Domain registration

A domain name is a special symbolic address used to locate a website online. From a user perspective, a domain name is the same as a URL typed into a browser's address bar—for example, vdscom.ru.

A domain is purchased in one of several domain extensions. These can be international (.com, .net, .info, and many others), or national domains specific to a country—.ru (Russia), .by (Belarus), .kz (Kazakhstan), a region (.moscow), or even a company (.yandex). They can also have a "professional" component—.media, for example.

When choosing a domain extension, consider the website's profile and the geographic range of its visitors. In some cases, it's more appropriate to choose a local domain name rather than a national or even international one. Overall, the number of domain extensions is currently rapidly approaching a thousand, so there are plenty of suitable names for all websites.

Technically, nothing. In practice, they may differ in popularity and the number of available website names. For example, one of the oldest .com domains hasn't had a single "clean" name containing a single common word from the Oxford Dictionary for quite some time. But with newer domain extensions, you can buy a domain and register a website with a short, attractive name for a long time.

It's simple: try searching for it in a different domain extension or use our keyword search service. For example, you might want a domain with a specific word in a specific extension, but it's not available. The system will then find an alternative, either as an exact match in other domain extensions or in the one you originally wanted, by adding some prefixes or suffixes to your keyword. Let's say you wanted to register the domain ivanov.ru, but it's taken. The system will offer you a ton of domains—a-ivanov, ivanov-1992, and so on. You can then easily purchase it for the desired term.

Domain prices depend on the premium level of the extension, exchange rate fluctuations, and other factors. Sometimes a domain can immediately become more expensive simply because of its attractive name, but this is far from always the case (for example, such a price increase at the state registrar and national domain level was observed in neighboring Belarus).

Typically, a domain is purchased for a term of up to 10 years, but no less than one year. If a domain name is not renewed (or paid for) in a timely manner, it will be forfeited and become available for registration to the entire international community. Therefore, it is crucial to keep this in mind and renew your registration promptly.

The domain registration process itself takes an average of 5-10 minutes. All the technical procedures, once completed, make the domain available online, taking about 24 hours. After that, the domain name can be used and the website can be created.

Technically, you can provide an incorrect first name, last name, company name, and other personal information when registering a domain for your website in some domain extensions (including international ones). However, it's important to understand that if any disputes arise, you won't be able to prove that you registered the domain or that the domain, like the website in that extension, actually belongs to you.