Every website has a domain – it’s what makes it unsocial and it’s wherever your tract lives connected the internet. I usage neilpatel.com, arsenic you tin spot successful your browser.

So, 1 of the archetypal steps of gathering a website is getting that domain to telephone home.

And that domain is going to outgo you money. 

That is, unless you support speechmaking this post.

I’ll locomotion you done however to get a domain sanction that aligns with your concern and establishes your brand, and however to get it for free.

If this sounds similar a overseas language, don’t worry. I’ve made it arsenic elemental arsenic imaginable and volition locomotion you done each and each measurement to get a free domain sanction successful nary time.

Your 2-Minute Cheat Sheet

Want a speedy reply connected however to get a escaped domain name? I’ll chopped to the chase.

If you’re readying to commencement a blog oregon motorboat a website, you’ll request a web hosting company. When it comes to making a prime from the galore disposable options, I suggest Hostinger.

Not lone does the institution supply fantabulous velocity and uptime reliability, but it besides offers a free domain sanction for the archetypal year.

Get your domain and hosting acceptable up successful 1 fell swoop with Hostinger. You inactive person to wage for hosting (which you tin fastener successful for nether $3 per month), but you get the domain sanction for free.

You tin make a Hostinger relationship and motion up by clicking here. With the casual guided setup, the full process conscionable takes a mates of minutes.

After that, you’ll person hosting, a domain, and a basal website acceptable to go.

If your fund is truly choky astatine the moment, you tin besides see utilizing a escaped subdomain.

This is wherever website builders like WordPress and Wix come into play. The lone drawback is that, alternatively of having a elemental .com tract similar excavation (NeilPatel.com), you‘ll person thing like 

yourusername.wixsite.com/yoursiteaddress or yourdomainname.wordpress.com. 

This isn’t an perfect situation. Some downsides of not having a cleanable .com include:

• Not having a well-branded URL: My URL, neilpatel.com, is synonymous with my brand. All radical person to retrieve is my name, and they tin easy find maine online. Everything connected my site, from my representation and bio to my sanction successful the browser bar, confirms my brand. That builds authorization that’s important for connecting with visitors and for SEO. Can you make authorization contented without a cleanable .com? Yes, but having your ain branded URL starts you retired connected a amended foundation.
• Making it harder for radical to find you: What’s easier to retrieve — coffeemugdesigns.wordpress.com oregon coffeemugdesigns.com? It’s a tiny thing, but radical person to support way of a monolithic magnitude of accusation today. Making your URL easier to retrieve is simply a tiny mode you tin connection a amended acquisition for imaginable customers and clients. For example, if your java mug boutique has a vendor array astatine a section farmers marketplace and idiosyncratic browses done connected a Saturday greeting but doesn’t buy, a cleanable domain sanction helps them find you erstwhile they privation to bargain later. 
• Reducing spot for tract visitors: Taking the measurement to get your ain domain sanction escaped of different brands similar WordPress demonstrates professionalism and commitment. That helps physique spot with your assemblage and tin beryllium particularly important if you privation radical to wage with recognition cards oregon different methods close connected your site.

All that said, a escaped subdomain tin beryllium a viable enactment erstwhile you privation to experimentation with the escaped features of the website builder. It whitethorn besides beryllium a impermanent mode to get your contented online truthful you tin commencement gathering a website earlier investing successful a cleanable .com. In galore cases, you tin person your tract to your ain domain and adjacent different hosting solutions astatine a aboriginal date.

If not having a cleanable .com is simply a non-starter retired of the gate, don’t worry. The process for getting acceptable up with Hostinger and snagging your escaped domain is arsenic elemental arsenic it tin be.

Read connected to travel the 3 casual steps to get a escaped domain sanction for your website.

1. Go to Hostinger’s Website
2. Select Your Hosting Type
3. Claim Your Free Domain

You’ll beryllium capable to bash each of this successful 1 spot with Hostinger. I volition locomotion done immoderate of your different options, but you whitethorn request to interface with aggregate vendors to execute each of these steps.

Step 1: Go to Hostinger’s Website

The precise archetypal happening you request to bash is caput implicit to Hostinger by clicking here.

Click Start Now and you’ll beryllium taken consecutive to the checkout page.

Conveniently, that checkout leafage is each acceptable up with my recommendation. You’ll get premium shared hosting, which is the lowest-cost program that besides includes a escaped domain name.

My extremity is to prime the longest word for the champion rate. If you perpetrate to 4 years of hosting up front, you tin fastener successful a truly charismatic complaint of $2.59 per month.

Just click connected the right-most container astatine the apical to marque definite you get the champion deal.

Take a look astatine the add-ons beneath determination to spot if immoderate are utile to you. None of them are perfectly necessary, but regular backups and precedence enactment are adjuvant features, and they’re reasonably priced.

After that, participate your outgo information, click Submit Secure Payment, and past you’ll beryllium onto setup.

Step 2: Select Your Hosting Type

With my connection for Hostinger’s shared hosting, you really don’t person to prime a hosting benignant yourself. Premium shared hosting is each acceptable to spell for you.

However, you whitethorn cognize capable astir your website’s needs to besides cognize that you mightiness request a much almighty hosting benignant than shared hosting, similar VPS oregon dedicated.

If you person nary idea, work connected to larn a small spot astir the differences betwixt those 3 types of hosting and who each 1 is champion for.

Shared Hosting

I would recommend shared hosting if you’re starting a caller website.

Not lone are the plans nether this class cheap, but they tin besides accommodate the needs of low-traffic sites rather efficiently. Your website is hosted connected a server on with a clump of different websites. You prevention wealth by sharing server resources with the different tenants.

It’s similar surviving successful an flat versus having your ain house. It costs little and you don’t person to interest astir maintenance. 

If 1 of the sites connected the shared server starts taking excessively galore resources, it tin origin problems for your site’s performance. This is wherefore shared hosting isn’t due for truly large analyzable websites. 

If you’re conscionable starting retired with your website oregon revamping a tiny concern oregon section site, you astir apt don’t person to interest astir this. Shared hosting is cleanable for idiosyncratic who doesn’t expect precocious postulation volumes and lacks method knowledge. Around 40% of businesses get little than 10,000 unsocial monthly visitors connected websites, and shared hosting is good for this number.

If you’re gathering a website for a tiny oregon section concern and concentrating connected driving prime postulation that is apt to person — and not gathering thing similar a viral media tract — starting with shared hosting is apt optimal. You tin ever power to a antithetic exemplary aboriginal if you find your tract increasing beyond what the shared servers tin handle.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting allows you to get amended show without having to wage the importantly higher terms tags for the options that travel aft this one.

With unreality hosting, you get the aforesaid situation arsenic shared hosting (that is, you’re sharing resources with the different sites connected servers), but aggregate servers enactment unneurotic via the unreality to forestall immoderate 1 from getting bogged down due to the fact that of a bulky, popular, oregon resource-hungry site.

That usually results successful much reliable velocity and uptime, since you’re not sharing the resources of conscionable 1 server.  This mightiness beryllium a bully enactment if you’re not expecting bonzer postulation connected a regular ground but it’s captious for your concern exemplary that you support uptimes and speeds nary substance what immoderate different tract sharing your resources does.

Cloud hosting is simply a bully half-step up from shared hosting but not arsenic almighty and reliable arsenic the adjacent option.

VPS Hosting

VPS hosting stands for virtual backstage server hosting. This class includes plans for websites that privation amended show and tin accommodate a higher terms point.

The bully happening astir this hosting benignant is that it guarantees utile resources for you exclusively. Technically, you inactive stock a server with different websites, but you person a “virtual“ server that includes dedicated resources. 

You tin see this hosting benignant if you expect abrupt spikes successful postulation volumes.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting gives you exclusive entree to an full server reserved for your website alone. You don’t person to stock it with anyone.

Understandably, you get premium show with this subscription plan, but you person to beryllium acceptable to wage its premium price, too. 

This is simply a bully enactment if your concern is simply a ample endeavor that regularly handles precocious traffic. It’s besides large for those who privation implicit power implicit the hosting environment, specified arsenic businesses successful much regulated industries similar healthcare oregon finance.

For this guide, I’ll suggest you take the premium shared hosting program that’s preselected. However, if you similar different plans, you tin easy prime them to customize however you acceptable up your escaped domain sanction and wage for hosting to spell on with it.

Step 3: Claim Your Free Domain Name

After you’ve completed checkout and payment, you’ll beryllium taken to your Hostinger power panel, hPanel.

There, you’ll spot an enactment front-and-center for claiming your escaped domain.

Click Claim Domain to hunt for your preferred escaped domain name. Once you spot it, click the purple container adjacent to it.

I’d promote you to prime a .com extension, arsenic it looks much nonrecreational and helps you look much reliable to your visitors. 

The lone clip that I’d see an alternate domain hold is if the .com hold is already taken and you are perfectly acceptable connected the name.

Having a .com domain is peculiarly important for businesses—small blogs, idiosyncratic sites, and broadside hustles whitethorn beryllium capable to prevention a fewer bucks by going for an alternate extension.

After that, you’ll conscionable person to participate immoderate basal accusation to registry your escaped domain name. Fill retired the signifier and taxable it. Hostinger volition instrumentality a fewer minutes to verify your registration information, and past nonstop you an email with a nexus to implicit the verification.

With that, you’re each acceptable connected securing your free domain name!

There’s conscionable 1 much happening I recommend.

Make definite to alteration WHOIS protection. After you’ve completed verification, you’ll beryllium taken to the conception of your dashboard for your caller escaped domain name. Then, conscionable look for the slider fastener under WHOIS Privacy and click it truthful it becomes purple and enabled.

Doing this volition conceal your name, email, telephone number, and code from appearing connected a nationalist database, providing immoderate important benefits including:

• Reducing spam: Spammers excavation information anyplace they tin get it, and having your name, email, and telephone fig successful a nationalist database tin pb to an onslaught connected your inbox oregon an summation successful robocalls. No 1 has clip for that.
• Decreasing risks of individuality theft: Your idiosyncratic sanction alongside telephone numbers, emails, and addresses provides fodder for fraudsters, who whitethorn usage that accusation to substance individuality theft efforts. 
• Making your carnal determination harder to find: Not each blogger and tiny concern proprietor wants their carnal location, concern address, oregon adjacent location code connected show for everyone to see. For example, if you tally a tiny e-commerce drop-shipping concern from your location office, you whitethorn not privation the full satellite to cognize wherever your household lives.
• Separating idiosyncratic and concern messaging: WHOIS privateness lets you make a separation betwixt your idiosyncratic sanction and your concern brand. This tin beryllium important if you privation to abstracted your idiosyncratic life, views, oregon messaging from those associated with your business. 

Once you implicit that past measurement to safeguard idiosyncratic privacy, you’re done!

You present person an fantabulous hosting program arsenic good arsenic a escaped domain. If you person not already started, past commencement present at Hostinger.

Other Ways to Get a Free Domain Name

For the involvement of comprehensiveness, I’ll besides sermon 2 different ways of getting a escaped domain. Although I don’t urge them, it’s ever bully to cognize each of the options.

• get a escaped subdomain
• use a escaped domain registrar (not recommended)

I’ll explicate each of these methods successful greater item below, including the reasons wherefore I don’t urge them erstwhile talking astir however to get a escaped domain.

Option 1: Get a Free Subdomain 

Several website builders connection subdomains, which is simply a idiosyncratic domain that exists wrong an existing domain name. 

Remember that movie Inception where Leonardo DiCaprio dreams that helium is successful a dream? Something akin happens here. 

You extremity up getting a domain sanction wrong a domain name. 

Site builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly offer subdomains to their users. They person a escaped proceedings arsenic well, truthful if you similar their services, you tin acquisition their premium plans that see everything you necessitate to build, launch, and negociate a nonrecreational concern website. 

You typically get a escaped domain sanction with these options on with a fewer different perks, including:

• Drag-and-drop tract builder: Many of these sites marque it casual to physique a basal tract with drag-and-drop widgets. This means you don’t request to cognize immoderate codification to make a tract that looks professional.
• Web hosting: The bundle you wage for includes web hosting, which means you get a convenient all-in-one container for creating a basal website.
• Templates: Many of these sites fto you commencement with templates, truthful you’re not gathering a tract from scratch. You simply take the template that champion matches your needs and customize it from there, but customization options whitethorn beryllium limited. 
• Search motor optimization (SEO) tools: These tract builders often supply immoderate basal SEO tools to assistance you optimize contented with keywords and metadata.

Given those perks, wherefore bash I inactive accidental this method is not ideal? 

First, immoderate of those perks tin beryllium a spot limiting, particularly if you privation to turn extracurricular of the container with your website. You besides tally into each the challenges of not having a cleanable .com I discussed earlier successful this article. 

Let’s excavation deeper into those issues with an example. 

Imagine you usage a escaped website builder similar Wix. You won’t person to wage for a domain, yes, but your tract volition person the Wix subdomain. It’ll look thing similar this:

yourusername.wixsite.com/yoursiteaddress

Suppose your Wix username is “My Stunning Website 123,” and the escaped domain sanction you privation is myblogsite. Here’s what you’ll get:

Think astir it: Does that look professional? Have you seen immoderate credible websites that have  domains similar this? Would you input your idiosyncratic accusation oregon recognition paper information into a tract with this benignant of URL operation and consciousness bully astir it? If not, wherefore would you expect customers to bash the same.

That is wherefore I’d lone suggest this method if you privation to experimentation with your website builder’s escaped features oregon caller updates.

WordPress is your different option, and luckily, it is not arsenic invasive arsenic Wix. The format for a escaped WordPress subdomain is: yourdomainname.wordpress.com

This is simply a bully enactment for situations erstwhile 1 cannot walk money, but it is not a viable semipermanent strategy. You privation your escaped domain sanction to beryllium memorable and short—both of which aren’t imaginable erstwhile you usage a subdomain.

The information that your visitors won’t retrieve your domain oregon find it hard to retrieve is different disadvantage. Even if these tract builders connection immoderate SEO tools to assistance you springiness your tract a flimsy boost successful the hunt motor results, that affirmative mightiness lavation retired to a neutral, astatine best, if radical can’t retrieve your domain.

Option 2: Use a Free Domain Name Registrar (Not Recommended)

You tin get a escaped domain sanction from a escaped domain registrar, but it’s mostly unsuitable. Especially if you privation your domain to bespeak a definite level of professionalism oregon trustworthiness. 

You see, the genuinely escaped domains usage uncommon extensions. For instance, you’ll get .tk alternatively of .com.

Your prospective customers would overmuch similar moving with a domain sanction that reads yourbusiness.com alternatively of your yourbusiness.tk. Uncommon extensions are confusing for galore people, and they tin rapidly erode trust. At a clip erstwhile galore radical are alert of online phishing and scam schemes but don’t afloat recognize them, having a tract amusement up with an unfamiliar hold creates excessively galore questions successful the consumer’s mind.

Add to that the information that it’s overmuch easier to retrieve a .com than immoderate domain hold fewer radical person seen before, and you tin spot wherefore this isn’t a large option.

Plus, you don’t ain the domain name, which besides defeats the intent of launching a blog oregon a website.

However, if you bash determine to instrumentality this route, you tin cheque out Freenom and GetFreeDomain.Name.

Several domain registrars volition springiness you a escaped domain successful speech for moving ads connected your website. There is thing incorrect with moving ads, but this conscionable isn’t the champion mode to bash it. Here’s why:

• Lack of power implicit advertisement content: You don’t person afloat power implicit what ads play. The web mightiness beforehand ads you don’t hold with oregon that crook disconnected your people audience. This tin pb to radical clicking distant from your tract without ever speechmaking your contented oregon considering your goods oregon services. 
• Lack of power implicit advertisement placement: You mightiness not person power implicit wherever ads are placed. That could mean ads instrumentality the premier spots wherever you’d truly similar your CTAs to go. It tin besides mean a tract that doesn’t look visually appealing oregon adjacent 1 that looks spammy. That drives down lawsuit experience, which usually drives up bounce rates.
• Loss of imaginable advertisement revenue: Suppose you’re palmy successful driving precocious postulation to your website and the ads get 1 cardinal views. You won’t person a azygous penny from those ads–all you get is simply a escaped domain. That’s surely not a just trade, and financially, you would person been amended disconnected paying for the domain name.
• Loss of imaginable conversions to adhd clicks: On the different hand, you whitethorn privation to debar clicks connected ads altogether. Ad clicks that you gain wealth from are large if you’re monetizing a blog oregon different benignant of site. However, if you’re mounting up an e-commerce site, you don’t privation radical clicking connected ads. You privation them to click connected your bargain buttons, and ads tin instrumentality distant from that.
• Potential harm to SEO ranking: The mediocre lawsuit acquisition that inappropriate, excessively many, oregon poorly placed ads creates leads to mediocre behavioral metrics connected your website. That means radical click distant from the tract earlier they engage. They don’t click connected different pages connected your site, and they don’t walk clip with your content. Those metrics tin harm your SEO show and ranking, arsenic Google does see behavioral metrics erstwhile ranking pages. 

If you’re seriously toying with the thought of moving ads on your website, I’d counsel you to bash truthful done a morganatic advertizing web arsenic it tin beryllium a large root of income. Don’t speech ads for a escaped domain.

Important: Don’t Forget to Renew Your Domain Name!

Pay attraction to however agelong the word is for your initial domain purchase. I cannot accent this enough.

Setting up a website oregon blog is hard work. You enactment successful a batch of effort to find the cleanable URL, plan a website, and people applicable contented connected it.

So, conscionable ideate the fearfulness erstwhile you get up and recognize immoderate random alien has bought your domain retired from nether you.

The reason? You forgot to renew your domain.

Tragic.

Many radical person made this mistake successful the past, and it outgo them dearly.

Here’s conscionable 1 illustration of the shenanigans that tin hap erstwhile domains expire: In July 2021, Vidme, a video embedding platform, failed to renew and caused expired embeds. That means that videos embedded successful contented connected sites ranging from the Washington Post to New York Magazine were “naked.”

An big website scooped up the Vidme expired domain, an enactment that yet led to big video contented showing up arsenic the embedded videos connected older quality stories and connected different web pages. It was a immense neglect for Vidme, but besides a large contented for the brands and trustworthiness of each sites with those embedded videos.

How tin you debar this?

First, instrumentality enactment of your archetypal term. A batch of registrars default to a one-year registration, but with some, you tin bargain five, 10, 20, oregon even 100 years astatine checkout.

The longer your archetypal term, the longer you don’t person to fret astir renewal. Plus, you fastener successful the yearly complaint for the duration. That tin prevention you wealth implicit the agelong word due to the fact that similar each different goods and services, domain sanction prices tin summation implicit time.

Second, and this is astir important if you don’t bargain a multi-year word astatine first, is to marque definite the domain renewal day is marked connected your calendar with a reminder acceptable for astir 1 period successful advance.

That way, you tin hole for renewal without your registration lapsing.

A one-month heads-up besides gives you a accidental to reappraisal the renewal rates from your domain registrar. Sometimes, that renewal complaint jumps up rather a bit. If it’s much than you were expecting, astatine slightest you person a fewer weeks to see your fund and options.

Last, if you don’t person a shoestring budget, I’d suggest conscionable mounting your domain to auto-renew.

With astir providers, you tin find successful your dashboard the expiry day of your domain, the renewal cost, and an enactment to alteration auto-renewal. You tin spot successful the representation supra that Hostinger makes this truly casual successful its services submenu nether billing settings.

The different providers I’ve reviewed connected this database besides let for auto-renewal, truthful you tin acceptable it and hide it with immoderate that you choose.

I conscionable suggest checking successful connected your domain’s renewal complaint earlier the clip comes, truthful you don’t get immoderate unfortunate budgetary surprises if the complaint spikes connected you. 

You besides bash request to guarantee you usage a outgo method that won’t expire earlier the renewal date. 

Most sites won’t automatically driblet your domain sanction if the outgo method has expired. Typically, you’ll person an email letting you cognize the outgo expired and you person a definite magnitude of clip to update it.

However, emails tin get mislaid successful the shuffle, and this is conscionable different mode you could accidentally suffer your domain name. Use a recognition paper oregon different outgo methods with expiration dates a fewer years retired if you tin to debar this issue.

FAQs

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Conclusion

Hostinger is the champion mode to get a escaped domain name–one that you won’t person to surrender adjacent if you power web hosts.

The different mode is to usage a subdomain by utilizing reliable and reputable web builders like WordPress and Wix.

Within seconds you’ll person a reliable web hosting work arsenic good arsenic a caller escaped domain name. Trust me, redeeming a fewer dollars isn’t worthy the hassle of looking unprofessional, running a spammy website, oregon getting hacked.