Buy the Name — But Don’t Buy the Hype
Once you’ve chosen a domain name, it’s time to make it yours. That means registering it through a domain registrar — a company that officially records your ownership of that domain.
You don’t “own” a domain permanently, but you do lease it in blocks (usually 1–10 years at a time), and as long as you renew it on time, it’s yours.
My Recommended Registrar: GoDaddy.com
There are plenty of domain registrars out there. I’ve tried many of them over the years. Some are okay. A few are questionable. But the one I’ve always come back to — and the one I trust most for business-critical domains — is GoDaddy.com.
Why?
- They’ve been around for decades
- Their tools are easy to use
- They don’t sneak in any “we own your content” fine print
- They make it simple to transfer your domain if you ever change your mind
- You stay in full control
That said, GoDaddy is not the cheapest registrar. A standard .com domain can cost you around $18–$20 per year, sometimes more with add-ons. If budget is your top concern, you could find cheaper options — just be careful. A few dollars saved now can cost you hundreds or more in the long run if you’re forced to rebuild your brand elsewhere.
Important: Don’t Accept Any Extras
When you check out on GoDaddy, they will push a lot of extras at you. Skip them all.
Here’s what to ignore:
- ❌ Hosting (we’ll set that up separately — for better features at lower cost)
- ❌ Email (you’ll get unlimited business emails with your hosting plan)
- ❌ Site Builders or Templates (we’re going to use WordPress instead)
- ❌ Paid SSL (your hosting account will include a free one)
These offers sound convenient, but they’re expensive and limited compared to what you’ll get from a real hosting provider. I’ll show you how to avoid hundreds in yearly fees just by skipping these add-ons.
Optional: Add Domain Privacy (Highly Highly Highly Recommended)
The only thing I do recommend adding is domain privacy protection (sometimes called “WHOIS privacy”). It hides your personal contact info (name, phone, email) from public databases.
Without it, spammers and scammers can find out who owns your site and start flooding your inbox. GoDaddy usually charges around $10/year for this, or sometimes includes it free with certain plans.
What Happens After You Register?
You’ll receive a confirmation email and possibly a request to verify your email address.
Be sure to complete that step — or your domain might be suspended by ICANN (the internet’s domain authority).
By the way, I forgot to mention, if you are going to hand off technical support of your domain to a third-party, you will need a second email address–the email address of that third-party. For some this is the way to go–no ongoing tech hassles. However, I recommend NOT transferring technical control into someone else’s hands. Why would you want someone other than yourself having control to move your domain or shut it down, or do anything else without your control? To me that does not make sense. However, if you are mega busy or absolutely hate tech hassles, I get it. Have your tech ‘nerd’ receive all emails of what is happening with your domain behind the scenes so you do not have to deal with that ‘stuff.’ You will lose a measure of control, though.
Once that’s done, you’ll be ready to connect your domain to your hosting account — the next step in launching your real business website.