So you want to buy a cheap domain name? Be careful!

When it comes to choosing a company to register your domain name with, focusing on the price alone may not be the smartest thing to do. Because a cheap domain name could turn out to be an expensive deal. But what exactly should you consider?

Is your domain name still available?

How much does a domain name cost?

When you look at the price of a domain name, you have to distinguish between two separate costs: the purchase price for a domain that is taken and the actual registration fee for the domain name.

1. Purchase price: when the domain name you had in mind for your company is already taken, you can try to purchase it from its current owner. He is free to decide on the price, and if you agree, the matter is settled. This price can rise from hundreds of euros to tens of thousands of euros, depending on how much you are willing to pay. This is a one-time fee – a deal between you and the current owner.

 

2. Registration fee: when you want to register a domain name that nobody else has claimed yet, you obviously only have to pay the price charged for the registration of the new domain name. This fee is usually between 30 and 100 euros and depends on the domain extension. You pay this annual fee to a registrar, a company that registers and manages domain names, such as Combell.

In this article, we will only focus on the fee charged for the registration of a domain name.

 

Cheap domain names: baits with hidden costs

If you take a look around on the web, you will notice that the annual registration fee for a domain name can vary slightly depending on the company offering the registration service (the registrar). So why are there such differences?

Well, some registrars will deliberately cut prices to lure you, and then charge you extra for all kinds of additional hidden costs. Others will simply charge you the wholesale price for the registration, and then make money in other ways, such as by selling your personal data.

While others again will charge you a slightly higher price, because they also want to offer you some other services that are intrinsically linked to the domain name. And, to make things even more appealing, they also offer some free extra services, like Combell does!

 

What should you consider when dealing with a domain name provider?

If, when searching for a domain name, you come across a provider that offers very cheap domain names, you will need to check the registrar's terms and conditions of sale very carefully. You should pay particular attention to these points:

 

Choosing a good registrar for your domain name is one of the most important decisions you have to make as part of your online presence. Make the right choice right away: go for a reliable partner like Combell.

 

Free domain names

Some Top-Level Domains (TLDs) also allow you to register a domain name completely free of charge, like .tk (the ccTLD for the Tokelau archipelago). However, we do not recommend you to use such a free domain name, as it does not look professional at all. Would you, as a customer of a company with a .tk domain name, trust that company, knowing that it does not even have a few euros left over for a real domain name?

 

Register your domain name with a reliable registrar

Remember that your domain name is your most important asset on the Internet. Its registration will only cost you a few tens of euros a year. And yes, we know all too well that every cent counts, especially for start-ups. But the registration fee for your domain name is nothing compared to all the other expenses for the creation of your website, web hosting, etc. Surely you are not going to compromise the success of your online business for the sake of saving a few euros on your domain name?

The annual registration fee for your domain name is a trifle compared to what the development of your site or app will cost you. So make sure you choose the domain name provider that gives you the best value for money.

You should therefore opt for a reliable registrar to entrust your domain name to. You might pay a little more, but you will receive a lot more in return. And you will be in good hands.

 

Combell offers you:

- Keep using your old e-mail address, but have all e-mails sent to your new domain name forwarded to your current mailbox;

- Take advantage of the extra gift that Combell offers you: a free mailbox (IMAP/POP3) with a capacity of no less than 1 GB;

- Check your e-mail from anywhere using our highly secure webmail;

- Create as many e-mail addresses as you like with your domain name (admin@domainname.be, sales@domainname.be);

- Use Group Forwarding to have your e-mails sent to one web address automatically forwarded to several e-mail addresses. This way, you can reach all members of a certain team with just one e-mail;

- Use the Catch-all mailbox if you do not want to miss any of your e-mails: all messages sent to addresses ending with your domain name (anythingyouwant@domainname.be) will end up in one central mailbox.

- URL forwarding: link your domain name to your Facebook page, your Instagram account or any other URL. Whoever enters your domain name will be automatically redirected to this site.

- Cloaking: your domain name is displayed in the address bar – e.g. yoursite.be instead of http://yoursite.wordpress.com

- Subdomains: create as many subdomains as you want in order to keep the different sections of your website separate from each other. You can even have each subdomain redirect users to a different page – for example media.yourdomain.be to your Instagram account, sales.yourdomain.be to your web store, etc.

Surely you are not going to compromise the success of your online business for the sake of saving a few euros on your domain name?

Check out the wide range of available domain name extensions and get started today!

Register your domain name with Combell