpler than Hover. The pricing is affordable, and it costs less than both Shopify and Hover for .com domains. The best part about using Google Domains as your registrar is the ease of putting out paid ads. If you’re planning to use the Google Ad platform to market your products, Google Domains makes it very easy to set up. Google also offers built-in email forwarding and 24/7 customer support.
Domain.com is known for speed and reliability as a web hoster. It also offers a live chat function, which can be deeply helpful as you start to set up your new website. But, privacy protection costs extra and pricing is better elsewhere. Domain.com is a good choice for reliable web hosting, so it’s good for those looking to host their site the same place they register it.
With its transparent and reasonable pricing and simple website design, Dynadot is an all around good option for web hosting. But what sets it apart is the amount of top level domains (TLDs) it offers. TLDs are the tail end of your domain, like .com, .co, .shop, etc. Dynadot offers hundreds of TLDs, so there’s a good chance they’ll have exactly what you need.
GoDaddy is the most well-known domain registrar in the world, but that doesn’t make it the best option. GoDaddy is the most expensive of all of the domain registrars, with high renewal fees and privacy as an add-on. If you want to go with a big, well-known domain registrar, GoDaddy is the best choice, but based on the pricing structure alone, it’s not our first choice.
