A Brief Guide to Choosing and Registering Domain Names | O's World

Owning a good domain name is an important first step in building a personal blog or project website. A clean, easy-to-remember domain name not only enhances the professionalism of your site but also makes it easier for visitors to remember and find you again.

This article will guide you through a simple process of selecting and registering the domain name that suits you best.

First Step: Free or Paid? Which Domain Do You Need?

Before you start, clarify your needs. Domains are primarily divided into free subdomains and paid custom domains.

Option A: Free Subdomains

Many platforms offer free subdomains to developers, such as your-name.github.io or your-project.vercel.app.

• Pros:
  • Completely Free: Start your project with zero cost.
  • Easy Deployment: Usually deeply integrated with hosting services like GitHub Pages, Vercel, or Cloudflare Pages, making deployment highly convenient.
• Cons:
  • Less Professional: The domain contains another company's brand, making it look less formal.
  • No Ownership: You only have the right to use it. The domain belongs to the platform and is subject to its policies.
  • Weak Branding: Users remember github.io rather than your brand.

Applicable Scenarios: Personal toy projects, technical demos, temporary pages.

Option B: Paid Custom Domain

A top-level domain, such as your-brand.com, is a standalone domain name that you own.

• Pros:
  • Professional Image: Having a custom domain is the hallmark of a professional website.
  • Full Control: You can freely point it to any server and set up as many subdomains as you want.
  • Better Branding and SEO: A good domain is part of your brand itself and is more easily indexed by search engines.
• Cons:
  • Cost Involved: Requires registration fees and annual renewal fees.

Applicable Scenarios: Personal blogs, portfolios, business websites, and any long-term projects.

Second Step: How to Pick the Perfect Domain?

Once you decide to buy a custom domain, you enter the most creative step: choosing a good name.

1. Select the Domain Extension (TLD)

The extension is an important part of the domain name. Different extensions carry different meanings and values.

• Prefer .com: As the most popular and recognized extension globally, .com is still king. If available, it should be your first choice.
• Alternatives .net, .org: When .com is taken, these are common substitutes.
• Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs): Such as .io, .ai, .me, .cn, etc. These are extensions for specific countries or regions. They are highly popular in the tech community due to their modern feel and conciseness.
• New Generic TLDs (gTLDs): Such as .app, .blog, .xyz, etc. They are highly personalized and accurately reflect the theme of the website. However, note that compared to ccTLDs, they may experience price hikes or other unexpected issues.

2. Formulate the Domain Name

The domain name itself should be:

• Short and Easy to Remember: The shorter, the easier it is to remember and the less prone to typos.
• Relevant to Your Theme: It should directly reflect what your website is about.
• Avoid Hyphens and Numbers: They increase input difficulty and hinder word-of-mouth sharing.

Third Step: Where to Buy? How to Find the Lowest Price?

Domain costs consist of two parts: first-year registration price and subsequent renewal price. Many registrars attract users with extremely low "first-year discounts," but renewal prices can be very high. Therefore, we need tools to compare pricing comprehensively.

Price Comparison Tools

1. TLD-List: A powerful international domain price comparison site, supporting 3,400+ extensions and dozens of major registrars, offering comprehensive information (tld-list.com).
   

2. Nazhumi (哪煮米): A Chinese domain price comparison website supporting 2,900+ extensions, indexing many registrars including those in Mainland China, with a friendly interface (nazhumi.com).
   

Recommended Registrars

1. porkbun.com

   • Pros: Consistently offers highly competitive prices. Both registration and renewals are relatively cheap, and it supports a large variety of extensions. Friendly UI, free WHOIS privacy protection, and supports payments via Alipay.

     On porkbun.com, after running a search, click Show All Extensions and then Sort by price to sort them from lowest to highest. You'll find many domains cost only $1 - $2 for the first year, but always pay attention to the renewal prices. Generally, renewal prices under $20/year are reasonable.

2. cloudflare.com

   • Pros: Cloudflare promises to offer domain registration and renewals at wholesale cost without markup. This means its renewal pricing is almost the lowest on the web.

     You can register a domain on other platforms (like Porkbun) with a first-year discount and then transfer it to Cloudflare before the first year expires to enjoy its low renewal prices.

3. Alibaba Cloud (阿里云)

   • The largest cloud service provider in China. If your domain needs to be ICP-filed, Alibaba Cloud is your best choice.

Special Note: For Users in Mainland China

If your website primarily serves users in Mainland China and you plan to host the servers inside Mainland China, you must complete the ICP filing. The ICP filing requires both the extension and the registrar to be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Not all domain extensions support ICP filing. For example, the common .org extension cannot be ICP-filed. Before purchasing, make sure to query the MIIT - China Internet Domain Name System to check if your desired extension is on the approved list.

Then, register your domain with Alibaba Cloud or another mainland-based registrar who will provide support, including the filing process.

Summary

Using overseas registrars gives you more extension choices, relatively cheaper prices, and transfers are generally unrestricted.

If you need to perform an ICP filing, you can only choose mainland-based domain registrars.

Hopefully, this guide helps you smoothly kick off your website journey!