Domain Names: What? Why? And most importantly – how much for?
Yes, we know all these cyber-related jargons can be very hard to understand and gets even harder when you must apply the same for your business. Also, with so many different domain service providers available in today’s time, how do you know which one is better, or who provides the most reasonable and feasible products? Moreover, does low-cost have to mean compromising on the quality of the product? Too many questions! Not to worry, we are here to solve this once and for all!
However, before we get into the nitty-gritties related to the cost of a domain, let’s first clear the concept of what a domain really is and why is it so important to have one!
What is a domain name?
A domain name is like the address of your website. Once you register a domain, you get sole ownership and rights to that name and no one else can use it. It is totally exclusive to you. An online identity of sorts if you will.
In today’s age of increasing presence of social media in everybody’s lives, it is of utmost importance to have your business online. So much so, as a matter of fact, that your business is almost invisible in absence of an online identity or to be very specific, a domain!
For more information on a domain name, head to our previous blog —-blog post link—-
Why is a domain name important?
- A domain name adds credibility to your business: Having a domain name gives an impression that you mean business and most importantly, that you are not faking it!
- A domain name means you are progressive: You have a domain name, that means you are pretty tech-savvy and are adaptive to the changing times. That immediately makes you sound modern and developed.
- The right domain attracts steady business: An interesting sounding domain name attracts traffic on your website which leads to steady business. It also helps in attracting a lot of walk-in customers.
- A domain name builds your business as a brand: A domain name ensures a worldwide presence for your business. As your business begins to grow, it starts to develop as a strong personality and starts to emerge as a brand.
- A short, crisp domain ensures a successful internet presence: A good domain name has to be crisp, short and most importantly should have an impressive recall. Only then will your brand be remembered. A lengthy, grammatically incorrect and unrelated (to your business) domain name only leads to confusion and irritation in the mind of the customer. In most cases, it also makes it very hard to find your domain on the web. No one likes to waste their time. The potential customers will just move to the next best business instead.
How much does it cost to buy a domain?
Starting a website can be completely free of cost. But if you expect any kind of response on your webpage – be it in terms of revenue or customers – you need to loosen your purse strings.
So, what are the costs attached with starting a website? Well, the bare minimum you will need is a domain name and web hosting. Depending on the type of domain, the prices obviously vary.
You can either buy a brand new domain, or purchase one that’s been registered for a while.
With BigRock, a domain can cost you from as less as Rs. 99 to Rs. 1,499 a year, depending on your registrar and TLD (Top-level domain).
Here’s a list of the TLDs available with BigRock and their costs:
| Domain Name | Registration/year | Renewals/year | Transfers/year |
| .com | Rs. 599 | Rs. 679 | Rs. 639 |
| .net | Rs. 639 | Rs. 589 | Rs. 549 |
| .in | Rs.449 | Rs. 584 | Rs. 499 |
| .online | Rs. 99 | Rs. 1099 | Rs. 2,704 |
| .biz | Rs. 749 | Rs. 649 | Rs. 609 |
| .store | Rs. 199 | Rs. 4433 | Rs. 4,432 |
| .me | Rs. 749 | Rs. 859 | Rs. 849 |
| .website | Rs. 99 | Rs. 799 | Rs. 819 |
| .co | Rs. 1500 | Rs. 1599 | Rs. 1,549 |
There is a list of other domain extensions provided by BigRock. You can check the complete list and their prices here: https://www.bigrock.in/domain-registration/domain-registration-price.php
Apart from a domain name, the second most basic thing that you need for your website is web hosting. While a shared web hosting is pretty sufficient for a new business, it becomes very imperative to switch to a private server as the traffic on your website starts to grow.
Since there are so many options available at your disposal, it is difficult to arrive at a decision. The price will keep fluctuating depending on your needs and budget.
Obviously, the first and best bet will always be on the .com domain extension since it is the most common and easiest to recall and remember. However, the .biz, .net, .co and such extensions are also pretty successful and gaining popularity every day. Also, taking a multi-year service is cheaper than renewing it every year since companies tend to give heavy discounts on multi-year affiliations.
But we’d say, you should decide on your budget and prioritize on which expenses are most essential and which you can curb. Once decided, we are sure it will make your choices simpler.
Also, make sure you choose a domain with a reputed domain registrar like BigRock who are not only providing affordable and quality domain services but also (and very importantly) providing quality customer support.
And lastly…
Why should you not delay in buying a domain name?
Checking domain availability should be the next step if you have zeroed in on the TLD and the expenses you are ready to undertake. As mentioned above, BigRock offers domain names for only Rs.99* for the first year. So, remember to buy a domain name as soon as you have decided a name to avoid the risk of losing out on the perfect name only because you procrastinated.
We hope we’ve been successful in clearing a lot of doubts you may have had about domain names. Domain extensions though is a completely different ballpark and we do intend to cover the various TLDs available in the market in our upcoming posts. Till then, stay tuned and do write in to us for any queries or assistance regarding today’s topic.
