What To Do If Your Domain Name Isnt Available: 13 Strategies
Its part of the struggle of running a business in the digital age.
You come up with the perfect business name.
You design business cards, start all of the official paperwork, and tell everyone about it.
But when you go online to register the domain name, you discover something horrible.
Your perfect domain name is taken.
What do you do?
Do you give up your perfect name? Do you modify it somehow? Add a couple random dashes or underscores? Choose a weird domain name ending ?
Its one of the toughest situations to face as a business owner. It can bring your progress to a screeching halt.
This situation makes you rethink your entire brand.
The question remains: What do you do when this happens?
Ive gotten this question hundreds of times before, and Ive also heard some solutions to this problem.
Quite frankly, not all of those solutions are good.
Your domain name is a big part of any SEO campaigns you run, and it will affect your performance.
If you make a misstep with your domain name, it can negatively impact your SEO in the long term.
A large amount of your traffic will come from users who search your brand name. Its called navigational search. Thats why its good to use your brand name as your URL.
But if you cant, dont worry. There are alternatives that will still work for you.
Over the years, Ive seen what works and what doesnt. I want to share what Ive learned so you dont have to make any mistakes.
Check The History Of A Domain
Before you register your domain, do some research and check that it isnt registered with another business already. No one wants to deal with trademark issues.
Its also important to check the history of a domain name, as its possible your domain had a previous home. Search engine rankings can be skewed if your domain has already been around the block, so make sure you research it thoroughly.
Set Up Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is another web service you should have in your arsenal. This online suite allows you to check the indexing status of your website and its pages as well as helping to optimise its visibility. You can utilise WMT to discover what keywords your site is ranking for and also – importantly – read alerts related to any issues with your website that might impact its performance negatively.
Google WMT and Analytics both provide you with an endless wealth of information to aid you in growing your blog and the site itâs hosted on.
Also Check: Where To Get Domain Name For Website
Check That Your Domain Name And Trademark Are Both Available To Register
Once youve decided to start a website for your business, you should check that your name isnt in use by anyone else online. You can do this by first searching your proposed website name on auDAs Whois lookup. If its available, then you should also search your businesss name on IP Australias Australian Trademark Search tool. If both names are available, then you can continue to register your domain name. In the event that a trademark has been registered that is substantially similar to your domain name, you should not register your domain name as you will be infringing somebody elses trademark.
Example
You want to register www.hwflowers.com.au as a domain name.Your floristry business is called Harry Wilson Flowers and you have registered a trademark for this name. However, on the other side of the country there is another florist named H& W Flowers. They have registered a trademark and have lodged an objection to your domain name registration on auDA. Because of this, you cannot register this domain, and instead have to register www.harrywilsonflowers.com.au as your domain name.
Maintain Current Domain Contact Details
Letting your domain contact information get out of date is like leaving the door of your house unlocked. Its a way for intruders to gain easy access.
If the administrative email address associated with your domain, for example, is an old email address from a long-expired domain, that could give attackers a way in.
The administrative email address is an especially bad piece of data to not be up to date. Anyone controlling that email address can approve a transfer of the domain to another registrar. If a hacker finds out that the listed email address is not valid, and then creates a bogus account using that address, theyll get immediate access to your domain account.
Another good reason to make sure your domain contact details are current is so that your registrar can get in touch with you if theres a problem with your domain. If they discover that your accounts security has been compromised, for example, it would be critical that the registrar can contact you quickly.
Read Also: How To Transfer Google Domain To Squarespace
How To Register A Domain Name With Domaincom
Domain.com is a well-known domain registrar on the market, although its worth mentioning that they also offer low-cost shared web hosting, a website builder, and design services.
The list of TLDs on Domain.com is extensive, from generic extensions to newer niche-related ones like .yoga and .actor. The price for a .com domain name is also quite affordable, costing $9.99/year.
The steps to buying a domain from this registrar are straightforward. Simply insert a keyword with a domain extension on the homepage and the system will reveal its availability.
Feel free to extend the registration period to up to five years. On Domain.com, the privacy and protection feature is $8.99/year. If the order looks right, click Continue.
On the next page, Domain.com presents several extras to choose from, including a professional email plan, a website builder, shared web hosting, premium SSL certificates from Comodo, and malware protection.
Select any of the Domain.com add-ons you want or skip to the next step filling in the billing and payment details.
Similar to previous vendors, Domain.com will send an email asking to validate the domain name ownership through a link.
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.
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How To Buy A Domain Name: A Simple Guide To Get You Started
A domain name is essentially a digital address its what people will type into their browsers to access your website. You can buy a domain name from a domain name registrar or hosting provider by visiting a domain registrar, finding the domain you want to purchase, and following the instructions to buy it.
Keep in mind that buying a domain name is one of the most critical steps of starting a blog, personal site, or online business. Without one, users would not be able to easily access your website on the internet.
Luckily, the process to register a domain name is quite straightforward even beginners can complete it in a few minutes.
This article will explain each of the simple steps to register a domain name and present some tips and tricks to ease the process.
Check out this video on how to register a domain name:
Create A Website Thats Attached To Your Domain
Chances are, you had a website in mind when you set out to secure a domain name. Your domain name is the heart of your website address. And everyone keeps telling you that you need a website for your business.
A website gives you a branded, dedicated space to share your contact information, a rundown of your services, a snapshot of what your business is all about, a portfolio of your amazing work, customer reviews and links to your social media accounts.
And did I mention its perfect for businesses that want to expand their reach and attract NEW customers?
But understanding the benefits of having a website for your business and actually creating one are two very different things. I know, it might feel scary.
You basically have three options:
Read Also: Where To Buy Co Domains
Important: Dont Forget To Renew Your Domain
Keep in mind that each domain has an expiration date.
You should keep track of your expiration date. If you miss the deadline, you risk losing your domain forever. It is not just a loss of the site name but also a loss of all your efforts to promote the site on the network.
You will lose all the money you invested in advertising, all the visitors, and all the traffic. It will be very unpleasant if, by some chance, you lose your results of work, and your domain will buy someone else.
So we recommend that you take the issue of domain expiration very seriously. Set a reminder or set the auto-renewal of the domain not to risk losing the results of your work.
Why Domain Name Privacy Is Important
If you dont protect your domain information, you could be at risk of identity theft, spam calls, and cyberattacks. There are numerous reasons why someone might want to use this data, such as:
- Unsolicited marketing: People can get your email from this site, so you might receive messages from marketers trying to sell you their services.
- Purchasing a domain from another user: The WHOIS directory is an easy way for businesses or people to find the current owner of a domain they want to buy.
- Scamming: Given how easy it is to get this personal data, its very likely that youll get spam emails or messages from scammers.
By taking measures to obtain domain name privacy, you can boost site security, protect your data from competitors, and prevent domain theft. However, it can make it difficult for people to contact you if they want to purchase your domain.
Also Check: How To Trademark A Domain Name
Start The Migration From One Domain To The Other
If youre coming to WordPress from another platform or already using WordPress, transferring all of your blog and website content could be as simple as using a migration plugin. For example, the All-In-One WP Migration plugin was created to help users migrate a website to WordPress with little technical knowledge and little to no downtime.
Similar plugins include Duplicator, Migrate Guru, and Super Backup & Clone .
Truth be told, when youre trying to transfer all of your website data from one domain to another, things can get technical. How much control you want will determine how complicated the process will be.
And, if your website is self-hosted, or on a platform like Wix, Squarespace, Blogger, or the like, it might not be as easy as moving to WordPress or from one WordPress website to another.
Id recommend looking into the knowledge base articles of your hosting platform and watching YouTube tutorials for best results. The more you can learn ahead of time, the better. This extra step could be all you need to give you the confidence to proceed or to convince yourself to bring a pro on board for help with the change in domain.
After migrating, the next step, and perhaps the most critical to avoid losing traffic or all your SEO work, is using 301 redirects for your old content.
Related: What are nTLDs and how do they impact SEO?
Domain Names And Trademarks
A registered domain name and a registered trademark may look similar at first glance, but they are very different. Legal disputes and conflicts can often arise as a result of the confusion between domain names and trademarks. Domain names do not carry legal rights. Put simply, trademarks mean you can take legal action if someone infringes your rights, whereas domain names do not.
Register your trademark
Also Check: How Do I Set Up A Domain Name
What Is A Domain Name
Every website on the internet has an IP address. These addresses point to a websites location think of them like GPS coordinates. The IP address, which is generally a set of numbers, usually resembles something like this:
216.27.61.137
Unfortunately, trying to remember all of those numbers in order to navigate to a website can be challenging. Thats where domain names step in and lend a hand.
A structure called the Domain Name System translates those IP addresses into names that are simple to remember. Those names are called domain names.
Your website’s domain is what people enter into the address bar on their browsers to point it toward your website. In the simplest terms, if an IP address is your websites GPS coordinates, the domain is its street address. Some examples are mailchimp.com and google.com.
When someone types a domain into a browser, it gets routed through a DNS server. That server translates the name to figure out which IP address it points to. Then it grabs the data for that website and delivers it to the browser. This process happens in a matter of seconds, letting you find and view a website fast.
Pick A Domain Name Thats Flexible
Your domain name is one area where you dont want to put yourself into a box. While you should be specific enough to attract an audience, you dont want to be so precise that theres no room for your website to grow.
For example, shutter.photography might be perfect for a photography blog. However, if you decide to write about other art forms in the future, youll be stuck with an inaccurate domain name.
Therefore, its smart to consider how your site or business may expand over time. Youll want to make this decision with a long-term vision.
Recommended Reading: How Can I Find My Domain Name
Check To See If You Already Have Domain Privacy
If you already have a domain, you can check to see if your contact details are private. You can do this with the ICANN lookup tool.
To do so, enter your domain name in the search bar:
This will give you details about your domain registration. Scroll down to Contact Information:
Here, you can see if any of your personal information is hidden. If it is, you probably already have domain privacy.
If you can see your personal information, it means that you dont have privacy. To hide this data, youll want to look into a domain protection plan.
But Not Too Short Dont Shorten Words
Short domains are usually simple and more memorable, but if you go too short with your domain name you run into the possibility of causing confusion Using this great example from Forbes.com going too short can have the opposite effect. Compare PastaScience.com to PastaSci.com. Thanks to the abbreviation, the latter is harder to both pronounce and remember, despite it having fewer characters. The first version works fine.
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Sell Your Domain Name
Stuff happens. Maybe inspiration struck at 3 a.m., when an amazing new domain name woke you from a dead sleep. And that other domain you already registered? It can still help you out.
You can get it in front of interested buyers via domain aftermarket sites that only take a small percentage of the sale.
One such aftermarket option is GoDaddy Auctions.
For an annual fee and a percentage of the sale, you can list your domain name for auction or set a buy now price and GoDaddy will handle all the details.
Related: 5 tried-and-true tips for selling domain names for profit
How To Keep Your Domain Name & Web Hosting Separate
We recommend keeping your domain name separate. Register a domain name with GoDaddy and then purchase a web hosting account from a reputable web host. Heres a list of top rated web hosting companies to sign up with.
All web hosts provide support for domain names. Its done through what is known as name servers that handle directing domains to where the content for the address is supposed to be. When you register a domain name via a domain registrar you’ll be given the option of specifying the name servers for your domain. Usually these will begin with ns1. For example, if your web host is ipage.com, the name servers will likely be ns1.ipage.com and ns2.ipage.com. Your web host will usually provide information in the help section as to how to find what your name server addresses are. If this is confusing for you, call your web hosts technical support and they can easily assist you with any questions.
Read Also: How To Pay Google Domain
Should You Add Domain Privacy
Another consideration to keep in mind is to decide whether you want to add domain privacy or not. Domain privacy allows you to hide your private information so nobody can see it when they perform a WHOIS lookup. This is useful as it protects your information from getting scraped and used by online scammers and spammers.
You can easily add domain privacy during the domain registration process.
GoDaddy offers full domain privacy and protection packages for both individuals and businesses. This service protects your private information, prevents domain-related spam, and it can also safeguard your website from accidental loss of domain due to expired credit card, potential hacking attempts, and deter domain hijackers.