It used to be so simple (if expensive) - domains could only be registered for a flat 2-year period, at $50 per year. Life became more complicated when the price dropped to $35 per year and one year registrations were introduced.

Now, you can register a domain name in one of the main extensions (.com, .net and .org) for as little as $6.50 per year in volume! Yet other sites still charge prices closer to $35 per year (and in a few extreme cases, more still).

So what's the story?

Well, when a domain name is registered, a fee is due to the Registry (the database of all domain names maintained by a non-profit organization). This fee is around $5 per year, though the exact amount is hard to come by.

This is the base cost of a domain name. Now, each registrar adds a margin to pay their costs and make a profit. This margin depends partly on the level of automation of the registrar and their additional services.

Some of the most expensive registrations are via Network Solutions, the company that initially had a monopoly on domain name sales. They have the advantage of familiarity and an established base of millions of customers. At the other end of the scale, a company such as BulkRegister, for instance, offers registrations for $10 a year or less in volume.

A domain name is a domain name registration is a domain name registration...

Fundamentally, no matter which registrar you end up using, what you end up with is a domain name which is registered in your name. There is no such thing as a "better quality registration" - your name is either yours (i.e. recorded as being under your control in the central database of all domain name records) or it isn't.

Having said that, the service (before, during and after registering a domain name) offered by each registrar can vary quite a bit. Some registrars provide you with tools to help you research the domain name you want to buy; some expect you to have the exact domain decided beforehand. Some registrars process registrations in real time, within a few seconds; some can take 24 hours or longer to process a registration. Some accept payment by check; most only take credit cards. Some allow you to pay for registrations for periods between 1 and 10 years; some restrict you to paying for a 2-year registration. Some let you easily edit the information associated with your domain name; some insist on a legally notarized document before they make any changes.

And the list goes on... some of the other distinguishing features of registrars include:-

• Do they supply access to 2 DNS servers, or require that you have your own servers?

• Will they automatically send you multiple reminders when your domain names are about to expire - and is there a "grace period" after your names have expired before you lose them?

• Do they offer additional services, such as one or more email addresses using your new domain (you@domain.com) or domain name redirection (the ability to send people to your existing website when they type in your domain name)?

• Do they provide you with a free "Coming soon" or "Under construction" page, or does an unused domain name not point anywhere (or point at their site)?

The above is not an exhaustive list, but is meant to provide you with some guidelines when researching domain names. This site does not recommend specific registrars, though a list of many well-known registrars is available in the Resources section.

My country cheap or expensive

Note that so far we've only talked about the generic .com, .net and .org domains. For a country domain (.co.uk, .it, .cc, .fr etc.) you could pay anything from $5 to $2,500+. Each country has its own minimum fee structure, rules and regulations - and most have many competing registrars, each with their own pricing systems...

Now that you know approximately how much that new domain name is going to impact your wallet, you can start researching available domain names using this site's handy search tool.

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