https://blog.margrop.net/en/tag/website/ Recent content in Website on Margrop Blog Hugo -- gohugo.io en-US Tue, 12 May 2026 19:10:00 +0800 https://blog.margrop.net/en/post/low-cost-xyz-domain-for-personal-labs/ Tue, 12 May 2026 19:10:00 +0800 https://blog.margrop.net/en/post/low-cost-xyz-domain-for-personal-labs/ <blockquote> <p><strong>Short version</strong></p> <p>If the domain is for a home lab, personal testing, temporary demos, API callbacks, development services, or other non-formal websites, I would first look at low-cost <code>.xyz</code> domains. In China, Tencent Cloud often makes this especially convenient for domestic users. For some pure numeric <code>.xyz</code> names with six or more digits, the checkout page may show a very low first-year and renewal price. If the price is 8 RMB per year, buying 10 years costs only 80 RMB.</p> <p>This is not a recommendation for company websites, public products, serious brands, payment systems, or long-term marketing pages. For those, a readable and trustworthy brand domain is still worth the money.</p> </blockquote> <p>When people start building a personal website, home lab, NAS callback endpoint, temporary API, reverse proxy, monitoring page, or small side project, they often overthink the domain name. Should it be a <code>.com</code>? Should it be short? Should it look like a real company? Should it use pinyin, English words, initials, or a private nickname?</p> <p>My practical answer is: first decide what the domain is supposed to do.</p> <p>If it is a serious public identity, choose the name carefully. If it is just a personal utility domain, do not spend too much money or attention on the name. In that case, the domain is not a brand asset. It is a stable handle for DNS, HTTPS, reverse proxy rules, ACME certificates, third-party callbacks, object storage, and temporary services.</p>