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NameCheap.com – excellent domain names at great value prices
So, you’re looking for a new domain?
After you’ve bought your domain, see my tutorial “How to point a domain to your web host – step-by-step guide” for the next steps to take.
I’m guessing that if you’re anything like me, you want a domain with the cheapest initial price and the lowest renewal price.
Well, you’re at the right place.
Having checked out several domain registrars, I recently came across NameCheap.com.
And nowadays, that’s where I buy all my domains .
Why?
Because they’re competitively priced and, if you need help, you’ll find their customer support is excellent.
I totally recommend NameCheap – the LiveChat customer support is responsive, helpful and patient.
What is NameCheap?
NameCheap was started in 2000 by Richard Kirkendall, aiming to provide “value-priced domains with stellar service”.
It’s since become a leading ICANN-accredited domain name registrar and web hosting company with about 2 million customers and more than 5 million domains under its management.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to buy a domain and register it with NameCheap, with included bonus promo code!
How to buy a domain and register it with NameCheap
First, go to NameCheap.com’s website.
Next, jot down these promo codes to save even more money during the months of July and August 2016:
– use the code: SUMMERTIME for 10% off registrations/transfers of .com, .net, .org, .info and .biz domain extensions
– use the code: SUNANDFUN for 20% off shared hosting
Ok, let’s start the tutorial….
- the NameCheap home page is usually set up ready for searching a domain name
If it’s not set up, then go to the header menu and select Domains, Registration and type in the domain name you’d like to buy -
TIP: regardless of which domain registrar you use, always check the renewal price.
click “Search”
- now it’s time to choose the domain extension (eg, .com, .org, .xyz etc). Click on each tab to see the different domain extensions, their availability and prices
TIP: NameCheap has partnered with DomainAgents to help present your proposed offer to purchase an already registered domain extension, to the website owner.
Select “Make Offer” if your preferred domain extension is unavailable.
For instance, PeasOnToast.co.uk, doesn’t show a purchase price in the domain listing, as it’s already owned
-
TIP: a generic top level domain (gTLD) is the most popular choice (.com, .info, .net, and .org). A good alternative would be to use a country code top level domain (ccTLD) (eg, .co.uk).
Here’s an interesting post by Search Engine Journal to help you decide on which domain extension to use when .com isn’t availablefor this tutorial, let’s choose PeasOnToast.com at £8.16 per year.
Next, click the basket icon
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TIP: the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) charges a mandatory annual fee of $0.18 for each year of domain registration, renewal or transfer. The fee is usually added to the domain price at the time of purchase.
you’ll see the domain in the shopping basket to the right of your screen.
The cost includes a mandatory ICANN fee
TIP: when you register a domain, your contact details (name, address, email, phone number) are automatically added to the Whois database of domains.
This is accessible to anyone on the internet including spammers, marketing firms and online fraudsters.
To ensure your contact details remain private, accessible only via your domain registrar, you should buy domain privacy (it’s just over £2).
Depending on which domain extension you buy, NameCheap includes one year of free WhoisGuard domain privacy. - click “View Cart” to go to the Shopping Cart screen
- here, you’ll be able to select manual or automatic domain renewal. You’ll still receive notification of the renewal date nearer the time, regardless.
The other settings can remain as default
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TIP: if you’re using FastComet as your web host, you’ve already got a great value web hosting package with lots of features, so you won’t need to select NameCheap’s web hosting package, nor its SSL certificate, private email or work Gmail.
next, scroll down and you’ll see the “Improve your Site” section.
Unless you propose using NameCheap as your web host, you can keep the default options as is
- at this stage, you’ll notice beneath your NameCheap shopping basket, an option to include a promo code.
That’s where you can type in the promo code that I mentioned above, either SUMMERTIME or, if you’ve chosen to use NameCheap as your web host, SUNANDFUN
- type in the promo code, and click “Apply” for your discount
- click “Confirm Order”
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TIP: if you’re in the UK, NameCheap shows the price in GBP, but then shows the USD/GBP currency conversion at the “Pay Now” screen.
carefully complete your payment details, and click “Continue”
- the last step is to review your order and then “Pay Now” and register with NameCheap to access and manage your domain details.
Congratulations – you have now bought your domain and registered it with NameCheap!
The next step is to point your domain to your web host so that it’s included in your web hosting package – check out my tutorial for an easy step-by-step guide.
Note: this blog post is intended to be a general resource only.
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