Why Businesses Buy More Than One Domain
If you think having one domain name is sufficient, think again. By not owning multiple domains, you could be costing your business traffic and customers and leaving your brand vulnerable to the competition.
User Error
One of the most important reasons to purchase more than one domain is to protect against user error. Because there is the potential for people to misunderstand what your domain name is when they hear it or make a mistake when typing it, youll want to make it a priority to own all common misspellings of your companys name.
As Web.coms Director, Product Anna Piatyszek explains, Whether your company name includes words that are commonly misspelled or your branding uses trendy and creative spellings that might be hard to remember, you should seek to purchase misspellings thatll capture most errors.
Brand Poaching
Another reason to buy more than one domain is to keep the competition from poaching your business. Brand poaching is a serious problem for even major brands. A competitor with a similar name may inadvertently create confusion, so having related or similar domain names helps to protect your brand.
Trademark Protection
Simply holding a trademark doesnt automatically give you the domain name, and it doesnt prevent others from buying domain names that include your trademark. As such, buying more than one domain name can help protect any trademarks you own.
Types Of Additional Domains To Purchase
If youve only owned one domain name up to this point, you might wonder exactly what types of additional domains you should consider purchasing.
Alternative Spellings
As mentioned, its important to purchase alternative spellings to protect against user error and brand confusion. Anna recommends, If you have more budget or youre a larger company, plan to capture a lot more alternate spellings.
For example, if the name of your business is Shawns Barbecue Restaurant and your primary domain is shawnsbarbecue.com, you should also consider purchasing seansbarbecue.com, seansbbq.com, shawnsbarbque.com and other common variations.
Multiple Top-Level Domains
When possible, you should also own other common domain extensions besides your core domain. There are over 1,000 extensions to choose from, and while you dont need to own all of them, we recommend securing at least the most common ones. If your main website is a .com, think about buying .co, .net, .org and even .guru.
But the possibilities dont stop there. For many businesses, the newer alternative TLDs serve as an effective way to own a memorable domain that closely fits your company name.
For example, instead of XYZlawncareservicescompany.com, you could purchase XYZlawn.care. And if you have offices in different parts of the world, you might want to purchase multiple geographic extensions, from over 100 options, such as us, .uk or .au.
Buy A Domain Through Shopify
Before you buy a custom domain through Shopify, check the price and availability of your domain name by using Shopifyâs domain name generator. Domains purchased through Shopify start at $11 USD per year. The exact pricing depends on which top-level domain extension you choose. The availability of TLDs is subject to change.
The domain name generator displays the availability of your chosen domain name, as well as other available TLDs and alternative domain names. If your chosen domain name or TLD isnât available, then you can choose one of the suggested options or start a new search.
You May Like: Transfer From Wix To Shopify
Also Check: Does Shopify Own Your Domain
Do I Need To Buy All The Different Domain Endings For My Website
23rd September 2017
UK Domain Home Guides Do I need to buy all the different domain endings for my website?
I answer the question: Do I need to buy all the different endings for my website in todays #asktheukdomain video.
The short answer is no: you dont need to buy all of the endings for your website. How many you buy depends on what your website is for and the size of your budget.
If your domain name is for your business, it is a good idea to buy your domain name with the most common domain extensions, such as .co.uk, .uk, .com, .net, and .org. This is so you secure them before other people have the chance to buy them its about securing your brand. You may wish to do the same with common misspellings or variations too, just in case.
If your domain name is for a personal project, especially one where you dont know how far itll go in the future, youre probably safe buying only the domain extension you wish to use. If your project gathers momentum, you may wish to then buy the alternatives, once youre at a point to justify the cost.
If you do buy multiple domain extensions, most people tend to redirect them to whichever domain name is their primary one so redirecting .com and .net to their .co.uk, for instance. Wed also recommend this approach.
Ultimately, the decision is yours, just bear in mind that if you wish to protect your brand name, its a good idea to buy them before others get the chance.
Video Transcript
Multiple Variations Of A Domain Name Can Be Time
That is if you actually use them for testing copy and content delivery. Keeping track of multiple sites can take a lot of time. Of course, you could just purchase them, and set them up to automatically redirect them to the main domain you intend to use. This will take a lot less time to manage because you can set it and forget it.
This leads me to the final disadvantage.
Recommended Reading: How To Find Public Domain Music
Shop Around To Find The Best Price
Even though all domain registrars offer the same product they register a domain name on your behalf the pricing can sometimes be very different. For that reason, its always a good idea to shop around with different registrars and compare the prices of the domain name you want to get.
Just to give you an example, if youre after a .co domain extension a fairly popular choice these days youll find out that the same domain will cost you:
- $11.99 at GoDaddy
- $6.88 at Namecheap
- $32.50 at ENOM, and so on.
Now, Im not saying that Namecheap is always the cheapest, because its not. The price always depends on the specific TLD you want to get, so always go to multiple registrars and see whats up.
Also, just a general note: Always keep your login credentials to the registrars user panel very secure. If anyone gets access to that panel, theyll be able to transfer your domain to their account .
Which brings me to:
Institutional Memory Is Fragile
What made this situation particularly painful for my client is that
- the domain was purchased nearly 13 years ago for a 20 year period a challenging length of time for any organization to keep track of login information.
- In 20 years or even 5 years people change jobs they change names, they change software and computers, they retire, they die
- Even without any big changes, how many people can put their finger on an email message they got 5, 10, or 20 years ago?
- the email account used to purchase the domain was defunct , so a password-reset link from the registrars site wont work.
Dont Miss: How Can I Get A Domain Name For Free
Don’t Miss: What Does Imminent Domain Mean
Consider Com Domains First
Heres a throwaway tip to get to #10 if your domain of choice is available get a .com. Its what people know, even though some of the top websites and blogs arent .coms and have done just fine.
If you are focused on your specific country then get a country-specific TLD.
Vanity TLDs are interesting, but Ive personally yet to see them widely understood by the general public.
All said buy the domains that you are actually going to use. Dont buy them as placeholders for ideas that you want to execute someday.
Dont Buy The Domain If Its Not For A Unique Site
Heres a typical scenario youve got an existing website. You have new content, or new products that you want to promotebut it does not quite fit under the domain that you have.
You consider buying a new domain name for that new content or new product instead of using your existing domain.
Dont buy that new domain just yet.
Why? Well, you will be starting from ground zero in terms of audience, search engine indexing, and content. If you use your existing domain, youll get to build off its existing equity.
However, other companies/bloggers/people obviously do this all the time , so whats the best practice? Here we go
- If the new site has a 100% different target audience, voice, or brandthen buy the domain name.
- If the new site is a one-off content feature if the content appeals to the same type of people who read your site now if its really just a categorization issue for youdo not buy the domain.
- Instead, look at ways that you can expand the description of the site to catch that one-off topic because you arent writing for a topic, you are writing for the types of people who are interested in that topic.
- If you dont have a whole new audience, dont buy the domain, especially because it is usually associated with Rule #2.
Don’t Miss: How To Add User To Domain Windows 10
How Many Domains Should You Have
James: James Schramko here with my buddy, John Lint from 10XPRO.io. Good day, John.
John: Hey, James, how are you?
James: Good. Its always great to catch up. And we talk about various topics relating to online marketing. You are the founder, and you run a great tool called 10XPRO.io, which is great for building funnels, building memberships, putting products, etc. So, you see a lot of instances being established.
And one topic thats come up recently for you and for me, is the topic around strategy of how many domain names should we have in our portfolio. And its a really interesting one because youve got choices here to go for a broad approach or you can go deep. Ive seen the whole game. I mean, like, hands up, since Ive been online, I have owned over 2000 domain names but theres a reason for that. One year, I purchased about 850 domains as an acquisition play to build a portfolio of domain names. And then I used a lot of them to roll into my SEO network. In some cases I was buying 200 domains at a time and building websites on them. We had 1000 websites. I still have a bunch of domains that I sell, but theyre more or less just listed on a broker site, and I sell them for a small profit. So its an investment thing.
James: Yeah.
John: And if you have the domain names there that youve purchased for all the courses, you can simply redirect them to a page on your website.
Which membership platform is best? Learn more about 10XPRO here
See our products HERE
The Importance Of Domain Names
When someone asks, Whats a domain name? Its easy to answer with an online address because its accurate and concise. A domain name is an intelligible, readable address for any web server on the Internet. Its certainly easier than typing a long-stringed IP address into your browser every time you want to navigate somewhere online.
But, to leave the answer at that would be a disservice to both domains and your brand. The former is vital to the latter. Often, a domain name is the first exposure someone has to a brand they type it in their browser and consciously or not make a judgment about the name.
Building a brand is about building relationships with your audience. You can help to reinforce your brand with strategic domain name purchases and usage. Two opportunities to do this are opening new locations for your business or launching new product lines. Many large companies are known to purchase hundreds if not thousands of domains to build their brand.
There are other reasons those big companies own multiple domain names, too. When those businesses purchase many names, they do so for brand protection. What are they protecting against? Typosquatting, cybersquatting, and the unfair and illegitimate use of their trademarks.
Protect Your Brand with Multiple Domain Names
Read Also: How To Get My Own Website Domain
Reasons Domain Names Might Expire
It is all too easy to overlook the fact that a domain name registration is a temporary thing. Even though at the time, the domain name is yours, and could be for years, there is still a chance for that domain to pass out of your control. There are a variety of ways this might occur:
- Renewal reminder notices: If you have switched off renewal reminder notices, you could be setting yourself up for disaster. While auto emails and notifications can clutter your inbox, they can also be lifesaving. Even if you manually switched off renewal reminders , Domain.com will begin sending reminders by email to your listed email address approximately 30 days from the domain expiration date. We guarantee you will receive at least two reminders before the expiration date and one within five days after expiration. So, pay attention to your inbox, or alter your settings to flag the words, expiration, or renewal, to ensure you dont miss these important reminders.
- Auto-renew is not enabled: By going by your account information and switching your domain name to auto-renew, you save yourself from possibly forgetting. When auto-renew is in use, it will automatically renew your domain name prior to the expiration date, generally a day before expiration. This feature will continue to run and auto-renew unless changes are made or if there are issues with your billing information.
Can I Add Custom Subdomains Or Multiple Domains To Microsoft 365
Yes. To add subdomains, you must manage your own DNS settings at your registrars website. If you are letting Microsoft manage your DNS settings with NS records, or if you bought the domain from Microsoft, you cant add subdomains.
Yes! To add subdomains, you must manage your own DNS settings at your registrars website. If you are letting Microsoft manage your DNS settings with NS records, or if you bought the domain from Microsoft, you cant add subdomains.
Yes! To add subdomains, you must manage your own DNS settings at your registrars website. If you are letting 21Vianet manage your DNS settings with NS records, you cant add subdomains.
Typically, you can add up to 900 domains to your Microsoft 365 subscription.
For example, you could add the domains contoso.com and contosomarketing.com, and then add the subdomains www.contoso.com, www.partners.contoso.com, www.marketing.partners.contoso.com, and so on.
When you add a subdomain, it is automatically verified based on the parent domain that is being verified.
When you add multiple domains to Microsoft 365, you can host any of the services on any of the domains youve added. When you change your email to Microsoft 365, by updating a domains MX record, ALL email sent to that domain will start coming to Microsoft 365.
Note
Also Check: How Can I Find Out When A Domain Name Expires
Buy Extra Domains When Your Brand Name Is Hard To Spell
Another reason you might buy multiple domain names is if your brand name is sometimes misspelled.
This can definitely be a factor, especially if well-meaning customers or fans share a link to your domain but the domain is spelled slightly wrong. Weve picked up extra domain name variations, because weve noticed people sharing links to our domain name where one letter was off.
This can help your SEO by capitalizing on links that people build for you, and ensuring they end up on your website. We usually do domain forwarding at the domain registrar level,.
Also Check: How Much To Purchase A Domain Name
Some Things To Keep In Mind
- Purchase immediatelyIts nearly impossible to claim a domain once its been taken unless youve got deep pockets, so act fast.
- Register it for as long as possibleRegistering for longer periods saves you the hassle of renewing each year, reduces the risk of expiry, and usually means discounts.
- Pay in advanceAlso works out cheaper if you can afford to pay for hosting etc. in advance. The advantage being you are saved the hassle of renewing each year.
- A clean URL, one that is not full of numbers and letters just looks better. People are more likely to share a simple URL that doesnt take up two lines of text. Keep it as simple as possible such as your full name or company name, for a cleaner look.
- Private vs professionalMight make sense to get two distinctive domains, one focusing on your professional life, one on your personal life.
- UpkeepYou should build high-quality profiles, and a website if desired, and optimize all to rank as high as possible for your personal domain name.
Another key point to remember is consistency. Its good practice to maintain a consistent name across all the platforms you are using. Use your business name or actual name when creating vanity URLs on Twitter and Facebook for example. This lends credibility to your brands. It also keeps things memorable and helps avoid any confusion as to whether visitors have stumbled on the correct profile. Plus they will find your profile more easily.
Also Check: How To Change Domain Name Email Address
What Should You Do Next
If you decide that it makes sense for your company to own multiple domain names, the next steps are going to be simple. First, figure out which domain name registrar is going to be best for you. Next, make a list of all the different domains including their TLDs that you want to purchase. If you have a large list, consider contacting the domain name registrar to see if you can negotiate a discount. If not, simply go through and register each domain separately to your account.
Once you own the domains, set them up with a website. This can be done by pointing that domain to an existing website or creating an entirely new site for each one. Verify that youre keeping track of each domain and how long you own it. Making sure that you renew the domain before it expires helps ensure that you never lose access to your domains.