A .az domain is the most familiar address for an Azerbaijani audience: customers see straight away that you're a local company, and the address is easy to remember and dictate over the phone. Buying a domain looks like a few minutes' work, but there are a few decisions here that are hard to undo later.
Which .az zone should you choose?
- company.az — the top level, the shortest and most widely used option.
- .com.az, .net.az, .org.az, .biz.az, .info.az — second-level zones. If the name you want is already taken in .az, they can be an alternative.
- .gov.az, .edu.az, .mil.az — only for the relevant organisations, and registration requires documents.
Many companies buy similar variants as well as their main domain (for example, both company.az and company.com.az) so that competitors or fraudsters can't use them.
Step by step
- Choose a name. Short, easy to spell and close to your company name. Avoid hyphens and digits where possible: names like "icode-az.az" get misspelled when said over the phone.
- Think about Azerbaijani letters. Letters like ə, ş and ç are usually written with their Latin equivalents in domain names (for example, "şəhər" → seher). Guess how customers will type the name and, if needed, buy both variants.
- Check that it's available. If the name you want is already taken, look at close variants or second-level zones.
- Register it. You register the domain through an accredited registrar or a hosting company, usually for one or more years.
- Connect the domain to your site. The domain is connected to hosting with DNS records — usually the hosting side does this. Changes can take a few hours to take effect across the internet.
- Renew on time. The domain has to be renewed every year (or after the period you chose). After a while, an expired domain can be bought by someone else.
Whose name should the domain be in?
Register the domain in your company's or your own name — not in the name of the developer or agency building the site. Otherwise getting the domain back when the work relationship ends can be difficult. Make sure the contact email is active: renewal reminders and important notices go there.
Frequently asked questions
I've bought a domain — will the site open straight away? No. A domain is just an address; the site itself needs hosting and a built website. Buying the domain early still makes sense, so the name you want isn't taken.
.az or .com? If you only work in Azerbaijan, .az. If you're also going international, you can buy both and redirect one to the other.
Does a domain come with email? A domain lets you create addresses like [email protected], but the mailboxes have to be set up separately.
Sort it all out in one place
If you want domain registration, hosting, DNS and your website handled in one place, see our services or write to us from your account. On keeping track of your domain's expiry: Keeping track of domain and SSL expiry.
