Reg. Fees, Hosting, etc...

[projdn]

What does it cost a year to own a domain name (generally speaking).

Assume I regged a name for $7.00 with xyz registrar, then do I have to turn around and pay a company to host the name for the name to be a functional website? If parked, does that cost me money out of pocket? Do the yearly fixed costs of a site vary based on the size of the site (not refering to site development costs).

I am a little confused on this and want to know upfront more of an idea of average yearly cost to "own" an active name.

 

[RegFee]

What does it cost a year to own a domain name (generally speaking).

http://www.namepros.com/registerindex.php

Here's a great resource put out by NamePros. I don't know how up to date it is, but it should give you a good idea of the cost of registrars. Prices will vary by extension (.com, .net, .org, etc) so you may have to shop around if you want a crazy extension. I use Moniker.com with domainer pricing (do a forum search to learn how to get your price adjusted) but you can also use Namecheap.com or get a free enom reseller account with cheaper pricing.

Assume I regged a name for $7.00 with xyz registrar, then do I have to turn around and pay a company to host the name for the name to be a functional website?

Most registrars will provide you with a landing page, however, do some research about "parking companies" such as NameDrive.com and Sedo.com which host small pages full of ads and pay you when people click them. This is generally free, the company makes money off of the clicks too.

If parked, does that cost me money out of pocket?

See above

Do the yearly fixed costs of a site vary based on the size of the site (not refering to site development costs).

The "fixed" costs of a site vary based on traffic in general. If you create the next MySpace overnight, expect to pay a pretty penny for the usage. Another factor is what you mentioned: size. A lot of hosts will claim to give you unlimited hosting (disk size) but they will actually limit your bandwidth (traffic allowance) to make up for it.

I use DreamHost.com and have never had any (major) problems. Do some searching for discount codes, members are allowed to create their own coupon codes for friends and you can usually find someone to generate a code giving the max amount.

I am a little confused on this and want to know upfront more of an idea of average yearly cost to "own" an active name.

There is a difference between building a site and parking a name (although some companies let you build mini-sites with their parking programs, but those are still essentially just ad-filled pages).

Check out this site for an intro to domaining:
http://namenewbie.com/

Have fun,
Jorge

 

[projdn]

thanks for the info.

there is so much for a newbie to digest from all the info. available on domains, that sometimes the answers to the most simple questions can be elusive. ill definitely take a look at those threads.

 

[weblord]

domain registration per year = U.S.$7 to U.S.$10
web hosting = depends on the hosting provider can be paid either monthly or yearly