If you joined us for the “The Perfect Website Starts With a Domain Webinar,” we reviewed all that encompasses choosing your ideal domain. Domains are an important factor when building your website and you want to make sure you select a domain that creatively reflects your brand or business. As the internet continues to grow, the availability of new Top Level Domains (TLDs) makes it easier for users to customize their domain extensions in a vivid way.
WordPress Developer William Earnhardt shared how you can check the availability of a domain and why domain privacy helps keep your personal information safe. He covered the benefits of owning a domain and why auto-renewing is important so your domain isn’t available to the public when it expires. Finally, William guided attendees through the process of transferring a domain within the Bluehost cPanel.
In case you were unable to catch the webinar live, we compiled some of the most popular questions attendees asked during the duration of the webinar. If you have any additional questions, please let us know in the comments below!
Pro Tip: When you register for a domain, make sure to use your domain name on your social media in order to keep consistent branding for your website. Securing your social media handle is vitally important to cross-promote your brand across different social channels.
What is a domain registrar and how many are available?
The domain registrar is what allows you to register your domain. If you’d like to register a domain it has to be done through an official domain registrar. There is a list of organizations that have authority over TLDs (.com, .org, .edu, .net) which license out the authority to 3rd party businesses.
Bluehost is a domain registrar, so when you have a hosting plan with us, you can register domains alongside your hosting.
Does it save me money to purchase a domain for years at a time?
Having your domain set with auto-renewal and an active credit card is a great way to maintain ownership over your domain. If you buy several years upfront, it can help you lock in a certain rate, but it’s really based on your preference.
What if I want to cancel a domain after I have purchased it?
You cannot cancel a domain after it is purchased. Domain registrations are always for one year, if you are able to purchase a domain for multiple years it’s letting the registrar know that you want this domain at a specified rate.
A few options to consider if you no longer want the domain is removing the auto-renewal so it expires or selling it.
Why are some domain names more expensive to purchase than others?
Some domain names are more desirable than others based on what’s trending at the time. For example, if you sell widgets, widgets.com may be very popular in the domain market.
Am I able to reserve a domain name?
Domain registration is an open marketplace where anyone can get any available domain. There is no holding or reserving them. If anyone has a domain you want, you can offer to purchase it from the owner or wait for it to expire.
Can you use special characters in a domain name?
In domain registration, letters, numbers, and hyphens are the only assets that are supported in domain registration.
We do recommend keeping it short and concise. Try to avoid using hyphens because it may be hard to promote verbally. Unless numbers are apart of your brand, try to avoid using them in your domain as to make it easier for people to remember your domain.
Check out the slide deck for the presentation here.
Comments