I think I have purchased over a hundred domains in my lifetime and about 90% of them are sitting out there doing nothing.
I guess you can say that buying domain names can be a bit addicting, and I found that out about 50 domain names later.
I’ve done my share of buying domain names, getting them hosted, and building out sites, so I thought I’d share some of the best services out there and also where you can buy them.
Where do I Start?
There are so many commercials that Godaddy promotes and then there’s the others that no one even knows about.
When I bought my first site, I went with Godaddy simply because I liked the look of their site and well, they were really all I knew of.
It took me a whole year to realize that there were other domain providers on the web and there was always one thing that separated one from the other.
Domains are Not Just a Website Name
I used to get domains like they were cool, until I realized that you can actually choose domains that are catchy and still available.
On top of that, I didn’t know that domains were selling for thousands of dollars! A buddy of mine sold his domain for $50,000 and that’s when I realized I was leaving a lot of money on the table.
The problem I had with getting all those domain names, was that I wasn’t selling a single one of them. It’s like I was doing it as a hobby or something.
One Domain is All You Really Need
If you are trying to build an online business, you want to focus on just one. Buying domain names can cause a lot of unproductiveness, so be careful.
Flipping domain names is something you might want to consider, but that is another animal on its own, so we’ll leave that for another article.
As of right now, I have 3 domains that I am working on and that is really all I can handle. I have a writer that helps me, but 3 is still all I need.
In 2 years I see myself having more sites, but I will also have a team of writers so that will only mean that it is possible to handle more domains.
Buying Domains
Like I said earlier, I was a big Godaddy user. They had their $2.99 domains for sale and that was something that caught my attention.
The one thing that I forgot about, was the fact that you had to renew them and it cost extra to get a personal email addy and domain security.
So when that time came around, not only was the domain $14.99, but I had to get the email and security nonsense which put my total over $30.
If you are serious about your business, you always want to try and get your domain for as long as you can, without waiting on them to expire.
You don’t want to be like Jeb Bush (who didn’t renew his domain) and have it scooped up by Donald Trump. Now if you go to www.jebbush.com, it will redirect you to Donald Trump’s site. Now that sucks!
I now purchase my domains for 10 years (the max) and I also get everything bundled into one. So now I have security, email, and the domain name in one package.
Wealthy Affiliate Domains
This is really a site for online marketing, but these guys have added the ability for its members to purchase domain names right from their site and I find it to be absolutely amazing.
I used this for all my online marketing needs, but with the added domain feature, I can now run my business completely from this site.
I pay $47/month to have my sites hosted, I get the secure domains, and I also get support 24/7.
There isn’t any other domain provider in the industry doing this and I can’t help but be excited with what they offer here.
So How Much Should You Spend on a Domain?
$15 max. They all pretty much charge around the same price, but one way or the other, you will pay more if your’e not careful.
I also don’t suggest getting unnecessary stuff like the SEO stuff that some of these sites claim to help you with. YOU are responsible for your search engine optimization.
See how the top 4 domain providers compare to one another and see why I highly suggest you get your domains at Wealthy Affiliate.
I am beyond impressed with the domains at Wealthy Affiliate and I must say that they are really on top of the domain world.
Pay for it Now or Pay for it Later
So you can always save a couple of bucks in your first year with any of the little discounts the other companies promote, but just know that you will pay for it later on down the road.
Having your own persona email is a big thing in business and having that included in your domain is a big plus.
With any of the other providers, they charge more for the actual domain, which is not cool in my book. You think you’re only going to spend $12 and then bam! $15 for email.
Privacy protection is another thing you need when owning your own site, and once again, this is another hidden cost.
That’s another $8 bucks for a year, which is very unnecessary. Get everything you need in one shot and forget about the hidden costs.
Conclusion
I really don’t care what you do. As long as you are doing business online, you will always need YOUR own domain name.
There are a bunch of free sites, but you will always want to get your personal domain. For under $20, do you really think that it is worth it? Of course!
If that is a problem for you, then you might want to really think about some things. This might just not be the line of work for you.
So if it’s Godaddy or Namecheap that you prefer, go for it. I do suggest you get your own piece of online real estate and start something that will benefit you for many years to come.
Click Here to Get Your First .COM!
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