Your website needs a domain if you want people to visit it.
Continue reading if you don’t want to pay for a domain name.
Your website is located on the internet at its domain name. In your browser, you can see that I utilize stagemeet.com.
You desire a different option. something that belongs to you.
In this article, I’ll show you how to purchase a domain name that fits your company’s brand and builds your online presence for no cost.
This has been as basic as I could make it. If you are unfamiliar with this, don’t worry. Simply follow the instructions, and you’ll have a free domain name in no time.
The Two Minute Cheat Sheet –
Want to know the quickest way to receive a free domain name? I’ll get right to it.
You will require a web hosting business if you want to build a website or start a blog. I recommend Hostinger when it comes to selecting among the many possibilities accessible.
The business not only delivers fantastic speed and up-time dependability, but it also provides a free domain name for the first year.
With Hostinger, you can set up your domain and hosting all at once. The domain name is free, but you still have to pay for hosting.
After that, you’ll be all set with hosting, a domain, and a fundamental website.
If money is particularly limited right now, you can also think about using a free subdomain.
This is where website builders like Wix and WordPress are useful. The only drawback is that you’ll have something like yourusername.wixsite.com/yoursiteaddress or yourdomainname.wordpress.com instead of a straightforward.com site like sitesurface.com.
This is not the best scenario. But if you want to test out the website builder’s free capabilities, it might be a good option.
Don’t worry, though, if clean.com is a deal-breaker. Setting up an account with Hostinger and obtaining your free domain is as easy as it gets.
Continue reading to learn how to secure a free domain name for your website in three simple steps.
- Go to Hostinger’s Website
- Select Your Hosting Type
- Claim Your Free Domain
With Hostinger, you can complete all of these tasks in a single location. I’ll go over some of your other possibilities, but you might have to communicate with several vendors to complete everything.
Go to Hostinger’s Website
You must visit Hostinger as your very first action.
Conveniently, my advice is already built onto that checkout page. You will receive premium shared hosting, the cheapest package that also comes with a free domain name.
For the best rate, choose the longest term, is my advice. You may lock in highly appealing pricing of approx $2.59 per month if you agree to a four-year hosting contract upfront.
Check out the add-ons listed to see if any of them will be helpful to you. Even while none of them are strictly necessary, they all provide useful features and are fairly priced, such as daily backups and priority support.
You can then move on to set up after entering your payment information and clicking Submit Secure Payment.
Step 2: Select Your Hosting Type
You will need to choose the Premium shared hosting plan from various hosting plans.
However, you might choose a different choice if you require something more potent.
Learn more about the many hosting options available here, including which one is ideal for your circumstances:
Shared Web Hosting
The best hosting option for beginners building a new website is shared hosting.
They are affordable and can readily handle lesser traffic quantities. Everyone saves money by sharing resources by having their websites housed on the same server as other websites.
The best analogy for shared hosting is renting an apartment. You don’t have to worry about building maintenance, and it’s more economical than owning your own home.
The sole drawback of shared hosting is the possibility of one website using the bulk of resources on a shared server, which would negatively impact your website’s performance.
However, shared hosting is usually always the ideal place to start if you’re just getting started and don’t expect a lot of traffic.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting is designed for expanding websites that require greater performance and speed.
A virtual private server is referred to by the acronym VPS. You are not sharing any resources, even if you are still on the same server as other websites. With VPS plans, you can be sure that a portion of the resources on a single server will only be used for your website.
It’s a fantastic alternative for websites that need more specialized server control without having to purchase their server. It also performs admirably for websites that experience regular traffic peaks.
Cloud Hosting
Better site performance is available with cloud hosting at a reasonable price.
Even if you’re sharing numerous servers rather than just one, you’re still sharing resources with other websites. This ensures that no single server or website uses up all the resources, allowing your site to continue operating at a high level.
A step up from shared hosting is cloud hosting. Additionally, it has better up-time and site speed reliability.
Dedicated Server Hosting
The most expensive option is dedicated server hosting, which is the best choice.
You have exclusive access to a single server thanks to it. Nobody else is getting access to it except you.
Only large enterprises with high traffic levels can benefit from dedicated servers. Additionally, it allows you total control over server-level changes and your hosting environment.
Claim Your Free Domain
You’ll be sent to your Hostinger control panel, hPanel, after completing checkout and payment.
There, a button to claim your free domain will be prominently displayed for you to select.
To look for the domain name of your choice, click Claim Domain. Click the purple box next to it when you find it.
I’d advise you to choose the a.com extension because it makes you appear more credible to your visitors and more professional.
If a .com extension is already occupied and you are certain that you want the name, then and only then would I explore a different domain extension.
Small blogs, personal websites, and side enterprises may be able to save some money by choosing an alternate extension, but having a .com domain is crucial for corporations.
You will then only need to provide a few pieces of basic information to register it. Complete the form and send it. After verifying your registration information, Hostinger will send you an email with a link to finish the verification.
You are now ready to register for your free domain name!
There is one more thing I strongly advise!
Make sure WHOIS protection is enabled. You’ll be directed to the part of your dashboard for your new domain name once you’ve finished the verification process. The slider button under WHOIS Privacy may then be found; simply click it to make it purple and enabled.
By doing this, you can prevent the public database from seeing your name, email, phone number, and address.
You’re done now!
You currently have a great hosting package and a free domain. If you haven’t already, visit Hostinger and get going right away.
Other Ways to Get a Free Domain
I’ll also go through two additional strategies for getting a free domain to be thorough. Even though I don’t advise them, it’s always beneficial to be aware of your options.
- Use a free domain registrar (not recommended)
- Get a free subdomain
Below, I’ll go into further depth about each of these techniques and why I don’t endorse them.
Method 1: Use a Free Domain Name Registrar (Not Recommended)
Free domain names are available from free domain registrars, however they are typically inappropriate.
The truly free domains, as you can see, have unusual extensions. For instance, .tk will be returned instead of.com.
Instead of using yourbusiness.tk, your potential customers would much rather work with yourbusiness.com. Additionally, a .com is considerably simpler to remember than a domain extension that is unfamiliar to most people.
Additionally, the fact that you don’t own the domain name makes starting a blog or website pointless.
If you do choose to go this route, you can check out Dot TK, Freenom, and GetFreeDomain.Name.
In exchange for placing advertisements on your website, many domain registrars will provide you with a free domain. Running advertisements is perfectly OK, however, this isn’t the best approach.
You do not influence the advertisements, including the type that plays, how long they run, etc. Your website’s visitors might not have the optimal experience as a result. Even worse, this can lower your SEO ranking.
Even if you take a more upbeat view of the situation, it still isn’t feasible.
Let’s say your website receives a lot of traffic and the ads are viewed one million times. You only get a free domain from those advertising; you won’t get paid at all.
Unfair, don’t you think?
It can be a tremendous source of cash, so if you’re truly considering putting ads on your website, I’d suggest doing it through an established advertising network. Never trade advertisements for a free domain.
Method 2: Get a Free Subdomain
Subdomains, which are private domains contained within existing domain names, are a feature provided by many website builders.
Do you recall the scene in the movie Inception where Leonardo DiCaprio believes he is dreaming? Here, something similar occurs.
In the end, you obtain a domain name inside another domain name.
Users of website builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly have access to subdomains. They also provide a free trial, so if you decide you like their services, you can buy one of their premium plans, which come with everything you need to create, publish, and maintain an expert company website.
You get a free domain name in addition to the many benefits offered, which include a drag-and-drop site builder, web hosting, templates, and SEO tools.
Why then do I still consider this approach to be imperfect?
Let’s use an example to illustrate this.
Consider using Wix or another free website builder. Yes, you won’t need to pay for a domain, but the Wix subdomain will still be there on your website. It will appear similar to this:
yourusername.wixsite.com/yoursiteaddress
Do you think that comes across as professional? Have you ever seen a trustworthy website with a domain like this?
Because of this, I would only advise using this technique if you wanted to test out some of your website builder’s free features or recent improvements.
The good news is that WordPress, your other choice, is less intrusive than Wix. Yourdomainname.wordpress.com is the format for a free WordPress subdomain.
This is a good choice for circumstances in which one cannot make a purchase, but it is not a long-term solution. You want your domain name to be short and memorable, which using a subdomain makes impossible.
Important: Don’t Forget to Renew Your Domain!
Pay close attention to the term of the domain you first bought. I must emphasize this.
It takes effort to set up a website or blog. Finding the ideal URL, creating a website, and adding pertinent content all took a lot of work.
Just picture the terror when you wake up and learn that an arbitrary stranger has purchased your domain from under you.
The cause? Your domain renewal was a mistake.
Tragic.
This error has been committed by many people in the past, and it has cost them dearly.
For instance, Jeb Bush and his team neglected to renew the domain JebBush.com during one presidential election cycle; as a result, Donald Trump successfully acquired the domain and utilized it to divert Bush’s website traffic to his website for that election. It was a catastrophe that Bush’s team easily might have avoided.
How do you prevent this?
Make a note of your initial term first. Many registrars only offer one-year registrations by default, while some let you purchase five, 10, 20, or even 100 years at the time of purchase.
You don’t have to worry about renewal for a longer period if the longer is your first term. Additionally, you permanently lock in the annual rate.
If you don’t purchase a multi-year term up front, the second and most crucial step is to ensure that the domain renewal date is highlighted in your calendar with a reminder set for around one month beforehand.
By doing so, you can get ready for renewal without having your registration expire.
Additionally, a month’s notice allows you time to analyze the renewal costs provided by your domain registrar. That renewal rate occasionally increases significantly. At least you have a few weeks to think about your options and budget if it turns out to be more than you anticipated.
Last but not least, if money is not an issue, I would advise leaving your domain’s renewal on auto-pilot.
With the majority of providers, you can find the domain expiration date, the renewal price, and an option to turn on auto-renewal on your dashboard. In their services submenu under billing settings, Hostinger makes this simple.
You may set it and forget it with any of the other companies on my list that I have studied and evaluated.
Just be sure to verify the renewal rate for your domain before the deadline approaches to avoid any unpleasant financial shocks if the rate suddenly increases.
Conclusion
The easiest approach to get a free domain name that you won’t have to give up even if you change web hosting is through Hostinger.
The alternative is to use a subdomain with trusted and well-respected website builders like WordPress and Wix.
You’ll receive a free new domain in addition to a dependable web hosting service in a matter of seconds. A few bucks saved won’t be worth the bother of coming out as unprofessional, having a spammy website, or getting hacked.
