Every day, consumers across the world use a plethora of websites in their personal and professional lives. Mega-sites like Google.com, YouTube.com, Facebook.com, and Amazon.com have become so entwined in online behaviors that it's easy to forget how much we rely on them. For example, statista.com reported that the world's most popular website, Google.com, had a whopping 86.9 billion visitors in June 2021 alone; this is more than ten times the global population of 7.9 billion.
The value of a good 'name'
The most successful websites leverage innovative technology and design practices, but they also have great domain names that are catchy and easy to remember. Whether you are buying a domain for a new business, hobby, or micro-site, domains are an essential part of any web strategy.
Unfortunately, the recent price increase has alarmed many domain seekers.
Domain prices are unregulated and rising at an alarming rate
The days of enjoying reasonably priced domain names may be coming to an end. Generic top-level domain (gTLD) owners have been significantly raising their annual fees as their extensions gain in popularity.
ICAAN, Verisign, and the rising cost of domains
If you're not overly familiar with ICAAN or Verisign, it's ok. For most people, there is minimal reason to know they even exist. As a nonprofit, ICAAN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is an influential policy-making group that identifies and defines how the domain name system functions and expands. Correspondingly, Verisign operates the authoritative registry of .com, .net, .name, .cc, and .tv domain names.
Previous articles from techradar.com and mashable.com indicate that a new agreement between ICAAN and Verisign may be the reason for the escalating cost.
Internet registration outfit ICANN has revealed that the price of .com domains could be set for a major price rise.
The watchdog has announced that Verisign, the private company which administers the .com domain, will be allowed to increase prices by more than 70 percent over the next decade.
What You Can Do & How We Can Help
While your options are somewhat limited, you can do a few things to help reduce the impact on your business.
- Register domains for as many years as possible to lock in the price.
- Register domains with WSD via domains.websightdesign.com vs. going directly to Godaddy.com. WSD sets our reseller account to offer the lowest prices Godaddy offers – making our prices generally lower than what you will find on their public site.
If you’d like to learn more about the rising domain costs or our strategic advisory services, contact us – we are always happy to help.
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