Buying a domain name is an investment, which will form the foundation of your brand online. Your domain name is the part of the URL that users will associate with you. Choosing a domain name that’s both easy to search, and easy to remember is key, but how much can a domain set you back?

Learn more: What is a domain name?

How much does a domain name cost?

The cost of a domain name can vary massively due to a number of factors. If you're registering a new domain, the biggest factor will be the TLD you choose. However, if you're purchasing an existing domain, then the name itself, as well as everything else to do with the site will have an influence.

If you're choosing a generic top-level domain, you can expect to pay between £1 and £10 per month. However, if you choose one of the premium new TLDs, the price of the domain could be well over £1000 from the get-go. Saying this, many domain name providers will offer a discount on the first year of your domain registration, which can help to cut costs – at least for that first year.

Who decides how much TLDs cost?

The original price point of a top-level domain is set by a domain registry. Certain domain registries are responsible for particular TLDs, and they provide these at wholesale to domain registrars. It’s then up to the registrars to set the final price. The price of a top-level domain is usually pretty standard across the board, with many domain registrars offering similar price packages.

The most expensive top-level domains

Common domain name .co.uk, or other country-code top-level domains, are amongst the cheapest TLDs you can opt for. But what about the more obscure domain extensions out there, how do they fare? Alternative TLDs are a lot more expensive than your average .com domain, and although the payment is annual rather than monthly – it can still be a large chunk out of your pocket.

Here are some examples of the most expensive TLDs:

  • .car – £1999.99
  • .luxury – £499.99
  • .game – £399.99
  • .movie – £279.99
  • .casino – £129.99
  • .creditcard – £124.99
  • .host – £104.99
  • .bar – £99.99
  • .build – £99.99
  • .credit – £99.99
  • .energy – £99.99
  • .gold – £99.99
  • .loans — £99.99

If you've got a big budget, one of these top-level domains could be just the thing to set your website apart from the competition. However, if you're a lean tech startup and you'd like to save money, there's nothing wrong with an .io domain name.

Why are these TLDs so expensive?

The common denominator between these top-level domains is that they each focus on a specific keyword. Keyword stuffing is not best practice in SEO, and is not recommended in any case – especially in your domain name. To combat this however, you could register a separate keyword-focused top-level domain.

For example, if your online casino business registers the domain extension .casino, you are automatically linking your site to the keyword ‘casino’. Registering a keyword TLD can help you to drive relevant traffic to your site, and will make sure you don’t overcompensate by stuffing a keyword into your name.

Learn more: How to choose an SEO-friendly domain name

10 of the most expensive domain names

Every domain name is unique, and they can only be registered to one account at a time. This means once a domain name is registered, no one else can have it. Not unless they want to buy it off the owner, and that can get pricey.

So, let’s take a look at the most expensive publicly reported domain names:

  • Cars.com – £724 million
  • CarInsurance.com – £41 million
  • Insurance.com – £29 million
  • VacationRentals.com – £29 million
  • PrivateJet.com – £25 million
  • Voice.com – £25 million
  • Internet.com – £15 million
  • Insure.com – £13 million
  • Hotels.com – £9 million
  • Shoes.com – £7 million

The above domain names are all very specific and are centred around only one or two words. And there is a good reason for that. As we explained earlier, registering a keyword TLD can greatly increase the amount of relevant traffic flooding to your site. This is also the case when including a keyword in your domain name – it helps to tell Google exactly what your site is about.

So, to avoid overloading your primary domain with keywords, you might want to register a secondary domain for your site – one that focuses on your target keyword. This is exactly what the owner of shoes.com, DSW, has done – using shoes.com as their secondary domain. This is not the case for all of the above however, with many of them using their domain name as their brand name too. For example, Hotels.com.

Looking to buy your very own domain name? We have a wide range of TLDs available to suit all budgets and types of website. So, why not get in touch with our team today to discuss your options?