What to check before choosing a domain
The domain should be short, easy to hear, and easy to type on a phone. If your company name is long, shorten it to the memorable part.
Check whether the domain is available in common zones for your market. Some businesses register multiple extensions at once to prevent competitors from taking variants. For e-commerce and local businesses, your local country extension usually works better - it's easier to print on a business card and requires no explanation.
Look up the domain's history through Wayback Machine or search engine webmaster tools. If the domain previously belonged to another site and got hit with search penalties for spam or manipulation, your new site will inherit those sanctions. A clean history means the domain was either never used or hosted a normal site with no penalties.
Don't register a domain with hyphens or awkward transliterations if you can write it more clearly. A customer won't remember where exactly the hyphen was and will end up on someone else's site.
Who should own the domain and why it matters
The domain should be registered to you - your name or your company. If the domain is registered to a contractor, designer, or someone who once helped with the site, you are not the owner. Legally, the domain belongs to whoever's details are listed in the WHOIS record.
In practice, we've seen dozens of situations where a business lost its domain because the contractor disappeared, didn't answer the phone, or simply forgot to renew. In the worst cases, they held the domain hostage and demanded extra payment. You can recover a domain through court, but it's slow and expensive.
If a contractor is building your site, ask them to register the domain under your details from the start. You can give them access to manage DNS settings, but you should be the owner.
Where to register a domain
Register your domain with a large, established registrar. Small platforms can shut down or stop responding to requests. Large registrars have support teams, simple interfaces, and auto-renewal.
Don't register a domain through a website builder if you plan to move to another platform later. The domain will stay tied to their system, and transferring it out can be harder than if you'd bought it separately.
Pay attention to the renewal price, not just the first-year price. Many registrars offer domains cheap in the first year, then charge several times more for renewal. That figure is listed in the registrar's pricing page - check it before you buy.
How not to forget to renew your domain
Turn on auto-renewal right after registration. It charges your card or account balance automatically a month before expiration.
Link the account to a work email you check every day, not an old Gmail you open twice a year. The registrar sends reminders, but if you don't see them, they're useless.
Renew the domain for several years at once. It's cheaper than paying every year and eliminates the risk of forgetting. We usually go with three years for commercial projects.
If the domain does expire, you have 30 days to renew at the normal price. After that comes the penalty period - renewal will cost several times more. After 60-90 days, the domain goes back on the open market and anyone can take it.
What to do if you've lost a domain
If the term has expired and the domain is already in the penalty period, pay the restoration fee. Yes, it's expensive - anywhere from $50 to $150 - but it's still cheaper than losing a site with history and search rankings.
If the domain has gone back on the open market and someone else grabbed it, getting it back is nearly impossible. You can try contacting the new owner through WHOIS and negotiating a buyout, but the price will be whatever they want.
That's why we always remind clients to check who owns the domain and whether auto-renewal is on, even at the site launch stage. It takes five minutes but saves a world of trouble.
Should you buy similar domains
If your brand is well-known or easily confused with another word, it makes sense to register domains with typos and spelling variants. It's cheap - a few dollars a year per domain - and protects you from customers landing on a competitor's site.
For a small business, this isn't critical. If you're a local studio or shop, register one main domain and don't waste budget on a dozen variants.
Same story with domains in other zones (.com, .net, etc.). If your audience is only in your home country and you're not planning to go international, your local extension is enough.
How to check that the domain is registered to you
Log into your registrar account and open the "My Domains" section. Your domain should be there, and the "Administrator" or "Owner" line should show your details - name, company tax ID if applicable.
If you don't know where the domain is registered, check the WHOIS through any public lookup service. It will show the registrar and the owner's contact details.
If the details belong to someone else but the site is already running, contact whoever registered the domain and ask them to transfer it to you. Domain transfer usually costs a small fee and takes a few days.
What we do with client domains
When we build a site, we immediately ask the client to register the domain under their own name, or we offer to help with registration - but always under the client's details. We get access to configure DNS and connect the site, but the client remains the owner.
If a client comes to us with an existing domain, the first thing we check is who owns it and when it expires. We've had cases where the domain was expiring in two weeks and the client had no idea.
A domain is a business asset. Register it under your own name, turn on auto-renewal, use a reliable registrar. Check right now who owns your domain and when it expires - it takes three minutes.
Frequently asked
Can you change a site's domain later?
You can, but it hurts. You'll lose search rankings, you'll need to set up redirects from the old domain to the new one, and you'll have to redo all your advertising. So choose a domain once and for the long term.
What's better - a local extension or an international one?
For a business operating in one country, use your local country extension. It's easier to print on business cards, more familiar to customers, and raises no questions. You can register an international variant as well to keep someone else from taking it, but don't make it your primary domain.
How much does a domain cost?
Registration runs from a few dollars to around $15 a year depending on the zone and registrar promotions. Renewal is usually more expensive than the first year. Check the renewal price in advance - it's listed in the pricing.
If a domain is taken, can you buy it out?
You can try. Find the owner through WHOIS and offer to buy. The price will be whatever they want - from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars if the owner understands the domain's value. It's often easier to choose a different one.