Register a .biz domain: who can, rules, price and transfer

A .biz domain is the international extension for businesses and entrepreneurs. Anyone can register one, wherever they live: you do not need a company registration number or a local address. At LJPc hosting a .biz domain costs €24.99 a year excluding VAT, with DNS management included, and you order or transfer it in the customer portal.

Below you find what .biz is, when it suits you, which rules a .biz name follows, what it costs and how to register or transfer a .biz domain.

What is a .biz domain?

.biz stands for business. The extension has existed since 2001 and, together with .info, was one of the first new extensions alongside the original ones such as .com, .net and .org. NeuLevel launched .biz; today the registry is GoDaddy Registry, officially Registry Services, LLC.

.biz is a generic extension, like .com and .info. Transfers, changes of holder, expiry and disputes therefore follow the worldwide rules of ICANN, the organisation that sets the rules for generic extensions. How all these extensions came about is covered in the history of domain names.

Who can register a .biz domain?

Anyone. According to GoDaddy Registry, .biz is open to businesses, organisations and individuals around the world, on a first-come, first-served basis. You do not have to prove anything up front: no company registration and no business documents.

When .biz launched in 2001, a .biz name had to be used mainly for business or commercial purposes. The registry's current agreement with ICANN, dated 30 June 2019, no longer contains that requirement. The registry does ask that your use fits the purpose of the extension, and .biz is meant for businesses, entrepreneurs and commercial organisations. An online shop, your freelance business or a commercial service fits well.

When you register, you agree to the registry's rules:

• Correct details. The holder's details are correct, and you pass on any change within 14 days. If the registry asks you to confirm or update your details, you respond within 14 days; otherwise the registry can suspend or cancel the domain.
• Fair use. The registry has a rapid procedure against abuse for .biz. If a .biz domain is used for phishing, malware, spam, botnets or other abuse, the registry can lock, block or delete it.
• For yourself and within the law. You register the domain for yourself or your own organisation, and the name and its use comply with the law and the registry's rules. If your name affects someone else's trademark or name, they can challenge it through a dispute procedure.

When should you choose .biz?

The extension shows straight away that there is a business behind the website. GoDaddy Registry itself presents .biz as a strong alternative when the .com name you want is taken.

You redirect a .biz domain to your main site as neatly as any other domain; redirect a domain to another website explains how.

Google treats .biz as a generic extension, like .com: the extension itself does not tie your website to a country. Whether people in a particular country find you depends on your website itself, such as the language of your content, a local address and links from other websites in that country. That is set out in Google's guidelines for multi-regional websites.

Which rules does a .biz name follow?

• Length. At LJPc you register a .biz name of 3 to 63 characters, not counting the .biz extension.
• Characters. The letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen. A hyphen cannot be at the start or end of the name, and not in both the third and fourth position, as in ab--cd.biz.
• Accented letters. The registry also allows names with letters from fifteen languages, including German, Spanish, Polish and Swedish, as well as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Dutch is not among them. You choose one language when you register, and every letter in the name comes from that language. Not every email program or web form handles these characters well, so for your main domain a name without accents is the safer choice.
• Reserved and premium names. The registry holds back some names, such as names of international organisations and of the Red Cross. Others it offers as premium names at a higher price.

In the portal's order wizard you type a .biz name using the letters a to z, digits and hyphens. Want a .biz domain with accented letters? Open a support ticket and we will look into it with you. If the order wizard shows Premium domain, contact us next to a name, you order that name through a support ticket; the button opens the ticket for you. Order a domain and hosting in the customer portal explains how that works.

How much does a .biz domain cost at LJPc?

A .biz domain costs €24.99 a year at LJPc hosting, excluding VAT. You pay the same amount when you transfer an existing .biz domain to us: a transfer adds a year to the domain's term. Prices differ from one provider to the next. The order wizard shows the price before you order, and our domain names page lists current prices for all extensions.

You choose hosting for your website and email on top. You can also take DNS management only, or redirect the domain to another website. Our plans are on the web hosting page.

How to register a .biz domain at LJPc

1. Log in at portal.ljpc.nl and click Add a website on the dashboard, or open the order wizard directly. No account yet? Create one first.
2. Choose I am looking for one or want to register one and type the name with .biz, for example yourdomain.biz. You see straight away whether it is available and what it costs per year, with other extensions alongside.
3. Select the .biz domain and then what it should do: a hosting plan, DNS management only, a redirect plan, or a server or hosting space you already have with us.
4. In the cart, check the Registration contact: the details the domain is registered under. For .biz your regular contact details are enough: the cart asks for nothing extra.
5. Accept the terms and conditions and complete your order. We then handle the registration with the registry.

Every choice in the order wizard is described in register a domain and link it to your hosting. You then find your .biz domain in the portal under Services > Domain names. If the name you want is taken, backorder a domain name explains how to claim it for the moment it becomes available.

What LJPc takes care of for your .biz domain

• Automatic renewal every year. Automatic renewal is on by default, so your .biz domain keeps running as long as your subscription does. To stop, see cancel a domain or hosting.
• DNS and DNSSEC. Your domain gets our nameservers ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network, and we switch DNSSEC on automatically. How that protection works is explained in what is DNSSEC.
• Your transfer code always at hand. On your domain's page in the portal, the transfer code is in the Authorization code block.
• The transfer lock under your control. With the Transfer lock switch you turn the transfer lock of your .biz domain on or off yourself.
• Your details under your control. You update the contact details of your domain yourself in the portal, as described in manage the WHOIS data of your domain. If the domain needs to move to someone else's name, see change the owner of a domain: for .biz you first give your approval through an email in your portal inbox.

Transfer your .biz domain to LJPc

You transfer a .biz domain with a transfer code, also called an authorization code or EPP code. You get that code from your current provider.

1. Are your website and email moving too? Set them up with us first, because a domain transfer does not move your website and email for you. Migrate your website to LJPc explains how.
2. Ask your current provider for the transfer code and have the transfer lock on the domain turned off.
3. Open the order wizard, choose I already have one at another registrar, enter your .biz domain and choose Transfer to LJPc. Enter the transfer code. The portal checks straight away whether the transfer can go ahead with that code.
4. Choose your hosting or DNS management only and complete your order. We start the transfer and you follow its status in the portal.

If your current provider does not respond to the transfer, the registry approves it automatically after five days. In the first 60 days after registration or after a previous transfer the registry blocks a transfer, and after a change of holder a 60-day transfer lock applies by default. How to follow the transfer, what to do with an approval email and what to do if it gets stuck is covered in transfer your domain to LJPc.

Transfer your .biz domain from LJPc to another provider

If your .biz domain is moving to another provider, you handle the transfer code and the transfer lock yourself in the portal:

1. Open the page of your .biz domain in the portal.
2. In the Authorization code block, click Show to see the transfer code, or Copy to copy it.
3. In the Domain overview block, find Transfer lock and click the switch so it shows Off.
4. Give the code to your new provider, who uses it to request the transfer.

What else is involved, such as the end of your subscription with us, is covered in get your transfer code and move your domain.

Keep your .biz domain at another registrar

If you want to keep your .biz domain at your current registrar and only host your website or email with us, the domain does not need to move. You connect it with our nameservers, as described in change your nameservers, or with individual DNS records, as described in point a domain at another provider to LJPc hosting. Not sure where your domain is registered? Look it up with who manages my domain.

Expired or cancelled

After the expiry date the registry gives the registrar up to 45 days to renew a .biz domain. If the domain is deleted, a 30-day redemption period follows, in which only the holder can get it back through their registrar, and then 5 days of pending delete. After that the name becomes available to everyone. What the statuses in the portal mean and how to get your domain back is covered in expired domains and quarantine. If the portal shows Expired, Redemption period or Pending delete for your .biz domain, open a support ticket right away.

Received an invoice or renewal email for your .biz domain from a company you do not know? Hold off on paying. How to spot a fake domain invoice shows what to look for.

WHOIS and disputes

The public .biz WHOIS shows which registrar manages a domain, its status and when it was registered and expires. The holder's name, email address and street address are not in it: the registrar keeps those details. Anyone with a legitimate reason can request them through the registrar.

If someone claims rights to a .biz name, for example because it is their trademark, that goes through ICANN's dispute policy (UDRP), the rapid suspension procedure URS, or the courts. The registry's rules, such as its registration policy and its procedure against abuse, are on GoDaddy Registry's policy page.

Not sure whether .biz suits you, or is a transfer stuck? Open a support ticket and we will look into it with you.