Registering a domain is something we do very very often, it’s not expensive and guarantees out full ownership over the traffic and brand name, if you have one. You have to bear in mind that your domain name is your property, and as been a part of your property which most likely brings decent revenue, you have to protect it.

One of the biggest mistakes you should avoid is - getting a “free” domain. You can obtain a domain name for free by forum posting (hostbidder.com, ddboard.com are some of these) or when you register for an annual hosting plan, as a bonus, most companies give away a domain name. I am not saying there is a catch and that you don’t get to avail of the domain, problem is, you don’t always get to own it. Companies, especially small ones, get resold and domains “pass” to the current owner, who may choose to take it away from you and there is not much you can do. I personally heard many dreadful stories about people working on their domain’s traffic and ranking and end up losing it only because this domain was initially free.

Remember, domains can be registered using a coupon code and different discounts, which means for about 7-8 USD a year, you get a guarantee your property will stick with you, of course assuming you register with one of the big companies such as enom.com or godaddy.com. I’d recommend namecheap.com (enom’s reseller), to which I just transferred my other domain - toptut.com. They are reasonably cheap and very fast, at least transferring a domain to namecheap was significantly faster than to godaddy.com. Bottom line is, 8$ a year is about 60 cents a month, and believe me, even a low traffic site with PR1 is worth the investment.