Committing to a multi-year purchase throws the possibility of forgetting to renew the domain well into the future.
I’ve no definitive data on this, but it seems to me that the cost of renewing domain names is rising ahead of inflation. Depending on the type of domain we have, and the registrar or reseller, it may be possible to register the domain name for multiple years, possibly even for a discount. It might be worth considering doing just that.
Renewing domain names for the minimum period (usually one year) offers three advantages: we’re spending the minimum amount of money now, so the accounts department would approve; we’re not running the risk of having wasted money if we don’t need the domain in future; and we have flexibility to move registrars at an earlier date. But these aren’t huge benefits. The annual cost is probably under £20, after all.
Committing to a multi-year purchase can save money with some registrars; but best of all, it throws the possibility of forgetting to renew the domain well into the future. To me, out of all the pros and cons, this is the big one. I have loads of domains registered for various businesses, organisations, friends and family, and when I occasionally visit the domain name registrar to discover there’s nothing up for renewal in the next couple of years, I just sleep a bit more soundly at night.
Just ensure that if you’re registering your website domain years into the future, that the full renewal details and a reminder are well documented for your successor. Write an email about it to the generic marketing or IT department address at somewhere like futureme.