Architecture Notes
2.4.1 · Brand

Registering a Domain — What I Chose Then, and What I'd Consider Now

2026.07.12~4 min

00Overview

01Story

Situation

As 2.4 put it, the custom domain sits at the center of the brand foundation. It has to be registered somewhere.

Complication

Registrars are countless. Prices differ, bundled features differ, and at the start even the criteria for choosing are fuzzy.

Question

Out of all the registrars — what do you actually choose on?

02Solution

Criteria

  • Whois privacy (proxy publication of registrant info)
  • A price that doesn't strain a solo budget

Answer

The requirement at the time was simple: "anyone with Whois privacy will do." The handy option that met it was Onamae.com, a mainstream registrar here. The domain itself followed the name from 2.2.1: lycoapp.com.

Reason

Because at registration time, I needed nothing more from a registrar. Hide the personal details behind Whois privacy, pay a sane price — done.

Rather than agonize over comparisons,
register where the requirements are met, and move on.

Domains can be moved later. So this light-footed way of deciding is fine.

That said, my thinking has shifted a little since. Registering the same domain at Cloudflare might have been just as good. There, edge delivery (fast serving from servers worldwide) and web analytics come integrated with the domain. At the time, I simply didn't have that vantage point yet.

Options

  • Register at Cloudflare — edge delivery and analytics in one place. A strong pick today; at registration time the need just wasn't visible yet.
  • Other registrars — plenty of choice, but once Whois privacy — the sole requirement — is met, the differences are small.

03Result

Good

A domain meeting the requirements, registered cheaply and without dithering. The brand's central address is in hand.

Bad

One constraint surfaces later: both the domain and its DNS authority sit with the registrar, and Cloudflare holds no zone. That rules out Cloudflare's zone-level features — for instance IndexNow, the instant search-engine notification. Little practical harm so far, but it lives in my head as a known limitation of the setup.

Follow-up

Domains can move, so a Cloudflare transfer stays on the list as the project grows. First, though: put a website on this domain. Continued in 2.4.2 Publishing a website.