Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase any of the services below, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. After much research, I've found these services to be top quality and use them myself!
There are a lot of costs that go into starting a business, but the first purchase you should make is one that is usually at a very low cost, a domain. With such a low cost, it’s something that you should purchase when you have just the inkling of an idea for a business. In this post, I’m going to go over why a domain name should be your first business investment to help you get on the path to making your business idea into reality!
Why a Domain Name Should Be Your First Business Investment
Secures the Name
As entrepreneurs, we usually have multiple business ideas floating around in our heads. Some that we’re 100% wanting to move forward with, and some that we’re unsure about, but are interested in the possibility. After you’ve come up with a name for your new business venture, it’s time to snag the domain to secure it on the internet. (If it’s something you’re more serious about, you should grab the social media handles as well!)
• Related Reading: How to Explode Your Website Traffic with Pinterest
Not only will buying the domain secure your business name on the internet (if it’s hopefully available), but it will likely keep you accountable for starting this business as well! You don’t have to put up a website under the domain, just owning it is a great place to start in case someone else has the same idea for a business name and can’t snatch it up.
Extremely Low Cost
When you first have an idea for a business, it might be hard to start paying expenses for something that isn’t concrete yet, I get it. If registering a domain name cost $50 or more a year, I would definitely rethink my stance on the first business investment you should make, but that is not the case. The fact is that registering a top-level domain (TLD), like yourbusiness.com for example, costs less than $9 per year! It’s worth it to skip the fast-food lunch just one time to secure your business presence online.
However, there is always the possibility that your preferred domain is already taken. If that is the case, you might be looking at hundreds to even thousands of dollars to purchase the domain name from the owner. I don’t recommend doing this unless your business has already grown to the point that a bigger expense like this would be valuable to your brand. If this happens in the beginning stages of starting your business, don’t worry. You can always adjust your domain name to be under a different extension like .co instead of .com, or you can adjust the domain altogether.
For example, Printful, the print-on-demand company that I use for my eCommerce business, used the domain theprintful.com for a few years when starting out because printful.com was already taken. When their business continued to grow, they then decided to purchase printful.com which they now use as their primary domain.
Builds Credibility
There’s nothing more unprofessional looking than a website that is under the extension of another domain. For example, I’ve seen many photographer websites that still use the free domain that came with their website building platform like theirbusiness.wordpress.com or theirbusiness.wix.com. They put this domain on all of their social media and even their business cards which makes their services look more like a hobby rather than a professional business. If you have the budget for business cards, you have the budget to register your domain for less than $9 per year.
• Related Reading: 7 Reasons Why You Should Choose WordPress Over Squarespace (& Wix!)
I know the free website building platforms start charging to connect your domain to your website, but putting a simple redirection in place will mean going to theirbusiness.com will still lead them to theirbusiness.wix.com. So you don’t have to pay to point the domain to the platform, you’re only redirecting it to the primary domain which is the free one for your free website!
Bonus – Sell Your Domain
Another benefit to purchasing a domain for your business idea is that if your idea doesn’t pan out into something concrete in the future, you can always sell it! I’ve seen some entrepreneurs who have success with just buying and re-selling domains to other business owners. So if you own a domain name that you think could be profitable for someone else, look into selling it if you’re no longer interested in it for yourself!
I hope these explanations have given you reason to make a tiny investment in your current business or business idea you have for the future! I have about 10 domains myself, 5 of which I’m actively using, and 5 that I have on the back-burner for other business ventures.
Do you have multiple domains like myself or are you still waiting to make the investment for your current business idea? Let me know in the comments below!
Subscribe to my newsletter to receive regular business tips + get instant access to my freebie library! I take your privacy very seriously and promise to never spam you! View my Terms & Privacy Policy here.
So true! I went ahead and got one because I kept hearing how important it was. I’m glad I did.
AMEN. I am so glad I invested so long ago in my domain name and its been mine for a long time. I totally agree with you!
I have such a hard time picking a catchy and good domain name. But once I do and see that it’s available, I am always so excited! Thanks for a great post!
Well, I can’t agree more!!! I wish I bought my domain names 10 years ago but it is never too late to buy one. Amazing investment for sure.
I wish I had known that when I first started as I would have picked another name. I was able to secure my domain name at .net though
It is actually the first thing I did when I started my blog. It is the first rule for professionalism.
i bought the domain name the moment I realised that I am serious about blogging. It is probably the best decision.
Yes. Before you even commit to a name, make sure the domain is available. Great advice here.
My domain was the first investment I made and by far the best! It means you can host ads and look more professional, which more than pays for itself.
Really having our own domain helps a lot in establishing a successful blog.That will be the first important investment!
I think a lot of new bloggers underestimate the value of buying your domain space. It becomes your space! Making sure the domain is available as well as all of the social media handles are key!
Yes, totally agree. Definitely register your domain name as I’ve seen bloggers have to change their blog name because they failed to do this. It’s a big hassle, so the small cost to register is worth it.
When I started my blog my chosen name was taken so I bought a few domain names.
I started blogging with a free blogger site in 2011 and that time I didn’t have any clue about domain name.When I wanted to buy the domain name similar to my blog’s name,it was not available.However when I wanted to launch my own business the first thing I did was looking for the domain name and purchasing it.Yes,domain is really important with above reasons.
I have actually never thought of it this way. This is a brilliant article. It will really make an impact and difference to start ups.
Yes am agree with your points
Cheap hosting always cause major problem and low data
That way choose it wisely