Domains
Domain names, from registering your first one to keeping control of it
How do I register and manage a domain name?
A domain name is your website's address, rented from a registrar one year at a time. To get one, search for an available name, register it, and point its DNS at your host. Protect it by turning on WHOIS privacy, enabling auto-renew so it never lapses, and locking it against unauthorized transfers. You own the registration as long as you keep renewing it.
Registering, renewing, and transferring
You do not buy a domain outright; you register the exclusive right to use it for a period, usually one to ten years, and renew to keep it. Registration is handled by a registrar, and the same name costs vary between them, so it is worth comparing, especially the renewal price rather than just the first-year promo. Once registered, you point the domain at your hosting by setting its name servers or DNS records, and your site goes live under that name.
Transferring a domain moves it from one registrar to another, which people do to consolidate names or get a better price or control panel. A transfer requires unlocking the domain at the current registrar, getting an authorization (EPP) code, and confirming the move, and most registrars will not allow a transfer within 60 days of registration or a previous transfer. Bulk registration and bulk transfer tools exist for managing many domains at once.
Privacy, redirection, and staying in control
When you register a domain, your contact details can appear in the public WHOIS directory. Domain privacy protection (also called WHOIS privacy) replaces your name, address, email, and phone with the privacy service's details, which sharply cuts the spam and unwanted contact that scraped WHOIS data attracts. For a personal site it is a sensible default; many people consider it worth having on every domain they own.
Two habits keep a domain safely yours. First, turn on auto-renew and keep a valid payment method on file, because a lapsed domain can be snapped up by someone else, sometimes within days. Second, enable the registrar lock that blocks transfers you did not request. Domain redirection (pointing one domain at another, or a naked domain to its www version) is a separate setting in your control panel and is useful for funnelling several names to one site.
What to check
What to look for
- Compare the renewal price. First-year promos differ from long-term cost; check what each registrar charges to renew.
- Turn on WHOIS privacy. Privacy protection hides your personal contact details from the public WHOIS directory and cuts spam.
- Enable auto-renew. A lapsed domain can be taken by someone else fast; auto-renew and a valid card prevent that.
- Lock against transfers. Registrar lock blocks transfers you did not authorize, protecting you from domain hijacking.
- Keep your contact email current. Renewal and transfer notices go to your registrant email; an outdated address can cost you the domain.
Act on this
Tools to act on this guide
Each slot below is reserved for a host, registrar, or tool we would use ourselves. We are adding them as we vet them; nothing here is a paid placement.
Primary module to check and register a name.
Privacy protection offer alongside registration.
For moving an existing domain in.
Questions