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Buying your first domain can be a fun but confusing experience all at the same time. There are so many companies out there that you can buy domains from each with varying prices, and even more variance to the add-on services you can get with your domain at a cost, or for free. Some of the top names in the market are GoDaddy, BlueHost, and 1&1 Internet. To make things even easier for you we have broken down the benefits and downfalls of each.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is notorious for their $1.99 domain purchase, but this only applies to new domains and also requires the purchase of a non-domain product such as a web hosting plan. Also, adding products such as domain privacy do not count towards the discount and come at an added cost. Registrations without a qualifying product vary between $9.99 and $10.69 a year depending on whether GoDaddy has a running sale or not. You can also purchase multiple years worth of registration at once to which GoDaddy will usually apply a discount. Private registration starts at $8.99 a year, Deluxe registration (includes business registration) starts at $9.99 a year. Overall when you start bundling several services together GoDaddy can be cost effective, and a nice little “one-stop-shop” type of deal for you. Keep your eye out for sales and coupons online as there are usually always discounts to be had.

For more information, please visit the GoDaddy website.

BlueHost

BlueHost runs things a little differently. Unlike some of the other providers, you cannot just purchase a domain name as a new customer. When you purchase the domain, you also purchase your hosting package at the same time. Now in most cases this sounds like a bad thing, but you haven’t heard everything yet. With qualified plans, you “receive free setup and free domain registration forever while hosted with [BlueHost]” (from the BlueHost website)! Not to mention their hosting plans are priced very well considering they come with unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space right now! They also include domain privacy for free with every domain. Additional domain purchases, and non-qualified, domain renewals weigh in at $10 a year. Overall, BlueHost can be an amazing option if you intend to set-up shop and keep your domain for a while. What really seals the deal is their amazing hosting options, but like I said, if you are just looking to purchase a domain without any hosting you will have to look at one of the other providers.

For more information, please visit the BlueHost website.

1&1 Internet

1&1 Internet has a few different options when purchasing a domain name. Their most common is the 1&1 Internet Instant Domain package. This package has all sorts of added extras just like GoDaddy and BlueHost do, but the key thing that softens the deal is the free domain privacy. Often times 1&1 Internet will offer the first year registration cost at $6.99, and then after the first year the price returns to $8.99 a year. Per usual be sure to be on the lookout for any coupons or additional discounts on the internet as there are usually a few different ways to lower the costs a little bit.

For more information please visit the 1&1 Internet website.

One important thing to remember though is ICANN assigns a mandatory fee on each domain registration. This fee is currently $0.20 a year, so it isn’t really a deal breaker, but it will be added on top of any of the prices listed above. There are also hundreds of other companies you can purchase a domain through, and though we highlighted three companies above, they are not the only ones out there. If you do end up going with a different company, just be sure to check them out a little bit and make sure they have everything in order. ICANN accreditation status is usually made very obvious on the web site and most providers will advertise how many domains have been registered through them. Lastly, if you don’t get a good vibe from a company or their web site is struggling in the design and function department, then it may be a good time to look at a few other companies until you find the one that has the best fit for you.

If you have any questions, or just don’t really know where to start, you are always more than welcome to contact me. I always love to hear from my readers and am here to help.