In the wake of the devastating coronavirus pandemic, many small businesses have had to move their in-person operations online, and quickly. To assist those affected, Mailchimp—an online marketing automation platform and email marketing service—is providing free domain registration for five years to any business utilizing their site-building tool.
2021/07 Update – we were recently approached by bestemailmarketingsoftware.com as they published a Mailchimp review, we definitely recommend going over it if you’re considering Mailchimp.
Mailchimp’s website building tool was launched just a year ago and was recently moved out of the beta version. For those who are shopping around trying to find the best deal during the coronavirus pandemic, Mailchimp’s offer is definitely the most attractive.
Other website building companies like Wix or Squarespace provide just one year of free domain registration after you sign up for a paid hosting package, whereas Mailchimp offer is good for five full years.
Mailchimp further stands out from its competition because you can access the deal without having to commit financially. The website builder is completely free to use. Of course, you can opt-in and upgrade to various plans such as email marketing for $10 if you think it will help you grow your business.
This deal is especially attractive to many people who normally own an in-person business and haven’t needed an online presence before. Setting up a domain name can be one of the first hurdles that a company has to overcome because, typically, it costs money. Businesses have to commit financially before they are even sure if it is worthwhile to host an online website.
“There’s sort of this internet tax you pay right at the outset before you know if this thing you’re going to do is going to work,” says Mailchimp chief product officer John Foreman.
Mailchimp is helping to eliminate this financial barrier by offering their free domain registration for up to five years—a value of up to $125. Users continue to get access to the deal for the full five years as long as they publish a website within 11 months of registering your domain. However, if their users decide to use a different website building service, they will also have to move their domain to another—likely paid—service.
Mailchimp’s Website Plan Features
When choosing a new hosting plan, it is important that you look through all the offered features to ensure it can keep your website safe. Some of the features of hosting your website through Mailchimp include:
- More than 200 domain extensions: Mailchimp has a plethora of domain extensions you can use, including .com, .net, .org, .info, and .club. If your chosen domain name has already been taken in one domain extension, consider checking out another extension.
- Secure: Mailchimp is taking security and privacy seriously. All contact information will be kept secure on the WHOIS database with WHOIS privacy.
- Multichannel marketing. Mailchimp is primarily a marketing company, which means that you can access its marketing platform when you register your domain through Mailchimp. The platform includes seven channels, CRM, and automations.
Is the Website Builder Worth It?
For those who are deciding if Mailchimp is right for them, check out its new website builder first. The new drag-and-drop website builder lets you customize your website without knowing a single line of code. You can even use the website builder with the free plan, which is great for small owners who simply need to get a website up and running quickly. The builder is pretty easy to use, but the design options are limited as the changes you can make to the template are limited to just color and font.
Likely, the website builder will be ideal for a small business, but as it grows, it will likely outgrow Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s Growing Services
One of the biggest benefits of choosing Mailchimp over other website builders is the access to the email marketing services that are designed to help small businesses grow their businesses.
Foreman says that while the free domain registration was already in progress before the pandemic started, they fast-tracked the idea to help people during this difficult time. He also believes that Mailchimp’s users can not only create a beautiful website informing the public of their business and services but also utilize some of Mailchimp’s other services as well. For example, businesses will be able to easily email their customers what services they are providing, like gift card sales, online streaming classes, free shipping, curb-sized pickup, and more. Customers can also use Mailchimp’s survey-building tools to discover what exactly the small business’ customers want during the coronavirus outbreak.
The free domain registration isn’t the only aid that Mailchimp is offering small businesses at this time. The company is also committing up to $10 million to give free services to small businesses affected by the pandemic. It is also providing access to its services for free to local governments, nonprofits, and schools.
Mailchimp’s offer expires at the end of May, and the quantities are limited. Get started on building your website today.
