Can You Buy Domain Name Permanently?

You know that feeling when you search the web for hours and cannot find a straight answer to your question?

And when you do find it you feel happy and satisfied like a baby. That’s how I feel when trying to find an answer to the question.

Is it possible to buy a domain name permanently?

No, it’s not possible to buy a domain name permanently. Not even the government can permanently own domain names.

Even companies like Google have to renew domain names every year. And technically you don’t buy a Domain Name, you can only loan it from 1 to 10 years. You rent the domain for a specific time, and you pay monthly fees to the company.

Unless you renew your domain over and over again. It will expire. If it expires and you don’t renew it will become available for purchase for everyone else.

So to own a domain name permanently you need to renew your registration before it expires.

Most registrars offer an auto-renewal option for domain name registration. Options and fees for renewing domain names depending on the registrar where you register the domain.

Renewals occur on an annual basis. And you have to renew it every year or it will expire.

The whole purpose of leasing domain names is to make money from them. So if one day you decide not to pay for a domain name that you own, the domain registrar can resell your domain to someone else and make a profit.

Why domain names are not free?

It cost money to build and maintain the internet, it costs money to configure and host all those servers. So let’s answer that question.

Domain names are a unique product, there can be only one domain name owner for one registered domain name account, each domain name is specific and unique and that’s why people and companies are willing to pay for them.

Each domain name is a website address. So there is demand and supply. The Internet is a business and business makes money.

The registrars who sell domain names have to pay fees monthly to the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) organization responsible for maintaining and administering unique identifiers across the world, without ICANN we wouldn’t have a global internet.

Registrars that sell domain names have to maintain expensive infrastructure, hire workers (network administration specialists), pay fees, and all of that cost a lot of money.

You pay your monthly subscription fees to your internet service provider, which allows you to connect to internet services.

You have to purchase domain names, so you can pay the costs of services provided by the registry.

We pay an annual fee to the registrar for service, routing our domain name to the server, and that cost of work.

But still, is it possible to obtain a Domain Name for free in today’s age? Let’s find out.

How to get a domain name for free?

There are many ways that you can obtain a domain name, but what most of us bothers is the main question.

One of the ways to get domain names for free is through registrars, if you register to host with them, they offer the domain name for FREE. Bluehost, HostGator, DreamHost is some of the registrars that offer free domain name if you sign up for web hosting. Unfortunately, not all registrars propose that option.
Another way is through websites like www.freenom.com or http://www.dot.tk. They offer free and paid domain names. They offer TLD(top-level domain).TK /.ML /.GA /.CF / .GQ. So is up to you if you want to use them or not, check it out.
Some domain registrars allow you to earn your domain by affiliate programs, that’s means if you bring them traffic they offer you free domain name and affiliate commissions.

We should also mention that many registrars offer sales on domain names and promotions so you can get them cheap.

But to be honest paying for a domain name is not so expensive, and they charge you yearly, so if you’re interested in opening an online business, shop, or starting a blog just pay for the domain name and sleep peacefully knowing that you own peace of property in which you invested and which you can sell in the future for profit depending on value.

So let’s see how we can secure our valuable asset.

How Long Should I Buy a Domain Name For?

So we decided to register a domain name and after countless hours looking for we finally found an available one, so we grab our credit card and were ready to pay when a question pop up in our head.

Registrars that register a domain name will propose you different options where you can register a domain from 1 to 10 years. There are advantages and disadvantages to paying for short and long-term leases.

Advantages to buying long term are:

You are own your domain name for a long period, which prevents anyone else from getting it.
When you buy the domain for a longer period you may get a price discount depending on the registrar.
You don’t have to renew it every year.
Buying a domain long-term will build your credibility with Google, it shows that you are serious about your online business and it’s always a good sign.
Help you rank in SEO better, longer-term tells google that you are not a spammer and you are legit in your intentions to have a serious presence in the online world.

Advantages to buying short term are:

It will cost you less money, you pay a small amount every year instead one-time expensive purchase.
You make take advantage of a pricing change, if the registrar decides to raise prices you can always refuse to pay and change the registrar.
You receive renewal messages from the registrar, that remind you of the expiration date and renew the domain name before its expiry.

So why do domain names cost differently?

Domain names are the unique address of your website. There are many reasons why domain name prices differentiate. Domain registrars sell domain names, and they decide on the prices of domain names.

Registrars operate like any other shop, lowering the prices to bring more customers. Before 1995 domain names were free of charge and anyone can own a free domain name. But it’s all changed.

The price of the Domain name depends on many factors. One of them are Domain Extension (.com, .net, .uk, .fr, .org, etc.)

For example TLD (Top Level Domain) .com .org .net .co etc. They all price differently from registrar to registrar, if you buy a new one not owned by no one it will cost you from 10-20 dollars a year depending on the registrar.
Then you have ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain) .co.uk .fr .au .us etc. local area presence. And depending on the registrar its costs from $5-60 a year.
And more recent gTLD (Generic Top Level Domain) .coffee .ninja .wiki .guru, etc., and many more get created every day, and prices from 50-$1000.

The cost of Domain name also depends on Domain Registrar and pricing they offer:

Different registrars will offer different prices just to bring customers, some may offer promotions, low prices, different services, and even free domain names if you sign up for hosting.
It depends on how many years you selected your domain name. For domain names, we pay annually, or we can choose to pay a few years in advance. For example, paying yearly will cost you 12 dollars, and paying 10 years in advance will cost you 120 dollars, so it all depends on your budget.

Another factor that plays an important role in domain name price is Availability:

There are so-called premium domain names, short, memorable names with the most popular extension (.com) most likely bought and registered by someone who now resells it for a high price of $300-100.000 and even more depending on the rarity of the domain. And people and companies are willing to pay for that.
The longer a domain name, the more expensive it will be. This is because longer domain names are more difficult to remember and people are less likely to type it into a search engine, so it’s harder for them to find your site.

In summary, Domain names are not expensive to pay for, and they can be a great investment in the future. If you’re planning to create an online business paying for a domain name long-term is the most beneficial thing to do.

It does not only establish you as a brand online and increase opportunities to grow but also lets you focus on the most important tasks creating your business without worrying that someone else acquires your domain name when it expires.