How to Buy a Domain Name (Without Overpaying on Renewal)
Pick a good name, choose the right ending, buy from a registrar that doesn't double the price in year two, and avoid the upsells. Step by step.
A domain name is your address on the internet, like devsmithtools.com. Buying one takes five minutes. Buying one well means avoiding a few traps that cost people money for years.
Step 1: Choose a good name
- Short and easy to say. If you have to spell it out over the phone, it's too complicated.
- No hyphens or numbers if you can avoid them. People forget them.
- Avoid trademarks.
nike-shoes-deals.comis asking for a legal letter. - Say it out loud. Some names accidentally spell something unfortunate when the words run together.
- Check social handles at the same time, so your brand matches everywhere.
Step 2: Choose the ending (TLD)
- .com is still the most trusted and memorable. Get it if you can.
- Country endings like
.co.uk,.lkor.deare great if you serve one country. - .io, .dev, .app are popular for tech projects. Note that
.devand.apprequire HTTPS, which most hosts give you free anyway. - Be wary of very cheap unusual endings. Some have bad reputations with email spam filters.
Step 3: Pick a registrar with honest renewal prices
Like hosting, many registrars offer a cheap first year and a pricier renewal. Look at the renewal price.
From a 2026 comparison of .com prices:
| Registrar | First year | Renewal |
|---|---|---|
 Cloudflare |
About $10.46 | About $10.46 |
 Porkbun |
About $11.08 | About $11.08 |
 Namecheap |
About $11 | Noticeably higher (around $15 to $19) |
Cloudflare sells domains at cost, with no markup. The catch: your domain has to use Cloudflare's DNS. For most sites, that's actually a plus.
Porkbun is close to at-cost, with free WHOIS privacy and a friendly interface.
More detail in the best domain registrars.
Step 4: Skip the upsells
At checkout, you'll be offered a lot. Most you don't need:
- WHOIS privacy: should be free. Don't pay for it.
- "Premium DNS": not needed for most sites.
- Website builders, email and hosting bundles: decide separately; don't impulse-buy.
- Buying every other ending (.net, .org, .co): only if your brand truly needs protection.
Step 5: Protect it
- Turn on auto-renew. Expired domains get snapped up by squatters within days.
- Keep the card on file current.
- Turn on two-factor authentication on your registrar account. A hijacked domain means a hijacked website and email. See how to set up 2FA.
- Use an email address you'll keep for years as the account contact.
Step 6: Connect it
Point the domain to your website host by updating the DNS records or nameservers, which your host will explain. If you're starting a site from scratch, see how to start a blog or how to host a website for free.
