How to Buy a Domain for Your Home Inspection Business | 2022

When you buy a domain online, you're going to need to think of a name and find an available extension. An extension is the last part of the domain, such as .com, org, or .net.
buy a domain

Need Help With Your Marketing?

I know you’re busy, and don’t have time to write blog posts or create content to market your home inspection business . So I created the Inspector Branding Club. A Blog Post Library, Content Calendar, & more content you can put your own twist on, watermark, and post as your own.

Looking to buy a domain online and start a website for your home inspection business? Some people get very overwhelmed thinking about their “lack of ability” in making a website. It doesn’t have to be hard and it will be quick and easy if you break the steps down into bite-sized tasks.

That’s what we’re doing here at Inspector Branding. So feel free to follow along to the steps & buy a domain today.

You’re going to start by choosing a good domain name. Before you buy a domain, you should look into creating a Branded Username.

Once you have your “Branded Username” the next step is to buy a domain and sign up for hosting.

What domain extensions should I use when I buy a domain?

When choosing a domain you’re going to need to find an available extension. An extension is the last part of the domain, such as .com, org, or .net. There are many options, some cheaper than others, but you’re not going to want to go with just anything.

When you buy a domain, you’ll be typing in the URL you hope to land, such as YourBrandsName.com. If it’s not available, the system will usually show you some alternatives that are available, such as YourBrandsName.net.

Most online marketers usually only want to go to a dot com, dot org or dot net. A few will go with a dot info domain. But in my opinion, you should ONLY use a (.com) domain for websites, ESPECIALLY for home inspectors (and any other “local” small business).

Remember that we’ve been trained for years to use the (.com) extension. It is arguably the most well-known “Top-Level Domain” or TLD.

You may want to do something with one of the “fun” extensions like (homeinspector.today) but I’d recommend just redirecting those types of domains to your website with your actual domain being a (.com)

How Much Does A Domain Name Cost?

FAST ANSWER: When you buy a domain, the total cost for a .com is $22.98* (Full breakdown & disclaimers below) *Does not include taxes & fees.

This could be a tricky question. The different extensions (.com, .net, .org, etc) all have different costs but since we’re talking “dot com” domains we’ll go with that for the price to register the domain.

With HostYak, you can buy a domain online for the cost of a few coffees. The domain (.com) itself will cost $12.99 to register.

The domain protection for your domain will cost $9.99 when you register your domain.  When you renew your domain the protection cost will rebill as well.

The subtotal (not counting applicable taxes) is $22.98 for your first year

(*Price may vary this is the price at the time of me writing this.)

There’s a bit of discussion about whether you should pay for a domain for one year or more. Some people argue that Google prefers domains that have a longer commitment but it is always best to save money and register for at least 2 years. Once you register your domain it’s done. This means that you’re not subject to price increases during the term of your domain registration. More on that saving money part in a little bit…

DISCLAIMER: HostYak is owned by “CJ Hallock”, the owner & founder of Inspector Branding. So if you follow along with this training, Thank You! That means you’re supporting a U.S. Navy veteran. I do get compensation when you buy a domain. I don’t make but a dollar or two per domain, but every dollar counts.

How To Buy A Domain

Get Started! –> Click Here –> HostYak.com

By default when you go to HostYak.com, you will land on the homepage with a “Domain Search Bar”. This is where we start the journey to buy a domain.

HostYak Domain Search

Inside of the search bar, you will see the “Placeholder” content “Find your perfect domain name”. In that field, type in the desired domain name. If it is available, you will get the success screen.

HostYak Domain Check Availability 1299

Once you find an available domain, click on “Add to Cart”, then once it is finished adding, click on “Continue to Cart”.

The next page you land on is for Domain Protection.

Adding “Domain Protection” is an optional feature that I like to look at kind of like a home security system watching your domain. It helps keep it secure and safe from being stolen.

We’re going to recommend that you take advantage of domain protection. You do not have to sign up for the “Ultimate” plan, all you need is the “Full Domain Protection”.

Save yourself the extra $20 and register your domain for an additional year instead of using the “Ultimate” 🙂

Once you ensure Full Domain Protection is selected, click on “Continue to Cart”.

domain protection

The next page you will land on is the actual shopping cart.

Sometimes the default setting will set your registration period for the domain to 2 years if you wish you can change the registration period to any of the following duration periods (1 Year, 2 Years, 3 Years, 5 Years, or 10 Years) as you change the registration duration the privacy length will increase or decrease accordingly.

After you select how long you want to register your domain, click on “I’m Ready to Pay”.

HostYak Shopping Cart

Before we can check out we need to either Sign in (if you have a HostYak account) or Create Account (if you haven’t done that yet).

If you need to create an account, simply fill in the blanks and create your account. Then move forward to check out.

HostYak Create Account

If you have an account, sign in and move forward to check out.

The next step is your “Billing information”. With HostYak, you can use either Paypal or a credit card. Set up your preferred billing option and move forward with the checkout.

Hostyak Billing

On the final “Cart” page, you will be able to verify all of your information before you complete your purchase.

Once you have verified all of the info, click on “Complete Purchase”.

HostYak Complete Purchase

After the purchase is complete, it will take you to the “Digital Receipt”. A copy of this will also be emailed to you.

From here you can see the transaction information and go to your “My Account” page or “Keep Shopping”.

HostYak Reciept

We’re almost there, BUT, WE’RE NOT DONE YET!

That was in ALL CAPS for a reason. The next step is very important. This step is verifying your email address. It’s important because it gives another layer of security.

Inside of your email account, you should see an email with the subject line: “Action required for domain activation”

Hostyak email 1

Once you open this email, all you need to do is click on “Verify your email address”.

Hostyak Activate

NOTE: You will need to perform this step inside of the same browser that you used to sign up for HostYak & be sure you are still logged in.

Once it is finished you should get a success message.

Hostyak Success

You now have your domain purchased. Moving forward you will need to get your hosting & once you have your hosting we’ll move forward with building the website.

If you haven’t yet Click Here to buy a domain.

Thank You For Reading

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