What is a domain lease?

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A domain name is often a relatively cheap expense for a business, but this doesn’t tell the whole story. In order to have a domain that has high levels of authority and as a result, traffic you need to put time and money into Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Domain names are as important as other capital assets that like equipment, vehicles and buildings that can be paid for over time. The domain lessee can operate the domain names while they are earning the revenue to pay for the lease payments. With a domain purchased on payments you control the ultimate cost of the best domain name, and have it form the start of your business.


Right now many domain names are available to purchase by click the more details page and following the link to the dan.com website,, when applicable.

Furthermore, despite there being such a wide variety of domains to choose from it can be incredibly difficult to find the perfect domain name for your business, brand or personal project.

This is where alternative options for obtaining a domain come into play and today we are going to focus on the concept of a domain lease, also referred to as renting a domain. In much the same way as leasing a car or property for your business, it presents some significant benefits that may make it a much better option compared with the traditional approach to web domains.

Read on to find out more about leasing a domain and whether it is suitable for your individual requirements.

 

What do we mean by a domain lease and what are the benefits of this approach

We’ve already touched on a useful analogy when trying to describe the concept of a domain lease. When we need an office or retail store for our business, we generally have two choices: to buy it or to lease it.

This is the exact same idea with a domain. You can either purchase one from a domain registrar and then build up the domain’s authority from scratch, or you can lease the domain from its owner.

There are some fantastic benefits to exploring this option and we will go on to list those in the next section. These benefits have made domain leasing such a popular option that many domain platforms like Cloudname allow you to not only buy and sell domains but rent them too. There are also specialist domain leasing websites dedicated to this offering and the most popular is Venture.com

 

What are the benefits of domain leasing

With every decision we make, there are both pros and cons to consider. When it comes to domain leasing, there are some truly interesting benefits that you need to be aware of.

The benefits are not just for the small guy who may have limited funds, larger organisations and tech start-ups also often opt for this approach. You can explore this article to see how two dynamic NFT projects chose to go down the route of a domain lease.

 

Minimise expenses at the start

To truly develop a domain from nothing, it does take an investment in time and money. For many start-ups or smaller businesses, cash flow can be a challenge and it can be a significant help to save money on domains.

By leasing a domain, you can reduce the outgoings at the start and be able to fairly accurately forecast expenditure moving forward as you will have an agreement in place with the owner of the domain.

 

Existing authority and traffic

Many owners of domains will put money into making their domain rank highly on SERPs for certain keywords. This is because it will be more desirable to those looking for a domain and increase the amount they can charge.

As a result, this means that when you lease a domain it is likely to come with a degree of authority and SEO already in place. You can start generating an income or brand awareness from the domain much quicker than if you buy a brand new one.

 

Get a premium domain name

With growing competition for space in the online community, it can be challenging to find your preferred domain. Whilst new TLDs are being added into the mix, which expands the pool of domains the premium ones get snapped up very quickly.

By leasing a domain, you may well be able to find that perfect domain name or at least a more relevant one for the industry or location you operate in.

 

Brand continuity

A website is just one extension of a brand, along with physical stores, social media channels, emails and more. As a result, finding the most suitable domain can play a big part in maximising brand awareness and brand continuity.

If your domain isn’t available to buy, but it can be leased then this might be more beneficial to you from a brand perspective compared to owning a domain.

 

Are there potential disadvantages to leasing a domain?

Yes, the short answer is there are disadvantages to choosing a domain lease. This doesn’t mean it is the wrong choice for people but it does mean you need to balance the risk against the reward.

 

Some of the potential disadvantages include:

  • Lack of control: If the owner decides not to renew the agreement or shuts down for some reason then this could cause significant issues for your business or personal project. You may have spent a long time building up brand awareness and engagement, only to find you can’t continue using the well-known domain name.
  • Not investing in an asset: Whilst you reduce the liability by not owning the domain, you are not investing in an asset because it doesn’t belong to you. In much the same way as renting a property as opposed to owning one.
  • Over time it can be expensive: For those with limited cash flow, leasing is a fantastic option but over time the money you spend will accumulate. This means it may cost more overall for the domain than if you have bought one and developed it yourself.

How do you lease a domain and what ones are available?

Thankfully, the process required to lease a domain is pretty straight forward and there are a lot of places to choose from.

If you visit a marketplace like Cloudname and search through the list of domains, you will be able to see whether they have been listed for sale and/or rent. You simply select the one that you wish to go for and then follow the steps on the screen.

When you choose to lease a domain, make sure that you take a moment to do the following:

 

  • Check the terms and conditions of the lease to fully understand the costs, duration and liabilities.
  • Shop around to make sure that it is the best option for you in terms of domain name and price.
  • Consider all purchasing options before committing to the lease and do some research on the owner if you can.

What domains are available to lease?

Firstly, any type of domain can be leased to others by the owner. No matter whether it is a traditional .com domain or a modern NFT domain they all can be traded in this way.

However, what is important to note is that not every owner will choose to do this. They may prefer to sell it outright because that suits their investment plans, or they wish to tokenize a domain. 

There is a degree of luck involved that you will find your perfect domain available when you need it, but with such a dynamic marketplace there is a good chance you will find a suitable domain to lease.

 

What other options for there for getting a domain?

We’ve focused on a domain lease in this article but it is important to remember there are other ways to obtain the perfect domain for your business or investment portfolio. You can find more information about these topics in our blog section, but please read on for a summary of three potential alternatives.

 

Buy a brand new domain

You can explore the many web domain registrars out there like GoDaddy or Ionos and find an unused domain. Once you have purchased this, you will have to pay renewal fees each year but you then have full control over what you do with it and another owner can’t take it away.

This is the traditional approach and still a very popular option, particularly if you have the knowledge to optimise a website or the funds to do so.

 

Buy an established domain

One of the reasons why we developed the first truly all-in-one domain trading platform is that many people out there wish to buy established domains. Whether it is part of an investment portfolio or as a way to expand their business it presents a great way to enter the market quickly without having to wait for a domain to develop over time.

You can buy these domains with a range of currencies including cryptocurrency with Cloudname so check out our marketplace for more details.

 

Invest in a tokenized domain

If you’re looking to build up a portfolio of investments in domains, then this option is a fantastic way to go about it. As highlighted in this article, a domain can be fractionalized so that instead of trying to sell it for $100,000, someone could sell 100 shares of it for $1000 each.

This presents you with an affordable way to obtain a share of a website and its value.

 

Cloudname is the innovative platform for online domain trading. Discover the world of cloudname and everything you didn’t know about domain trading.

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How does it work?

On 28/01/2023 a whitelist of eligible wallets will be published (any wallet holding $CNAME since before 27/01/2023 – NOTE: the tokens needs to be in a WALLET and not for example in an exchange)

Whitelisted users will be able to Redeem $CNAME directly on the Cloudname website.
The application page will allow users to connect their wallet and choose how many $CNAME to redeem.

Once the $CNAME are sent, users will immediately receive an email with a Freename promo code. Every promo code will be $100 max, and is not cumulative  (e.g. if you redeem $1,000 in $CNAME, you will receive 10x $100 promo-codes)

Happy Web3 TLDs and Domains Shopping!