Your domain name is the one part of your business that customers type, say aloud and remember. This workbook takes you from a blank page to a registered name in an afternoon: a scoring sheet for your shortlist, the real cost of each extension, and the checks that stop you buying a name you cannot keep. Prices are Domain India list prices on 6 September 2026, per year, excluding 18% GST unless stated.
The rule of five. A good business domain is (1) short enough to say in one breath, (2) spelt the way it sounds, (3) free of hyphens and numbers, (4) on an extension your customers trust (.in or .com for an Indian business), and (5) not somebody else's trademark. Score every candidate against the sheet in section 2, register the winner for two or more years, and add the .in/.com twin if it is free.
1. Start from the business, not from what is available
Write down three things before you open a search box:
- What customers call you. If people already say "Meera's Kitchen", the domain should contain those words, not a clever alternative.
- Where you sell. A Chennai bakery, a pan-India SaaS product and an export firm need different extensions (section 3).
- How the name will be used. Printed on a van and read out on the phone? Short and phonetic wins. Typed from an Instagram bio? Length matters less than memorability.
Then brainstorm at least ten candidates. Combine your name with what you do (meeraskitchen), a place (kitchenchennai), a promise (freshbymeera) or a coined word (meerabakes). Do not judge yet; the scoring sheet does that.
2. Score your shortlist
Give each candidate 0, 1 or 2 points per row. Anything under 8 out of 12 goes back to the brainstorm.
| Test | 2 points | 1 point | 0 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short | 6–10 characters before the dot | 11–15 characters | 16 or more |
| Sayable | Reads aloud in one breath, no explanation | Needs one clarification ("with a k") | Needs spelling out |
| Spellable | One obvious spelling | Two plausible spellings | Deliberate misspelling or slang |
| Clean | No hyphen, no digit | One hyphen or digit | Both, or several |
| Brandable | Works as a business name on its own | Descriptive but generic | Only makes sense with context |
| Extension fit | .in or .com matching your market | A relevant new extension (.shop, .store, .tech) | An extension chosen only because it was free |
Two worked examples (example names, availability not checked):
| Candidate | Short | Sayable | Spellable | Clean | Brandable | Extension fit | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| meeraskitchen.in | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| meeras-kitchen-chennai-2024.com | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
The first is registrable today for ₹575 and will still be the right name in ten years. The second has a hyphen, a digit, a year that dates it, and needs to be spelt out on every phone call.
Search engines give a domain's words little weight on their own; content and links do the ranking. A keyword-stuffed name such as bestcakesonlinechennai.com is harder to say, looks less trustworthy in a search result and locks you into one product. Use the business name in the domain and put the keywords on the pages.
3. Which extension, and what it really costs
The extension changes the price, the renewal price and what your customers assume about you. Domain India lists over 500 extensions; these are the ones that matter for most Indian businesses.
| Extension | Register (year 1) | Renew (per year) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| .in | ₹575 | ₹625 | Any business selling in India; free WHOIS privacy |
| .co.in | ₹475 | ₹525 | Indian companies; cheapest of the family |
| .com | ₹1,150 | ₹1,150 | Businesses with customers outside India, or any brand that wants the default |
| .org | ₹1,108 | ₹1,108 | Non-profits, associations, community projects |
| .net | ₹1,438 | ₹1,769 | Rarely the first choice today; take it defensively if .com is yours |
| .shop | ₹3,775 | ₹4,259 | Online stores that want the word in the name |
| .store | ₹4,708 | ₹5,285 | Same, larger budget |
| .online | ₹3,015 | ₹3,315 | Services delivered remotely |
| .tech | ₹5,651 | ₹6,005 | Technology brands |
| .io | ₹5,651 | ₹6,005 | Software products and start-ups |
| .app / .dev | ₹1,850 / ₹1,509 | ₹2,028 / ₹1,757 | Apps and developer tools; both require HTTPS by design |
| .भारत (.bharat) | ₹1,025 | ₹1,285 | Reaching Hindi-language customers in their own script |
Three rules that follow from the table:
- For an Indian business, register the .in first. It is the cheapest widely trusted extension, it tells customers you are local, and WHOIS privacy is included at no cost (on most other extensions privacy is an add-on at ₹300 a year).
- Add the .com if it is free. ₹1,150 a year is cheap insurance against a competitor or a squatter taking your name in the extension most people type by default. Point it at the same website.
- Choose a new extension (.shop, .tech, .io) for the brand, not the price. Every one of them renews at a higher price than it registers for, and they are three to ten times the cost of a .in every year.
Year 1 is the smallest number you will ever pay for a domain. Budget on the renewal price times the number of years you intend to trade. A .in costs ₹575 + 4 × ₹625 = ₹3,075 over five years; a .tech costs ₹5,651 + 4 × ₹6,005 = ₹29,671 for the same period.
4. Protect the brand without buying the whole internet
You do not need thirty variations. You need the ones a customer might type or a competitor might buy.
| Bundle | What you register | Year 1 | Each later year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | .in only | ₹575 | ₹625 |
| Recommended | .in + .com | ₹1,725 | ₹1,775 |
| Company | .in + .co.in + .com | ₹2,200 | ₹2,300 |
Point every extra domain at your main site so a typed .com lands on the .in. Register a misspelling only if your name has one obvious wrong spelling that customers actually use; otherwise the money is better spent on a second year of renewal.
All extensions in the table can be registered for one to ten years at a time. Registering the main name for two or three years costs nothing extra per year and removes a common way businesses lose a domain: a missed renewal email.
5. Check availability, then check the trademark
- Search the exact name at Domain India domain search. Search the .in and the .com together; if only one is free, decide now whether you can live without the other.
- Search the Indian Trade Marks Registry public search for the word part of your name in your class of goods or services. A registered mark owned by someone else in your line of business is a reason to drop the name, however good the domain is.
- Check the social handles you will use (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X). Consistency matters more than exact match; meeraskitchen.in with @meeraskitchen is ideal, @meeras_kitchen_official is not.
- Search the name in Google. If the first page is another business with the same name, customers will confuse you, whoever registered first.
- If the .in is taken, look up who holds it with the WHOIS lookup. A parked page with no business behind it may be for sale; an active business means move on.
A domain that copies a registered trademark can be taken from you through the .IN Dispute Resolution Policy or the UDRP for other extensions, after you have printed the stationery. The trademark search in step 2 takes ten minutes and is the only check in this guide that can save you a rebrand.
6. Register it properly
- Register it in the business's name. Use the company or proprietor as the registrant, with an email address that will still be read in five years. A domain registered by a freelancer or an ex-employee is a common ownership dispute we see in support.
- Complete the .in verification straight away. Every .in and .co.in registrant must verify the registrant email and complete a one-time eKYC (Aadhaar through DigiLocker, or passport for foreign nationals). Until both are done the registry can place the domain on hold. The article Understanding KYC Requirements for Domain Registration walks through it.
- Turn on auto-renew or register for several years, then set a calendar reminder for the expiry date anyway.
- Point the name at something the same day. Even a one-page "coming soon" page on the AI Website Builder tells customers and search engines the name is live.
Renewal reminders start well before expiry. A .in can still be renewed at the normal price for up to 36 days after it expires; after that it enters restoration, which costs ₹2,500 including GST for the .in family and ₹8,000 including GST for a .com, both including one year of renewal. A few weeks later the name is deleted and anyone can register it.
7. Names to avoid
Frequently asked questions
.in or .com for an Indian business?
.in first. It is cheaper (₹575 against ₹1,150), signals a local business and includes WHOIS privacy. Add the .com when your customers are outside India or when it is free and you want to stop anyone else taking it.
Is a longer, descriptive domain better for Google?
No. Search engines rank pages by content and links, not by the words in the domain. A short brand name with good pages beats a long keyword domain with thin ones.
Can I change my domain name later?
You can register a new one and redirect the old, but every printed material, listing, backlink and customer bookmark still points at the old name. Treat the choice as permanent and keep the old domain renewed for at least a year after a change.
Should I buy the misspellings too?
Only the one or two that customers actually type. Test it: ask five people to spell the name after hearing it once.
How many years should I register for?
Two to three for the main name. The per-year price is the same and it removes the risk of a missed renewal. The maximum is ten years.
Is WHOIS privacy included?
On .in, .co.in and the other .in family extensions, yes, at no cost, because the .IN registry does not publish registrant details. On .com and most other extensions WHOIS privacy is an optional add-on at ₹300 a year per domain, which you can switch on at any time from the Client Portal.
What if my preferred .in is taken?
Try the .co.in, add a word that describes what you do (meerabakes.in rather than meera.in), or use the WHOIS lookup to see whether the holder is trading. Do not register a near-identical name to an active business; it invites confusion and a dispute.
Can I move a domain I already own to Domain India?
Yes, through a domain transfer. The transfer price for most extensions equals the renewal price and adds a year to the registration.
Search once, see the .in and .com side by side, and register for up to ten years.
Search .in and .com availability