How to Buy a Domain Name for Your Business (Step by Step)

Short answer

You buy a domain name from a registrar: a company accredited by ICANN to sell names like yourbusiness.com. You search for the name, pay for one or more years, and the name is yours for as long as you keep renewing it.

It takes about ten minutes. The parts that matter are choosing a name you won’t outgrow, registering it in the right name, and knowing what renewal will cost. If you are still deciding where to buy, start with our best domain registrar picks.

Step by step

1. Pick the name

Keep it short, easy to say out loud and easy to spell. If a customer hears it on the phone, they should be able to type it without asking how.

• Prefer .com for a US business. It is what people assume. A .us or .co can work, but expect some visitors to type .com by habit.
• Avoid hyphens and numbers unless they are part of your brand.
• Check trademarks. A quick search on the USPTO trademark database helps you avoid a name that belongs to someone else.
• Check social handles at the same time, so your name matches everywhere.

2. Search for it

Type the name into any registrar’s search box. If it is available, you will see a price. If it is taken, the registrar will suggest variations. Adding your city or main service (“brightsmiledentalnj.com”) is often better than an odd ending.

3. Compare renewal prices, not first-year prices

This is where most people overpay. Registrars often discount the first year, then charge full price after that. Here is what .com names cost at a few registrars, as of October 2026:

Registrar	First year	Renewal (per year)	Privacy
GoDaddy	$2.99 promo (new customers); $12.99 regular	$22.99	Included
Namecheap	$6.48 promo (new customers)	$14.78 (rising to $19.98 on Nov 1, 2026)	Included
Porkbun	$11.08 regular	$11.08	Included
Spaceship	$9.08 regular	$10.18	Included
Cloudflare	At cost (registry + ICANN fee, about $10.46)	At cost	Included

Prices exclude the $0.20 ICANN fee where the registrar adds it separately. Several prices come from a third-party price tracker; check the current price on the registrar’s own site before you buy.

One more thing to know: Verisign, which runs .com, is raising its wholesale price from $10.26 to $10.97 a year on November 1, 2026. Expect registrars that sell close to cost, such as Cloudflare, Porkbun and Spaceship, to adjust. Namecheap has already announced new regular prices of $15.98 to register and $19.98 to renew from that date.

4. Register it in the right name

At checkout you enter the registrant contact. This is the legal owner of the domain.

• Use your business’s legal name as the organization.
• Use an email address you will always control, ideally one not on the domain itself. If the domain lapses, email on that domain stops too.
• Don’t let a web designer or employee register it in their own name. If they leave, getting it back can be hard. If someone helps you, they should use your account and your details.

5. Skip add-ons you don’t need

Checkout pages offer extras: email, SSL, website builders, “premium” DNS. You can add email later, and most hosts include a free SSL certificate. Read more in our guide to SSL certificates. Domain privacy is the one add-on worth having, and most registrars now include it free.

6. Turn on auto-renew and lock the domain

After you pay:

• Turn on auto-renew and keep a valid card on file.
• Make sure transfer lock (sometimes called registrar lock) is on. It stops anyone moving your domain without your say-so.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in for the registrar account.

7. Point it at your website and email

A domain on its own does nothing. You connect it to a host for your website and to an email provider. See best web hosting for small business and business email on your own domain for those next steps.

Common mistakes

Buying on the first-year price. A $3 domain that renews at $23 costs more over five years than an $11 domain that stays at $11. Look at the renewal column.

Registering in someone else’s name. It is a common snag when a business tries to change web designers. The registrant is the owner. Make sure it is you.

Using a personal email that lapses. If the contact email is an old ISP address or an employee’s inbox, you may miss renewal notices and verification emails.

Letting it expire. Expired domains go through grace periods, and getting one back during redemption can carry an extra fee. After that, anyone can register it.

Changing contact details right before a move. Under ICANN’s transfer rules, changing the registrant name, organization or email can trigger a 60-day lock on moving the domain to another registrar. Some registrars let you opt out; not all do. See how to transfer a domain.

Buying every variation. You rarely need the .net, .org and misspellings. Buy the one name you will use, and maybe one close variation if it is cheap.

When to get help

You can do this yourself. Get help if:

• Your domain is held by a former designer, employee or partner and you need it moved into your name.
• You are connecting the domain to a host and email at the same time and don’t want downtime.
• You want to compare registrars before you commit. Our GoDaddy alternatives page covers the main choices and who each suits.

Our take

Buy one clear .com from a registrar whose renewal price you are happy to pay every year. Register it in your business’s name, turn on auto-renew and the transfer lock, and you are done. You can search names on our domain search page, and if you’d rather not deal with the DNS settings, we can get it set up for you.

Questions people ask

How much does a domain name cost?

A .com usually costs about $10 to $23 a year to renew, depending on the registrar. First-year promos can be as low as $3, but the renewal price is what you pay every year after. The .com registry wholesale price rises on November 1, 2026, so expect small increases at most registrars.

Can I buy a domain name forever?

No. You register a domain for 1 to 10 years at a time and renew it. If you let it lapse, someone else can register it after the grace periods end. Auto-renew and a current payment card are the simplest protection.

Should I buy my domain from my web host?

It works, and many hosts include a free domain for the first year. The catch is that renewal can cost more, and your domain and site sit in one account. Some owners keep the domain at a separate registrar so they can change hosts without moving the name.

Do I need domain privacy?

For most small businesses, yes. Privacy hides your personal name, address and phone from public lookup records. Many registrars, including Namecheap, Porkbun, Spaceship, Cloudflare and GoDaddy, now include it at no extra cost on .com names.

What if the domain I want is taken?

Check whether it is in use. If it isn’t, you can try contacting the owner or a broker, but prices vary widely. Often a small change works better: add your city or service, or use a different ending like .co or .us.

Sources

• GoDaddy .COM pricing (DomainOffer tracker)
• Namecheap domain prices (DomainOffer tracker)
• .com price change – November 1, 2026 (Namecheap)
• Porkbun .COM pricing (DomainOffer tracker)
• Spaceship .COM pricing (DomainOffer tracker)
• Buy .com domains with no added fees (Cloudflare)
• .com price increase 2026 (TLDES)
• Domain privacy is changing at Namecheap
• FAQs for Registrants – Transferring Your Domain Name (ICANN)