When you’re starting a new business, one of the essential steps is registering your domain name. But how much does a domain name cost, and how do you budget for it? 

The cost of a domain name varies depending on the extension (.com, .net, etc.) and on a number of different reasons. In fact, other factors such as web hosting and SSL certificates should be considered, so it’s important to budget for all of these expenses when starting.

Here are some tips for planning your budget, registering your perfect domain name, and explaining the costs incurred.

The difference in Price for Domain Names

One of the many important decisions you’ll need to make is what domain name to choose. Not only do you want a name that’s easy to remember and represents your company well, but you also need to consider the cost. 

Domain names can vary in price, depending on the extension, and some registrars will offer discounts for multiple years of registration. Here are some factors that influence the costs.

Domain Providers

Domain providers typically offer a variety of domain name prices. The price you pay for a domain name will depend on the provider you choose, the type of domain name, and the features you want. 

Some providers offer a basic domain name for free, while others charge a higher price for more features and specialized domains. Other features often included at an extra cost are marketing tools or security plugins.

When choosing a provider, it’s important to keep in mind the differences in price between them all. Some providers offer significant discounts for purchasing multiple years of service at once, while others charge a higher fee for renewing your domain name each year.

It’s important to compare prices and find the best deal for your needs. It’s worth noting that blockchain domains do not have renewal fees and these can be purchased from sites such as Cloudname, and we’ll go through more details later in this guide.

Domain Name Popularity

Domain name popularity can impact your business in several ways, and it is critical to use the best domain name for your brand. 

For starters, if you want to launch a marketing campaign, you’ll need a domain name that’s easy to remember and type in. Otherwise, you may lose out on potential customers. 

Additionally, popular domain names can be more expensive to purchase than less popular ones. So if budget is a concern, it’s important to consider both the popularity and the cost of a domain name before purchasing.

A lot of people are unaware of the fact that domains can be relatively inexpensive, and they offer some great deals. You can easily find domains that are offered at less than $10 per year. 

The Domain Extension

Domain extensions can be registered for around $10 per year, but there is a big difference in price for popular domain extensions. For example, a .com extension will likely be more expensive than a .net or .website extension. It’s important to factor in the cost of the domain extension when planning your budget.

The cheapest TLDs on the market are .xyz ($0.75 per year on average), .voting ($1.00 per year on average), and .top for $1.38 per year on average.

Apart from that, it would help if you considered both gTLCs and ccTLDs, which can impact your budget and rankings, and this takes us nicely to the next point.

Differences Between gTLCs and ccTLDs

Domain name extensions generally come in two varieties: gTLDs and ccTLDs – General or country-code ones related to specific countries or territories. 

ccTLDs can be registered by anyone globally, but they are associated with a specific country or territory. For example, .uk is the ccTLD for the United Kingdom, .de is the ccTLD for Germany, and .jp is the ccTLD for Japan.

gTLDs are open to anyone who wants to register a domain name from a business to a private individual. These domains include .com, .net, .org, and many others. Most of the domain names in the world are registered with a gTLD.

The price for a domain name registration can vary depending on the type of domain name and the registrar. For example, a .uk domain name costs about $10 per year to register, while a .com domain name costs about $15 per year. Generally, ccTLDs are cheaper than gTLDs.

There are a few things to consider when deciding which type of domain name to register. First, think about the audience you are trying to reach. If your target audience is worldwide, a gTLD would be a good choice. If your target audience is mainly in a specific country or region, then a ccTLD would be a better choice.

Second, think about the domain name itself. Are there any good .com domains that are available? Or is a ccTLD a better option because the domain name is more relevant to your target audience? Finally, of course, consider your budget.

The Elements to Consider When Purchasing a Domain Name

When purchasing a domain name, there are a few things you should take into consideration. The first is the type of domain name, and the second is the popularity. But there are more elements to keep in mind before going ahead and purchasing your domain.

Purchase a Short Domain Name

Shorter domain names are more popular, easier to remember, and more user-friendly. In particular, we highly recommend avoiding longer words. For instance, the domain name “marketing.com” is much easier to remember than “marketyourbusinesstoday.com.” Also, shorter domain names are generally easier to rank than long ones, and that’s something to keep in mind.

Costs in the Following Year

One of the most important parts of purchasing a domain name is its cost – and you should know that the second year is always more expensive than the first. Most domain name registrars will be transparent and display the fees for the years to come, and you should consider those for the years to come.

Setup fees

Another element to consider is the setup fees, as these can vary depending on the registrar you choose. The registration fee is slightly cheaper than the first subscription year as a general rule of thumb.

For instance, if your first renewal fee is $20, expect to pay between $10 and $16 for the registration. Of course, that isn’t a massive game-changer, but it could be a deal-breaker if you buy a domain name worth thousands of dollars.

How Much Does a Domain Name Cost?

According to the New York Times, the most expensive domain ever bought was business.com, for $375 million. Of course, that’s an exception, and regular domains are much cheaper.

Typically, a short .com domain name will cost you more than a longer one. But there’s more to it. In general, a domain name might cost anywhere from $3 to $20 per year, depending on current offers.

First, you should differentiate domains that are free for purchase and those who are assigned, as the demand plays a significant role and the costs for the assigned ones are usually higher. 

Apart from that, older domains are pretty cheap, and many businesses choose them, but their .com extension may not be available. For this reason, you should consider an alternative such as .io, .net, or .media.

On average, these are the prices for domain names:

• .com – from $10 to $25
• .org – from $15 $25
• .net – from $15 to $25
• .io – from $50 to $100
• .mobi – from $25 to $35
• .blog – from $30 to $50
• .co.uk – from $5 to $50
• .de – from $5 to $45
• .ca – from $10 to $70

Naturally, these costs can be considerably higher depending on the different factors listed above. 

Buying Blockchain Domains

The process of purchasing Blockchain domains is very similar to regular gTLDs and ccTLDs but with a couple of differences. Also called NFT domains, they’ve recently been introduced to the market and, once you buy them, they are yours for life. And since they are decentralized, no one can seize them from you, not even governmental authorities.

Now, to buy an NFT domain, you will need to connect your crypto wallet to Cloudname and research your domain name. Once you find the name and extension that most match your corporation and preferences, mint it and link it to your crypto wallet, such as MetaMask.

NFT domains have a different extension than centralized TLD’s, including:

• .x
• .zil
• .nft
• .888
• .dao
• .crypto
• .coin
• .wallet
• .bitcoin

Just like regular domain names, the shorter the extension, the pricier it will be. For example, some NFT domains could cost up to $250,000, while regular ones generally set you back between $20 and $100.

We want to highlight the fact that it is possible to divide NFT domains into multiple tokens, allowing several users to buy a part of them. This is particularly interesting for the very costly domains.

Suppose that a domain costs $100,000. If we divide it into 100 non-fungible tokens, each user would be able to buy one part for $1,000 and resell it in the future. This would increase both the domain and the part value and it’s a great investment.

How Much Should You Spend in a Domain Name?

As you can see above, the price for a professional domain is between $10 and $100 in most instances. For this reason, you should expect to pay around $50 per year on renewal fees. 

Of course, if you want to get your hands on an exclusive, rare, and short domain name, expect to pay a high price.

That being said, as a standard business, this price tag is enough for you to have a good domain name.

Purchasing Premium Domains

The prices of domain names we mentioned in this complete guide are just an average range for the typical organization. However, sometimes, the domain names aren’t available, and you’ll have to either contact the owner or make an offer. 

You should be aware that premium domain names, generally composed of common words and very short, can have an exorbitant price.

To give you an idea, these are some of the most expensive domains that were sold in the past:

• business.com: $345 million
• carinsurance.com — $49.7 million
• insurance.com — $35.6 million
• Internet.com — $18 million
• vacationrentals.com — $35 million
• voice.com — $30 million
• 360.com — $17 million

Popularity plays a big part in the cost, and the higher the popularity, the higher the economic profit that domain will bring. For example, business.com was sold for over $300 million, but “business” is one of the essential words in the industry, and we can easily understand its influence.

All in all, are these premium domains worth it? If you have millions of dollars spare to invest then probably, otherwise, stick to a regular domain name for your business.