Can You Buy a Domain Name Forever?

Do you want to claim a domain name as yours forever?

Once you register a domain name, it’s yours. But there are certain things you’ll need to do to maintain the name forever.

In this guide, we give you the best tips and tricks to own a domain forever.

Is It Possible to Buy a Domain Name for Life?

Yes and no. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as straightforward as we’d like it to be.

So no, you cannot register the domain name forever in one go. However, once you register a domain, you can keep renewing it for as long as you like.

ICANN, the governing agency of the Internet, lets you register a domain name for 10 years at a time. You’ll need to make sure you renew the domain before it expires.

Why Can’t You Buy a Domain Permanently?

The straight answer is that ICANN lets you register a domain name for only 10 years at a time.

But to answer this question properly, we first need to tell you how domains work. Every website is given an address that’s a string of numbers and letters.

While computers can easily process these strings, the human mind can’t remember this kind of information so easily. To make it possible to remember multiple website addresses, the domain name system (DNS) came into being. It makes a website address look like www.example.com instead of 192.168.1.1.

These domain names are overseen by ICANN and rely on registries to handle administrative needs. There’s a technical side to keeping a domain alive but we won’t bore you with the details.

What you need to know is that this costs money, time, and effort.

To handle the administrative tasks involved, domain registrars step in. You would’ve come across names like Domain.com, Bluehost, Godaddy, and Namecheap.

These are domain registrars that handle the maintenance, marketing, and business side of domain registration.

They create a domain lease with anyone who registers the domain. And to fund their operations and make a profit, they charge you a fee to register and keep the domain in your name.

So technically, you do not buy a domain name. You lease it for a certain number of years.

ICANN allows you to register a domain only for 10 years at a time. This could be for a number of reasons that are mainly for the common good of all players involved.

For instance, an expiration date allows others to get the domain name if it isn’t being used by the current owner.

We could also consider a situation where you register a domain forever with a domain registrar by paying a huge lump sum. If the domain registrar goes out of business after 10-15 years, they won’t be able to maintain the domain name for you. You’ll lose access to your account and you stand to lose your investment.

It also enables domain registrars to have a steady revenue stream to keep their operations going.

Like this, there are many reasons why it’s better to have an expiration date on the domain name.

Tips & Tricks to Keep a Domain Name Forever

If you want to make sure you never lose a domain name, here are our recommended tips:

1. Enable Auto Renewal

Our #1 tip to own a domain forever is to set up auto-renewal on your domain name. This means your domain registrar will automatically renew the domain name for you once it reaches expiry.

What you need to do is:

1. Make sure the payment method you have stored is valid
2. Make sure your contact information is up to date
3. Enable email alerts on domain renewal

With that, in case your domain registrar isn’t able to process your renewal, they’ll contact you to take a look and resolve any issues such as an expired credit card.

2. Prevent Domain Hijacking

Domain hijacking or domain theft is when an attacker takes control of a domain name by transferring the ownership without the current owner’s permission.

It is extremely common and can happen to anyone. Attackers can make themselves the owner and then sell your domain leaving you with nothing.

They can also use your domain for malicious purposes and defraud your customer, all of which can damage your brand and business.

Learn how to prevent this here: How to Recover a Stolen Domain and Prevent Domain Hijacking

3. Trademark your Domain Name

You can trademark your domain name to prevent it from being used by anyone else.

This helps protect your brand name and makes it easier to take action against copyright infringement.

With a trademark, no one else can use the same or similar name. Plus, if your domain accidentally expires, you can use a legal route to get it back.

Find out when you should and shouldn’t trademark a domain name here: Should You Trademark Your Domain Name? (Beginner’s Guide).

4. Bonus Tip: Enable Private Domain Registration

When you register a domain name, your domain registrar will require that you provide personal details like your name, contact number, address, and email ID. This information is then added to the WHOIS database.

This is a public record that anyone can use to look up who owns a domain name. That means your details are publicly available. It could be picked up by spammers and fraudsters.

If your domain name is of value, it’ll likely be in demand. Anyone looking to buy the domain name can contact you and make persistent offers on your domain.

To avoid this, you can enable domain privacy on your domain name.

See: What Is Private Domain Registration? (Pros & Cons Explained)

How Much Does It Cost to Permanently Buy a Domain Name?

As we mentioned, you can register a domain only for 10 years at a time. Domain registrars usually give you a good deal if you commit for a longer period.

Domain.com lets you register your domain for 5 years. While GoDaddy lets you go up to 10 years.

It usually cost $10 to $15 to register a domain for a year.

This comes to around $100 – $200 for 10 years. It can greatly depend on the value of your domain and the domain extension.

You’ll find these guides helpful: How Much Does a Domain Name Cost? (Pricing Breakdown) and How Much Does It Cost to Renew a Domain Name?

My Domain Expired, Can I Get It Back?

Yes, you can get an expired domain name back. It depends on which stage of expiration it’s at.

Follow this guide: How to Get Back Your Expired Domain Name

How to Register My Domain Name Forever?

To register your domain name, we recommend using our domain name generator.

Visit the Nameboy domain name generator. Type in the domain name you want to see if it’s available.

The name generator will show you the domain name along with extensions that you can register. If the domain name isn’t available, it will show you similar suggestions for the best domain names that are available.

Our tool is built on a smart AI (artificial intelligence) algorithm. When you enter a keyword, it will combine it with synonyms, related words, alliterations, prefixes, suffixes, and more to come up with cool name ideas. It will also cross-check domain availability and only show you results where you can register the domain name right away.

Once you select your domain name, you’ll get 2 awesome offers:

1. Domain.com: You can register the domain in your own name on Domain.com. As a Nameboy user, you’ll get 25% off on your purchase on Domain.com.
2. Bluehost: Sign up for a web hosting plan with Bluehost and get the domain name for free. Bluehost is a top web host company with reliable hosting services at affordable rates. You can get started for as low as $2.75 per month and you’ll even get a free SSL certificate and CDN that will make your website more secure and faster.

We recommend opting for Domain.com as it lets you register for 5 years at a time.

Your discount will be auto-applied at checkout. You can alter the domain purchase time period and choose whether you want to make your domain registration private.

Simply fill out your information and complete the payment to register the domain name.

That’s it! We hope you found this guide helpful. If you’re starting a website, follow this easy guide: How to Start a Small Business Website (Step by Step).

If you want ways to make money from domain names, then these guides are for you:

• What is a Parked Domain & How to Make Money From It?
• Domain Flipping: How to Start and Make a Profit
• How to Find & Buy Expired Domains (2 Best Ways)

These posts show you how to get started with making money on domain names.