What Is .com Domain?

The .com domain is a top-level domain which stands for commercial. Managed by Verisign, it is one of the oldest domains, with the first .com domain being registered on March 15th, 1985. Since then, .com has become one of the most popular domain names, as 37.16% of all registered domains are .com.

In Which Scenarios Should You Use the .com Domain?

The first domain ever registered was symbolics.com, belonging to a computer manufacturer. However, .com domains can be used for all kinds of purposes, except in cases where you need a more specific domain name, like .org for organizations or .edu for educational institutions. So, you should use the .com domain for the following:

• Personal brands and blogs.
• Online shops.
• Professional business websites.
• International websites.
• Any other website that sells products or services for a profit, a.k.a. commercial websites.

Regulations

There are no registration restrictions or specific regulations that you need to follow to register a .com domain. Also, any individual or business can register as many .com domains as they want.

Since there are no rules you need to follow to register a .com domain name, many big companies have struggled with people snatching their domain names right under their noses. Some have even entered into legal disputes with people who registered domain names that sounded similar to the company’s name. One famous case is Nissan Motors v. Nissan Computer.

Another case is Microsoft’s case against Mike Rowe. Back in August 2023, a Canadian high school student registered his own domain name called MikeRoweSoft.com (see what he did there). He set it up as a part-time web design business, deliberately choosing the name because it sounds almost identical to Microsoft.

The people at Microsoft weren’t happy about this and saw it as a trademark infringement of their own name. So, they sued, demanding that Mike give up the domain name. In the end, Mike Rowe and Microsoft settled, agreeing that the company would take over the domain name and pay for Mike’s legal expenses and a few other perks.

How to Register .com Domain?

To register a .com domain, you’ll need to figure out what the name of your domain will be, find a domain registrar that provides .com domains, check if the domain name is available via WhoIs Lookup, and buy it. Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide.

Steps on How to Register .com Domain?

Before we get into it, you should know that a lot of .com domains are already out of the market since it’s a popular extension. So, your first pick might not be available, but you can make a few tweaks to it to find an available version.

1. Choose a suitable domain registrar.
2. Add your domain name to your cart and purchase it.
3. Secure your domain with Domain Privacy addons or any other DNS-related security and privacy features that your registrar offers.

[Note] If the domain name you want isn’t available, you can check if it is on sale and buy it from the holder. If it isn’t on sale, you can choose another domain name. Another solution is to buy the domain from “dealers” – people who buy domains just for the purpose of reselling them later. [Note]

Our Recommended Places to Register

Since the .com domain is so popular, you’ll have a wide range of registers to choose from. Here are our top picks:

GoDaddy – GoDaddy is one of the most popular domain name registrars in the world. It includes free domain privacy on all its domains, offers WHOIS domain lookup, a domain name generator, and much more.

Bluehost – Bluehost has a smaller domain name selection than GoDaddy. Still, it’s one of the best registrars available, providing domain privacy, domain lock, domain forwarding, and more.

HostGator – with HostGator, you can register a new or transfer an old domain name, get domain privacy for an additional fee, and look up domains via the WHOIS database.

Right now, .com domain names go for as low as $2.98 and as high as $56. However, those prices only last a year because many registrars engage in price hacks, resulting in much higher renewal prices after the first year. For example, you can get a .com domain name from Bluehost for $12.99, but it will jump to $19.99 after the first year ends.

Perfect Partners for Your .com Domain

Hosting – registering a domain name isn’t enough to get a website up and running. You also need web hosting, a service that stores all your website’s files and makes them available to the public. There are thousands of providers out there, but you can use this site to narrow your search and find the perfect provider that suits your needs.

SSL Protection – have you noticed the “HTTPS” prefix in some URLs? Usually, URLs start with HTTP, but the “S” is added when a site gets SSL protection, making it more secure and allowing it to rank better on search engines.

Premium DNS – premium DNS services will protect your site from online attacks. Also, it’ll prevent data leaks.

Private Email – getting private email instead of using providers like Gmail or Yahoo allows you to have a more professional email address and better security. You can also sync it with your domain name.

Domain Information for .com

Popular .com Domains

Here are some of the most popular .com domains:

• google.com (Ahrefs rank: 98) – google.com is the world’s largest search engine.
• youtube.com (Ahrefs rank: 99) – youtube is an online video-sharing platform.
• facebook.com (Ahrefs rank: 100) – Facebook is a social media platform.

.com Domain Alternatives

.net – Register your brand with .net, the second most common domain name extension.

.org – Another alternative is .org, the third most common extension.

.co – Secure your domain with .co, the newer and shorter version of .com.