Three: Contact The Domain Registrar
Many domain registrars now offer domain name privacy, which keeps the owners personal information from being listed in the WHOIS directory. Between that and GDPR legislation, the WHOIS directory is no longer a reliable way to find a domain owners personal contact information.
That means in many cases, you wont be able to learn directly who the owner is via the directory. But you will be able to find out who they registered the domain with.
This still isnt a dead end. Go to the website of the domain registrar , and look for their contact information. Give them a call or write them an email letting them know what domain youre interested in buying, and ask them to pass along your information to the owner. The registrar will have the owners contact details on file, and will be able to share your interest with them without violating any privacy concerns.
What Do I Do If The Website Name I Want Is Taken
If the domain name you want is already registered, you have a few options. First, check out the recommended, similar domain names in your search results to see if one of those works. You should also consider an available domain name with an extension other than .COM, such as .IO, .CLUB, or .ROCKS. There are hundreds of new TLDs to consider. If youre really set on securing your first choice of domain, find the current registrant using Whois Lookup and see if they are willing to sell it. Learn more
Set Up The Blank / Naked Version Of Your Domain
When we think of the web, we tend to assume all websites start with the www prefix. However, the chances are you probably visit websites on a regular basis without using www at all.
For example, you can visit LCN by either using www.lcn.com or simply lcn.com the latter address without the www is often called a naked domain.
What is actually happening here is lcn.com is merely redirecting to our proper www.lcn.com address. However, without setting this up, users will just get an error page when visiting your sites naked domain variant and this isnt a good experience for anyone.
lcn.com naked domain redirecting to www.lcn.com
You should be able to do this easily enough at most domain providers. Naturally, here at LCN its super straight-forward.
Simply find your domain name from the Domains section of your account, look for DNS settings, and from here selectAdd an A record.
When adding your new A record, ensure you leave the hostname field blank, and add the IP address for your server .
As with everything at LCN, if you get stuck, just give us a call or get us on LiveChat and well have the problem fixed in minutes.
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Purchase The Domain Name
When you have settled on the domain name and a suffix, you will pay to register the domain name with the domain registrar. This is not a one-time purchase, however. Typically, you will pay to own the domain name for one year, after which you can renew your registration for a fee. You can expect a registration fee of about $10 to $15.
Lookup Domain Name Registration Online
Need the details of a .au domain? We provide a simple, easy-access search tool for our customers and visitors. Using this tool, you can search the details of all Australian domain names. Simply type the name of the domain you want to check with the .com.au domain extension and click search to find out the owner and their best contact email.
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Free Products + Services When You Register
From free perks like URL and email forwarding to sophisticated account features like Two-Step Verification and DNS templates, Name.com offers more for less.
Fair, transparent pricing
We clearly display domain discounts and renewal pricing during the search process so there are no nasty surprises when your domains renewal comes up.
Everything in one place
Once you have a domain in hand, we make it simple to attach email, hosting, website builders, and more. Its everything you need in one convenient place.
Easy domain transfers
Domain Name Or Website
The first thing to figure out is, are we talking about the domain name or website? Theres a difference.
Your domain is registered somewhere, the DNS is somewhere, the website is somewhere and the email is somewhere. Yes, there are 4 things:
- Domain name
- Website
Dont worry too much about this many times, either all or a bunch of these things are hosted at the same place. The main point here is that they can be at different places, so dont see one thing, make an assumption, and be wrong.
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What Is A Domain Name
The internet is a network of computers that are connected and capable of communicating with each other using a network protocol called TCP/IP. In order for the machines to identify themselves, they are assigned a numeric value called an IP address . As it is not possible to remember all those numbers for all the different sites, the concept of domain names was introduced. A domain name is a human-readable and memorable representation of an IP address. Whenever someone types in a domain name like Bluehost.com, the browser communicates with a root domain name server that acts as a dictionary and provides the appropriate IP.
How Do I Check If A Domain Is Available
We also offer a Domain Backorder service, where you purchase a backorder credit to give you a chance to get the domain you want when it goes to auction.
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What To Do If Your Domain Name Expires
In case your domain name expires, you should contact the registrar that provided your domain name registration services for possible renewal options available to you. To determine your current registrar, conduct a WHOIS search by visiting whois.icann.org, as we already explained in the post.
Note: Keep all your important business information permanently recorded somewhere safe. That includes your registrar name, login username, password, and domain management somewhere with your most important business papers. Ensure that all your information is properly added when registering your domain name.
Contact Us Directly For Help
Are you unable to get the expected results when you run the ICANN check? Not to worry we will gladly assist you with finding out who your Domain Provider or Registrar is and transfer your domain and web hosting to FastComet.
We hope you find this article useful. Discover more about FastCloud – the top-rated Hosting Solutions for personal and small business websites in four consecutive years by the HostAdvice Community!
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How To Register A Domain Name For Your Website
Your company needs a website, which means it needs a domain name. Your first step is registering a domain name, which can be daunting for first-timers. Don’t worry: Our guide walks you through it.
Once you’ve decided to build a website, you need to make an important decision, even before you consult our best web hosting services roundup: What’s your domain name going to be? You know, it’s the web address by which all your many customers find you. Your domain name is, in effect, the name of your website, so you want to make sure you get a good one. Purchasing a name is a relatively simple process, but finding one that isn’t already taken can be a challenge. In addition, you’ll also want to make sure you understand the contract between you and the domain name registrar. If this is starting to sound a bit complicated, don’t worry: This primer can help you get started.
How To Find Out Who The Domain Owner Is
Youve spent time brainstorming domain names. Youve tried different domain suggestion tools. And youve finally figured out the perfect name.
But when you go to register the domain name youre set on, you find that someone has already claimed it. What a disappointment.
Before you give up on that perfect name and start the whole process again from scratch, know there might still be hope.
Registered domain names are sometimes still availableif you know how to find the owner.
People invest in domain names for a number of different reasons. Sometimes, its to start their own website at that domain. Sometimes its purely for investment purposes. And in a few cases, it may be for a website idea that either never comes to fruition, or that falls off the owners radar over time.
If the website youre interested in isnt being actively used and updated, then the owner may be happy to hear from an interested buyer. And even if the owner is clearly using the domain name right now, if youre willing to spend enough to make a sale worth it to them you may still have a chance.
In both cases, you should anticipate spending more for the domain name than if you went with something no one else owns yet. But if youre really set on that domain name, its worth trying your chances.
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Put The Clues Together
At this point, you might have found out who is hosting your site or you might have a bunch of clues.
If youre still not sure, then put the clues together. Do some Google searches on your clues. See what you can dig up. The good thing is, youre closer than you were before you have a lot more information using the tools I listed here.
Find Your Domain Name Registrar
Note
Only domains ending in .COM, .NET, and .EDU work with this tool.
On the InterNIC search page, in the Whois Search box, type your domain. For example, contoso.com.
Select the Domain option, and then select Submit.
On the Whois Search Results page, locate the Registrar entry. This entry lists the organization that provides registrar service for your domain.
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Dont Let Your Domain Expire
While this might seem like an obvious one, youd be surprised by the amount of people who let their domains expire without even realising it has happened and we dont just mean hobbyists and small business owners either.
Back in 2003 software giant Microsoft forgot to renew its Hotmail.co.uk domain name. Luckily for Microsoft the guy that re-registered it after expiry was kind enough hand it back. Disaster averted just.
The chances are, whatever happened, a huge company like Microsoft would have got their domain name back eventually anyway, but for hobbyists and small business owners this could prove a lot more difficult and stressful especially if you havent gone through the proper copyright and trademark procedures.
The easy way to avoid all this is to just remember you need to renew your domain, and do it nice and early. Most domain registrars, like us at LCN, give you 90 days notice prior to expiry.
Not only that, but in most cases you can register or renew your domain name for up to 10 years, usually whilst making some big savings for renewing over a longer period.
As well as setting up auto-renewal, you can make sure your contact details are always up to date, this way we can always reach you to notify you of any services close to expiry.
How Is The Gdpr Applicable To Webnamesca
Under Recital 23 of the GDPR, Webnames.ca claims no nexus with the EU, EEA nor the citizens of either, and therefore claims non-applicability of the GDPR to any and all aspects of its business.
Despite this, many of the domain Registries that Webnames is partnered with to provide domain extensions must comply fully with the GDPR. The changes to policies and procedures required of these partners will affect what information is collected, shared and displayed, and may result in changes to agreements and terms.
Notwithstanding, many domain Registries with whom Webnames.ca contracts must fully comply with the GDPR, and therefore these Registries may implement policies or procedures relating to WHOIS data which result in changes. These changes may include, but are not limited to,?variations in what WHOIS data is included and how it is displayed via the Webnames’s WHOIS lookup page.
Therefore, in regards to WHOIS output:
Where the domain Registry is the sole source of Registrant WHOIS data for the queried domain, the WHOIS data will be displayed by Webnames in whatever form it is received from the Registry, without alteration of any kind. This may result in some fields, particularly those containing Personally Identifiable Information being absent, blank or redacted.
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Contact The Domain Name Owner
If one of the steps above leads you to the website owner, its time to reach out! Craft an email letting them know that youre interested in purchasing the domain.
To avoid looking like spam, make sure your email conveys seriousness and professionalism. If you have a professional email address at a domain name you own, that will look more legitimate than one from a yahoo or aol account. If not, consider at least setting up a gmail address, which looks a bit more respectable.
Make sure your email includes:
- Your contact information both email and phone, so its easy for them to choose the method they prefer.
- Language that makes it clear youre willing to pay you may not want to include a specific offer yet , but theyre more likely to respond if they know this is a genuine business offer
- Something that shows your legitimacy how can you show youre a real person with serious intent? Maybe thats a link to a website you already run or a LinkedIn profile.
People get a lot of spam emails, so you want to clarify that youre a real person with real interest. If you can pull that off, the chances of getting a response are much higher.
One: Visit The Website
In cases where the owner bought the domain as an investment, theyll make it easy for you to contact them. So start by pulling up the website to see what shows up.
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They may say outright that the domain is for sale, and include contact information or a form you can fill out. Or in some cases where the domain is in active use, youll be able to find contact information on the websites Contact or About page.
If youre lucky enough that this step does the trick and you find the domain owner, you can skip the next two steps.
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