How To Find The Right Domain Without Breaking The Bank

There are many high costs involved when setting up a new business venture, but launching a website doesn’t have to be one of them. It’s possible to purchase a cheap domain and build a website at minimal cost by following these simple steps:

#1. Come to UK2.

Although we are proud to focus on quality rather than quantity, we do stock some impressively cheap domains. It’s possible to buy one for just 99 pence over the first year. However, to secure a truly cheap domain you need to be flexible about top level domains…

#2. Choose a less obvious top level domain.

Many people pay a premium for.com or .co.uk TLDs, but there are hundreds of new domain extensions to choose from. Lesser-known examples like .me and .site are often much more affordable. You won’t be marked down by Google and Bing for adopting a less common TLD, either.

#3. Use a website building tool, rather than paying a professional.

UK2 offers a Website Builder tool with 165 customisable templates, designed for desktop and mobile devices. Our tool is optimised for search engines, encompassing social media integration and an image editor, plus SSL certificates for https security.

#4. Limit your email accounts.

It costs just 99p a month to add a customised email address to some of our domain purchases. However, purchasing ten (or even 100) email accounts inevitably increases the cost. Try to choose a hello@ or info@ address, which isn’t specific to one named person if the company expands.

#5. Select our Budget Hosting.

For less than a pound a month, UK2 gives you two years of cheap domain hosting. You’ll receive 500MB of disk space for files and folders, and we’ll support up to 5,000 monthly visits. That should be enough for most websites, and our acclaimed 24/7 tech support is included as well.

#6. Avoid co.uk TLDs if your budget is super-tight.

Launching a site with the UK’s country code TLD is a great idea, as it identifies your home market. However, the .uk TLD goes on general sale next year. Anyone with a co.uk site should buy the .uk domain as well, to avoid confusion – or rivals camping out on their doorstep!

It’s easy to check whether your preferred domain name is available, by entering it into our homepage Search bar. If a site has a red X next to it, that means it’s in use – though it might be parked. This occurs when someone decides not to publish content at a web address they own but isn’t ready to relinquish ownership either.

It’s sometimes possible to purchase a parked domain, though a keen buyer will be at a disadvantage in terms of negotiating a good deal. We’d always recommend waiting until a parked domain is released onto the open market. Any reputation it had amassed among the search engines quickly dissipates, effectively creating a blank canvas with no history or heritage attached.