# 🔖 Domains

### About Custom Domains

Let's say you want your website URL to be something that doesn't end in '.neocities.com'. This is called a custom domain. Generally, to get a custom domain, you need to buy one from a **registrar**, and keep paying for it annually in order to keep it active. The last part of the domain — for example, '.com', '.net', or '.xyz' — is called a **TLD** (top-level domain). Often, different TLDs will be priced differently; some are very expensive, while many common ones can be purchased for less than $20 USD per year.

Here are some common steps you'll need to follow in order to set up a custom domain for your site:

- Choose a domain name (i.e. myexamplename.biz) and find a registrar that offers this name for sale. 
    - You will need to create an account and submit your payment to purchase the domain.
- Edit the DNS settings for your domain in order to point it to your site. 
    - The exact steps can vary based on your web host and domain registrar, so check the instructions on their websites, but generally, you will need to add one or more **DNS records** so that when someone visits your domain, they will see your website.
    - You can have a site on your **root domain** (i.e. myexamplename.biz), and you can also have as many sites as you want on **subdomains** of your domain (i.e. wow.myexamplename.biz, blog.myexamplename.biz, wiki.myexamplename.biz). You will want to choose which one to use before setting up DNS since the steps are different for root domains and subdomains.
- Wait for it to propagate. If the DNS changes worked properly, you should be able to go to your domain and see your site within a few minutes; however, it can take up to 72 hours for the domain to properly point to your site everywhere in the world.

### Domain Registrars

Here are a few registrars you can purchase a domain from. You might want to compare their prices for your chosen domain on a few different registrars before purchasing one.

#### Registrars we have heard are OK

- Porkbun [https://porkbun.com/](https://porkbun.com/)
- Gandi [https://www.gandi.net/en](https://www.gandi.net/en)
- Hover [https://www.hover.com/](https://www.hover.com/)
- Web Hosting Canada [https://whc.ca/en](https://whc.ca/en)

#### Registrars to avoid

- GoDaddy