Why is better to have a domain with Google Domains?

You’ve probably experienced this before: You decide that the time is right for you to get your own .com domain name, which you can use as your main website address and as an email address, but then find yourself wondering if the name you want is available and how much it will cost

If it’s a common word or phrase, chances are good that someone else has already snatched up the shortened version of those words. So, because of potential roadblocks like this, you might be hesitant to buy a domain name.

Google is working with other web hosts and domain registrars through their partners to bring you competitive prices on domain names from multiple sources without compromising quality service from any single company. In fact, they’re doing everything in their power to make sure that his process goes smoothly.

First, here are some basics on how domain names work and why they’re important for your website.

Google Domains

You’ve probably heard about the company Google, but if you’re not familiar with their online domain registration service, here is a little context. Recently, Google launched this new service that allows people to search for domain names that are available for purchase.

For example, check out planbusinesses.com. See how it says “Registered through Dynadot”? That means the owner of the site registered it with one of many domain registrars — companies like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Dynadot, both of which charge upwards of $10 per year to own a single URL. You can actually register your own domain name through these third-party websites as well; however, we recommend using Google Domains because it is convenient and there are no additional fees.

Google Domains Email

Another feature that Google provides is email addresses with your custom domain name, like info@planbusinesse.com. This gives your website a more professional look and feels, and also ensures you won’t lose out on emails if the company hosting your email experiences downtime, for example.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to setting up a website because there are so many services available today to help you do so at low or no cost. You can set up an account through WordPress or Blogger, for example, both of which easily allow you to create blogs using only your browser without any technical knowledge required.

But what if you want a website with your own domain name? For example, if someone else has already purchased planbusinesses.com, should you give up on getting your own site to avoid the cost of buying a new domain name? We think not – and that’s where Google Domains comes in.

Google Domains Login

You can log in to your google domains account at https://domains.google.com/.

If this is the first time you are signing up for Google Domains, you will get a pop-up to create a Google Account.

Google Domains Manage

After creating your domain name with google domains, you can log in to your account and start managing your domain name by adding subdomains, etc.

My Google Domains

Login into https://domains.google.com/ using your Gmail username/password and you will be directed to the Google Domains Dashboard.

Google Domains Promo Code

Here are the current Google Domains Promo Codes for new customers. When you apply these promo codes, you will get $1-10 off on the first month of the domain name prices.

SPRING20 or TAKE20: Get 20% Off at Google Domains

MOM: Get 30% Off at Google Domains

If you have any promotional code or Google Domains Coupon which is not listed here, please share with us by leaving your comment at the bottom of this page.

Google Domains Promo Code

What Are Domain Names?

Domain names are websites’ home addresses online. They’re usually short, easy-to-remember words that let users connect to their target audience without giving them too much trouble. Think about it: Would you rather remember ABCD1234.com instead of wpbeginner.com? It’s likely you’d choose the latter.

How Are Domain Names Different From IP Addresses?

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are associated with each web browser and serve as the connection point between the computer and websites, whereas domains identify which site is hosting your data on the Internet. Think of your IP address like your physical address; it lets people know how they can connect to you online. Domains act like more personal identifiers that relate back to certain brands or content sites.

Who Needs Domain Names?

Almost everyone can benefit from owning their own domain name. Some people use them to build better online identities, while others use them as an opportunity to attract traffic with catchy titles. You can create them for your blog or business website.

Google Domains With Email

You can also you the domain name for your own personal email address (i.e., johnsmith@gmail.com). It’s up to you!

Aside from identifying yourself online, owning a domain name gives you certain authority over the web.

You’re in control of your brand when you own your domain names, rather than having them controlled by a third party. You can rest assured that nobody will hijack or take advantage of it without your consent. Plus, this makes emailing and interacting with others easier because they won’t have to remember complicated URLs.

Links will likely be cut short so people mostly see only the “relevant” part of the web address, if not just registering it outright with their own preferred URL registrars. In addition, owning a web site’s domain is vital for its SEO performance. For instance, Google looks for keywords in domains to determine their prominence on SERPs. If you were to Google “jade Alfred,” our blog’s domain would show up in the search engine results page (i.e., jadealfred.com) because we’re using it as our primary keyword.

Google Domains Register

Google Domains is Google’s domain registration service. You can use it to buy and manage your custom domain extensions.

You don’t have to use Gmail or Google+ to get started with Google Domains, but setting up an account gives you access to additional tools that may be helpful while you’re working with your domains.

Google Domains Registration

When you register a new domain on Google Domains, it’s automatically connected to your existing search console account so you can manage all of your search settings in one place.

You can also use your search console account to view reports that show how visitors get to your websites and what they do when they get there. Reports include things like traffic sources, keywords, and average position.

All of this information can help you build a site that’s better at attracting the right kind of visitors, understand where your traffic is coming from, and make data-informed decisions about site improvements.

Note: To learn more about the benefits you get by connecting your domain with Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools), see about connecting domains in the next paragraph.

To connect a domain: Go to google.com/domains and click Sign in. Enter your email address and password, then select Continue. On the “Get started” page, select Connect an existing Google Account. On the “Connect to an existing account” page, follow the instructions for connecting your primary domain, subdomain, or parked domain.

If you’ve just bought a new domain name, connect it with Search Console right away to start getting reports and building your presence on the web.

When you buy a custom domain name through Google Domains, you own it. Your relationship is managed through a legal contract instead of a terms-of-service agreement like many other providers use. You can manage or transfer your domains whenever you want without any limitations.

Transfer To Google Domains

If you are going to give your domain to Google, make sure everything is ready.

We recommend that you first run a domain health check to determine if everything is ready. You should also set up your nameservers with your current domain provider before the transfer takes place, as this will help prevent an interruption of service after the transfer is complete.

Google Domains Transfer In – initiate a transfer:

Go to google.com/domains and click Sign in.
Enter your email address and password, then select Continue.
On the “Get started” page, select Transfer my existing domain to Google Domains. If you aren’t already signed in with your Google Account, sign in now by entering your email address and password for Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools).
On the “Transfer domains from” page, choose whether to use your current domain registrar or select a new one from the drop-down menu. If you use your current registrar, follow the onscreen instructions for transferring your domain.

Auth Codes help make sure that mass transfers – such as those used by bulk importers- are completed correctly. This code allows only the designated registrar to manage a domain name during a transfer.

If you need an Auth Code, the transferring registrar will provide one.

Google Domains Hosting

Unlike many other well-known domain registrars, Google Google Domains does not provide hosting. As a result, you’ll need to invest in hosting on your own.

You can, however, use Google Domains to purchase and manage domain names that point to the website of a web hosting company that provides monthly or yearly subscription plans for shared, VPS, dedicated servers, and more.

Hosting For Google Domains

Hosting With Google Domains? We recommend HostGator or Godaddy hosting for Google Domains since Google Domains doesn´t offer web hosting services.

Google Domains Vs Godaddy

Which is better to buy domain names from?

Both Google and Godaddy are the top leading Domain registrars and web hosting providers. They both offer very good services and products at a good price, so which one should you choose when it comes to buying or renewing your domains?

We have compiled a list that will help you decide which is the best for your needs.

So let’s start our comparison with some basics. Google recently launched its own domain registrar in a bid to compete with other top players like GoDaddy or Network Solutions.

For now, it offers only ICANN fee-based TLDs (Top Level Domain) which include generic Top Level Domains(gTLD) and country-code Top Level Domains(ccTLD). They currently do not offer any new gTLD but plan on adding them soon.

Godaddy on the other hand has over 60 domain extensions and also offers website builder services.

Price

We already mentioned above that Google Domains is a relatively new player in the market. At first glance, both serve as affordable domain registrars. However, if you do a little digging around, you might be surprised to see that Google offers much lower prices compared to Godaddy.

Here are some examples from their official websites:

–Godaddy offers 1 year of free whois privacy protection when buying a shared hosting account or a VPS/Dedicated server. It costs $8.99 per month for a single managed VPS plan which could have been cheaper if they were not throwing in this 1 year of whois protection. On the other hand, Google offers 1 year of free Whois Privacy Protection valid for all domain extensions.

–Godaddy charges $15 per year to transfer a single domain name whereas Google offers free transfers for all domain names. Google has also not limited the number of free transfers unlike Godaddy’s 5 per month limit.

–If you want to buy more than 10 Domain Names in a single transaction from GoDaddy, they charge a discounted price which saves you a few bucks compared to buying them separately. For example: If you buy 20 Domain Names at once, GoDaddy will charge only $19.80 with an added bonus of 2 extra months with their hosting plan included(Additional hosting plan will be available for purchase if required). Google on the other hand charges individual rates without any extra added benefits.

–Godaddy offers a discount on their shared hosting plans which scales based on the number of monthly visits your website gets(Visitors/month). If you get >100,000 Visitors/Month then they would give you a 25% discount and an additional 5% discount if you pay with an American Express card (An offer only valid in the US and Canada ). You need to contact their sales department for more details regarding this offer. However, Godaddy doesn’t provide such discounts on their VPS plans & dedicated servers. But they do offer some coupons which can help you save some bucks.

You get the idea right? At first glance, GoDaddy might seem like an affordable web hosting provider but if you look closely then you will see that Google Domains offers better deals.

Customer Support

Both companies provide very good customer support with multiple ways to contact them through the mail, phone, and online chat.

Let’s start with Google. One thing that I noticed is that their live chat support seems to be slower than other top leading domains registrars. Sometimes I have to wait for more than 15 minutes before someone replies to me. However, unlike Godaddy, Google uses Zendesk which is a support ticketing system used by many companies like IBM, Xerox, etc. This means that you can open up multiple tickets and they will be resolved in sequence.

On the other hand, GoDaddy has much faster live chat support in my opinion. Although their phone support seems to be very limited when it comes to technical issues (For example: If you want to ask them how to set up an email with their shared hosting plans).

Their online chat support however is very fast compared to Google’s. It almost always replies within 10 seconds or so whenever I send them a message. They also have better customer retention policies if you are looking for discounts on your next orders .

When it comes to technical support, GoDaddy has some serious improvements to make. I once had a problem on my server where the system was not sending any emails and neither were the websites hosted on that VPS. Their support team was not even aware of this issue and hence could not fix it. I had to escalate this ticket and pay $8 more for an additional VPS just so that my email issues can be resolved (I am still unaware of what happened).

On the other hand, Google’s servers are very robust. It has never gone down in all these years which is amazing considering their cheap pricing.

So, overall, I would choose Google Domains to register my domains.

Which Domain Name Extensions are Supported?

Google Domains currently supports all the most popular extensions. Currently, more than 300 domain name extensions are supported.

Google Domains does not support less popular country-specific domain name extensions.

However, you can use Google Domains to purchase and manage any generic top-level domain (gTLD) or country code top-level domain (ccTLD), such as .com, .co, .org, and more!

Which Extensions are Not Supported?

There are several TLDs that are currently not supported by Google Domains.

They include:

.adult – Web sites that show explicit sexual material

.inc or .company

Google Domains Purchase: Google Domains Price

The minimum price you can pay for any domain name is $12. Google Domains offers an additional domain for free for the first year you purchase one.

There are no refunds or credits for domains that aren’t used or renewed by customers who choose not to use them.

All of your personal DNS records, such as MX records and SPF records, will be transferred when you renew your domain name with a private whois registration service in addition to a higher level of security in protecting your identity.

Google Domains Reviews

Pros:

Unlimited Free Private Registration;
Competitive price;
Robust servers;
No additional cost when buying a domain with privacy;
No long term contracts;
24/7 Customer Support.

Cons:

Only available in certain countries so far;
You need a Google Account.

Tags:google

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Google Domains: The Complete Guide for Bloggers And Small Businesses