The one certain thing about domain names is that there will always be a cost associated with registering them. The registrar that you use must pay registrars a set price for domains, regardless of what price they charge you.

Coming October 1, there will be yet another price increase, thanks to Verisign, which is the registrar that oversees the .com and .net extension.

Because of this increase, you may wish to consider registering or renewing before the end of this month, so that you can take advantage of the current price structure. On that day, registrars will be charged $6.86 for .com domains, and $4.23 for .net domains. Of course, to absorb this increase, the price that they charge you will be increased. By now, you should have gotten e-mail notifications from your registrar informing you of the increase, and urging you to register or renew now. That is excellent advice. By renewing or registering before October 1, you “lock in” the prices that are currently in effect, whether you do it for one year, two years, or 10.

This isn’t the only upcoming increase. On November 9, Public Interest Registry, which oversees the .org domains, will increase the price they charge registrars to $6.75, from the current $6.15.

Increases come often; registries do have operating costs, and they are in business just like we all are. There are pros and cons to registering your domain for long periods of time, but if you renew your domain now for 10 years, that means you won’t be affected by registry increases until 2018.