For many people, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of starting a new business is to register a domain name.
They know that in order to have a website — and every business needs one — they’ll need a domain name to use as their web address (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk).
But how much do new domain names cost?
For British businesses, the .co.uk or .uk domain name extension is a must.
These are called country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and they’re what many Brits will assume is on the end of your web address. So why not make it easy for them?
You can expect to pay between £ 0.01 and £12.99 per year for a .co.uk or .uk domain.
There are also other location-specific British options like .london. If you have a business in, or website about, London this is a good choice.
There are also some that are a little more fun:
- .wtf (this extension says “You have to see this!”)
- .style (great for lifestyle blogs anywhere in the UK)
- .ninja (perfect for anyone who’s good at what they do)
- .biz (a fun way to say you sell something)
What you put before the dot is entirely up to you.
You may also like: Which domain extension should I use?
Now for the big one: When to opt for .com?
If you’re looking to target a U.S. or even a global audience, then you will want to register a .com domain.
At the time of this writing, you could register a .com for between £ 0.01 and £18.99 for the first year.
This all depends on the domain name, of course — sex.com sold for £9.9 million back in 2010. But check the link above for the latest domain name costs.
You can read all about which is better — .com or .co.uk — here.
Then there's the creative option
People have been using ccTLDs to have a little fun with their domain names.
For example, a clever physiotherapist might register bestphys.io for their web address. The .io domain extension is technically the country-code domain (ccTLD) for the British Indian Ocean Territory. But anyone may register .io domain names.
In fact, .io is quite popular among tech startups. Why? Because "IO" is an abbreviation for input/output, which describes how computers communicate with the world.
The same goes for .me, the ccTLD for Montenegro, and .co (Colombia) — anyone can register them.
- .me would be a great choice for a lifestyle blogger
- .co would be great for anyone who runs a business in Colombia OR those who can't find the .com they want
One live example that I know of is the Aussie food truck location business Wherethetruck.at. (In case you're wondering, .at is the ccTLD for Austria.)
New domain prices vary widely.
For example, while you can get a .uk for less than £ 12.99 per year, domain names ending in .auto are currently selling for £ 1,891.61 for the first year.
The variation in price depends on:
- Market demand
- The length of the domain name (shorter is better)
- If it contains high-value keywords such as “sex”
- Whether there’s a high-traffic website linked to that domain (where the domain goes, the traffic goes, too)
So check here for domain availability and the latest domain name costs.
What makes a good domain name?
First and foremost, a good domain name should be easy for people to remember.
For a UK business, it should end with the .co.uk or .uk domain extension — both are trusted and widely recognised.
For the rest of your domain (i.e. what goes on the other side of the dot), it may be easier to point out what you should avoid:
- Don’t make it too long. You don’t want people having to Google your business (“fish and chips on Greenwich”) because they can’t remember your looong web address.
- Avoid hyphens and numbers. They are complicated to remember — no one ever puts them in the right place.
- Don’t stray too far from your brand. When your audience thinks about your business, you want them to instantly recall your web address. Don’t make them think too hard.
Find the perfect domain name now:
What if my preferred domain name is already taken?
So you’ve realised someone else has already registered the name you want. You now need to be prepared to:
- Spend more to buy it from the owner or
- Let it go and consider another TLD
If the .co.uk or .uk domain you want is parked (in other words, not being used for a website), then you could find out if the person who owns it is willing to sell it.
The first step is to do a WhoIs domain lookup search to find the email of the owner, if possible.
I wouldn’t recommend this for a newbie — if the owner is a professional domain investor, you could be eaten alive.
Use a domain broker instead. Yes it will cost you more than doing it yourself, but the broker will give you a better chance of getting the domain you want and paying less in negotiations.
Why do domain names cost what they do?
While you can expect to pay around £ 12.99 per year for an unreserved .co.uk or .uk domain, the most expensive .co.uk domains sell for as much as £840,000 (for example, cruise.co.uk).
However, the simple answer is, somewhere between £ 0.01 and £12.99 per year.
Although owning a domain is often likened to owning property, the fact is you don’t have the same volume of comparable ‘domain properties’ to anchor the value. Instead, a domain name’s value is much more dependent on what someone is willing to pay for it.
If you’d like to know how much a prospective domain name is worth or if you want to check the estimated value of one you already own, check out GoDaddy’s domain valuation tool.
Beyond that, there are a few factors that will influence how much a domain name costs.
Memorability
If the domain is memorable, users will be more likely to go directly to it by typing it in instead of using a search engine (where they may find themselves ending up somewhere else).
To demonstrate the value of a memorable domain, look at some of the biggest .co.uk domain sales on record, according to NameBio:
- Cruises.co.uk- £821,648
- Cruise.co.uk - £821,648
- Furniture.co.uk - £ 485,608
- Webhosting.co.uk - £ 373,545
- Phones.co.uk - £ 257,529
You'll notice that all of these domain names are short, which makes them easy to remember. Some are keywords that people type in when looking for a particular product or service — cruises, for example.
Certain domain names are more expensive simply because they’re considered more valuable. These are often referred to as Premium domain names and you can read more about them here.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Google and other search engines still index the web using website addresses or URLs. They use links from other sites to URLs as an influential ranking factor.
The more high-quality links a domain name has pointing to it, the more valuable it is.
So when you buy an existing domain that’s been used for a website, you will be buying a potential treasure-trove of inbound links coming to your domain. This should (in theory) give you a head start in establishing your business’ visibility in search results.
There are metrics that SEO professionals use to assess the value of a domain — the most popular metric is one called Domain Authority. If you want to check a website for this metric (and many more) to get an idea of its SEO value, check out the shortlist metrics tool.
Branding
It’s a great idea to stick close to your business name when choosing a domain name. Not only does this make it easier to recall, but it also protects your brand.
You don’t want others snapping up YourBusinessName.co.uk and sharking your customers.
This is another factor influencing the cost of a domain name.
For example, if a big brand has long-term plans of moving into new markets, then they will register the specific TLDs for each market.
If they are looking at expanding services, then they’ll also have a range of different domains specific to the service. Hence:
- https://www.amazon.ca
- https://www.amazon.co.uk
- https://www.amazon.com.au
Owning all the domain names associated with your soon-to-be-an-empire business is smart.
Wrapping up
Whether you’re starting a new business or rebranding, you will always have domain name and TLD options.
If you want a cheap domain, then buying one that is already available is the way to go, in terms of upfront costs.
However, if you can’t find a memorable domain name that contains your business name or brand, keep an open mind about buying an already registered domain.
Understand what value it will provide in terms of likely customers being able to recall it easily, if you will receive any SEO benefits or if you are ultimately protecting your brand.
The information contained in this blog post is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement or advice from GoDaddy on any subject matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? The answers might be here.
How do I permanently buy a domain name?
Unfortunately, you can’t buy a domain permanently. Domain registration is done on a yearly basis, with one year being the minimum. The maximum renewal period for .uk domains is 10 years.
Whilst you can’t buy a domain permanently, you can register it for the maximum period and put it on auto-renew.
Simply make sure your payment method stays up-to-date and the domain will remain in your name for as long as you like.
How much is a domain in the UK?
It depends on the extension you choose to buy.
For the traditional .co.uk and .uk domains, expect to pay between £ 0.01 and £12.99 for the first year, whilst .com domain registrations currently start from between £0.01 and £18.99 per year (first year). Other niche TLDs range in price.
How do I find out if my domain is valuable?
GoDaddy has a free domain appraisal tool. Simply enter your domain and we’ll calculate its estimated value based on similar domain sales and other factors, including the character length.
How do I find out who owns a domain?
Check out our WhoIs domain lookup tool. The results will show you:
- Which company is the domain registrar (GoDaddy for example)
- Who the owns it (the registrant)
- Contact details and more
If the owner has domain privacy protection, you won’t be able to see their name or personal details.
To approach them about buying/selling, you’ll have to go through the registrar. Look for a link entitled Contact Domain Holder at the bottom of GoDaddy's WhoIs listing for any domain name you're curious about.
Can I purchase any domain extension?
Some domains will have restrictions placed on them. The obvious ones are .gov and .edu — these are restricted to official government and educational institutions.
But aside from those, many are available to anyone. This includes some country-level TLDs such as .at in the wheresthetruck.at example above. In this case, an Aussie business is using the Austrian extension (.at) because the word "at" is part of their business name.
Can anyone buy a .co.uk or .uk domain name?
With some ccTLDS like .ca for Canada, for example, only citizens and businesses with a presence in the country can register the domain. However, there are no restrictions on .co.uk and .uk.
