Getting a Domain¶
Approximate Time: 10 minutes (not including hours of agonizing over a name)
Approximate Cost: $10-20/year
Buying a domain is a first step towards having a place on the web that belongs to you.
While it is possible to host a site at a subdomain of a host like https://example.github.io or https://example.netlify.app, you're tying your future to the future of those offerings. A price increase, policy change, or shutdown can take your content offline.
Even if you can find and update most links to your new domain, there will be links outside of your control (a printed resume, people's bookmarks, etc.), and those will no longer resolve to your new site.
With your own domain name, you can opt to use whichever service you want with minimal disruption to your readers/users. You can point your domain at your existing GitHub site today, and whatever new service you want tomorrow. There will be no need to worry about broken links when you change hosts.
Picking a Registrar¶
Owning a domain name requires paying a yearly fee to a domain registrar. Registrars work as an intermediary between users and the registry that controls your chosen top-level domain (TLD).
While it is important to pick a trustworthy registrar, most registrars offer nearly identical services and very similar prices. (Within a few dollars of one another for most domains.)
If you are picking a registrar, we recommend Porkbun. They offer competitive prices, free privacy protection, an easy-to-use UI, and helpful customer service.
It is possible to transfer domains between registrars without much trouble, so don't overthink it!
Choices?
There are a lot of choices to make: registrar, host, operating systems, various third-party services. It can be overwhelming.
To help, our guides typically make a general recommendation that we think is a safe choice for most people as well as a few alternatives to consider.
Our resource guide also provides other reasonable choices you can consider:
How much to pay?¶
Each registrar has a domain search where you can look for available domains—you'll notice that the prices of different domains may vary quite a bit.
There are three factors that affect the price of a domain:
- The top-level domain or TLD (.com, .org, .biz, .pizza, ...) - the owner of the TLD sets the base price & policies for the domain. Most range from $5-$50, with "trendy" TLDs sometimes going for more.
- Some domains, particularly short ones or ones that use common words, are considered "premium" and will have an additional cost. This can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
- Sometimes you will see domains that are being resold, domains that someone has already bought and is trying to flip for profit. Avoid these: prices are inflated and can come with a reputation risk from whatever was there before (spam, blacklisting).
Unless you feel very strongly about a particular domain, expect to spend $10-20.
Keep in mind there is a base cost & renewal price. Make sure you're aware of both before committing to a domain.
Renewal
Keep in mind this is a one-year price unless otherwise stated.
A TLD owner and/or registrar may choose to raise prices on renewal, but typically this is a modest increase. Read on for more details on how TLDs may differ.
Also consider if you want your domain to auto-renew. If you are using the domain for email or a personal site, you wouldn't want the domain to lapse & be grabbed by someone else. Registrars will send warning emails as expiration approaches, so if you prefer not to auto-renew just be sure to keep an eye out and/or set a calendar reminder.
Do TLDs matter?¶
A question that often comes up during the domain search: does it matter which TLD I choose?
For most purposes, the answer is no. There are a few things it helps to be aware of.
The biggest difference is that each TLD has an administering authority that sets rules:
- How much is renewal?
- What content is allowed? (most TLDs are available for any use, but some have restrictions)
- Is HTTPS required? A few newer TLDs (
.dev,.app) require all sites to be HTTPS. (For most uses this isn't a big deal, as your site probably should use HTTPS, but worth knowing.) - Is WHOIS information public?
The final one is something to consider.
When registering a domain you have to provide your personal information for legal reasons. Historically this information wound up in a public "WHOIS" registry, which often isn't desirable for privacy and spam reasons. Most registrars will hide this information on your behalf, listing themselves as a proxy owner, and forwarding any legal contacts to you as required.
Some TLDs, however, require that the owner's information is on file and public, meaning owning these domains anonymously is not possible. (Notably this is true of the .us TLD.)
Things not to pay for¶
Most registrars will offer additional services during registration: hosting, email, domain privacy, SSL certificates, etc.—don't pay for any of these, at least for now.
Typically it is best to use other services for email and hosting, and if you want to use a registrar's you can always add that later. Domain privacy should be included for free (as it is with Porkbun and our other recommendations). There is no reason you should be paying for an SSL certificate these days. Configuring free SSL will be covered in a future guide.
More Reading¶
Some next steps to consider now that you have your own domain: