For most people in the domain investment business, domain name registrations, domain renewals, and transfers make up a big part of our overhead. We all want to save money on domain registrations, and finding domain name coupons can help reduce the cost of domain ownership. I want to share some tips on finding coupons for domain registrations and transfers.
I wrote about this topic a couple of years ago, but here’s additional insight that should be able to help you save money on domain names, no matter what domain registrar you prefer to use.
10 tips to find domain name coupons:
- Search Google or Bing: Many domain registrars such as Go Daddy and Network Solutions look at domain names as loss leaders, meaning they are willing to sell them for less than cost in order to make money on upsells and renewals in the future. They advertise domain name deals and coupon codes using Adwords campaigns to make them easy to find. Search Google or Bing for terms like “domain name deals,” “domain name coupons,” and “cheap domain names,” and you’ll find lots of coupons and deals.
- Check your registrar emails: Oftentimes on your renewal emails or other notices sent by domain registrars, there will be a coupon code to save money on domain names, transfers, and even renewals. Some of these are great prices and others aren’t really deals, but check out those communications for special offers.
- Coupon websites: There are a number of coupon sites like RetailMeNot.com and FatWallet.com that offer coupon and promo codes for domain names. Most of these are related to domain registrations and not renewals or transfers, but if you are looking for coupons, you might have luck there.
- Blogs & other domain industry websites: A number of blogs promote coupon codes and discounts for a variety of products and services. Some of these are affiliate links and probably aren’t the best deal, and some promote special coupons they find elsewhere. I know Domainsville has a section where coupon codes and offers are listed, so that may be a good place. I see that Domain Shane also regularly posts deals that he finds.
- Twitter: Twitter is a great place to find special promo codes that are promoted by the registrar throughout the year. Dynadot and Name.com often promote their promo codes on Twitter, so you might want to follow those accounts if you use those domain registrars. I’ve seen renewal discounts offered by both registrars on Twitter, and those are more difficult to find.
- Company blog or website: Namecheap is one of the most prolific domain discounters, and their special offers and deals are often announced on their blog. The company is a big supporter of Internet rights, and when they are backing a campaign such as CISPA Action Week, you can almost guarantee there will be transfer deals.
- Refer a friend deals: Some domain registrars promote “refer a friend” deals. They give you a special code that you can send to friends or colleagues, and if they use the code, you’ll earn some account credits while giving your friend the discount.
- Hosting company and partner offers: Along the lines of upsells is cross-sells. Many hosting companies that aren’t domain registrars have relationships with certain domain registrars. When you sign up for hosting at a hosting company, you can probably find domain name coupons listed on the website, your control panel, or your welcome emails.
- Domain forums: Some domain forums (like DNForum) have subforums for companies to advertise coupons and special offers. On other forums, people will post special offers they see and hear about. Word of mouth deals may be more difficult to find, but if someone takes the time to write about it, I would imagine the deal is probably very good.
- Ask the domain registrar: Sometimes domain registrars can give you discounts or deals when you ask. If you have a high volume of registrations that you may want to transfer out, you can contact the domain registrar to see if they have a special offer to save your business. Many will hook you up simply by asking (more likely to work with smaller registrars).
Searching around for coupons is fun but time consuming. Well worth it when sometimes you can save 90% on registering a name. I have found the absolute best way is visit NamePros.com and click on the first topic, Domain name discussion, and then click on Godaddy discount codes and choose last page and every single code that you can ever find is always posted here. If the code exists I can promise you it is listed here. Save yourself time and money.
Good call – thanks for sharing.
When you search “cheap domains” on google the GODaddy link on the yellow results always has a coupon. Don’t try to hard.
Thanks for the mention Elliot. It’s funny because I actually put the banner at the top for myself. Every time I renew I couldn’t remember the code so I put it where I could find it. I don’t register a lot of names but I am always renewing.
My site DomainNamePromoCodes dot com but no traffic, what do you recommend? Thanks.
Probably adding content and unique offers.
Very useful, Elliot. My favourite and quickest way of finding a domain coupon is by subscribing to related threads at domain forums. Especially at NamePros, there’s a huge GoDaddy discussion which is basically the place where coupons from all around the Internet are reported.
what’s the best code to renew GoDaddy .com ???
I just gave you 10 ways to find coupons… can’t be too difficult to find one 🙂
I’ve been using domainpricemonitor.com for some time now. Lists coupons for regs, renewals, transfers for all the major registrars. Nice android app too.
My new strategy has really evolved into only registering names with the one or two dollar discount codes. I keep a list of names that I would want for business interests, investing or resale and whenever the codes come along, register the top of my list.
Now, with a strategy like that i am only picking up 2-3 names a month. The benefit is that I am saving the $20-30 a month it would normally cost me so there is a lot less risk. One problem I occasionally have is that the names on my list may no longer be available when the codes are around. To save the money though, that’s a risk I like taking.
Codes for New Names aren’t that hard to find. What about Codes for renewals that work? Anyone find those that bring down renewal costs to $1 to $3 a name similar to the new name coupons? Also, FireFox has some cool plugins for coupons across a multitude of retailers including registrars. Not perfect, but pretty good.
Retailmenot.com is still the best choice for the coupons.
Thanks for the tips!
I found a $2 domain name deal with Go Daddy! Wooohooo! Use code: SCHOOL
Great Tip’s for Saving Money. I want Best Coupons for Domain Name. Thank you very much for Sharing.
Great Article. can you say me “What is is Best Site to sell coupon code in very cheap Price?”