Section 3 Domain Privacy + Protection
Domain Privacy + Protection keeps your personal information out of the WHOIS database and away from prying eyes. Whenever a domain name is purchased, the person or company registering it is required to supply their legal, accurate personal information. ICANN mandates that this information be made publicly available via the WHOIS database, but that means it can be scraped by spammers for unwanted emails and phone calls unless you enable Domain Privacy + Protection. It also helps keep your site and domain secure by running malware scans and working to prevent your domain from getting blacklisted.
If you already purchased Domain Privacy + Protection then youll see something else for Section 3 on your summary page. This is what it will look like.
As with Section 1, when the toggles are green that means that those items are activated. Youll want to click on the arrow next to SMS Notification Settings to make sure the information there is correct. Heres what youll see.
Short Is Better Than Long
In general, when it comes to the length of your domain, shorter is better.
According to research from Domain Registration.com, the most common name length is approximately 12 characters.
All of this data shows that you should keep your domain name concise.
Aim for 6-14 characters and remember the shorter, the better. Most likely the shorter domain names are taken a LONG time ago and sold for thousands of dollars. If you cant find something short, make it brandable.
Our own site websitesetup.org is exactly 12 characters.
Search For The Domain Name Youre Interested In
Now, simply type in the domain name you want to find out more information about into the search bar and press enter. Whenever a domain owner decides to register the domain, theyre required to include information such as their name, address, email, and phone number. A Whois lookup can also tell you which registrar the domain is at, when it was registered, when it could potentially expire, and more.
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How To Check The History Of A Domain Name
The first computers started connecting to one another through Wide Area Networks in the 1960s. However, it took several years before the Internet exploded in 1990. The World Wide Web was created a year later, which also gave way to commercial service providers to begin operating. The registration of domain names became an official part of the process.
Initially, owning a domain name was free but the exponential increase of Internet use needed to be controlled. Registration services were offered, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was created. ICANN is a nonprofit corporation that manages the domain name system of the Internet, as well as its other elements, including IP address allocation and protocol parameter designation.
Fast forward to today, it is estimated that there are more than 19 million registered domain names. Approximately 40,000 are registered each day, proving that there is nothing that can stop the Internet from growing. Buying a domain name from a domain registrar is now a simple process which takes less than 2 minutes.
Communicate With Your Clients
Its vital to prepare your clients for the change. Whether you choose to change your domain name after purchase, or months later, assess every point of contact email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and be sure to regularly communicate before the big switch.
Tell them why youre changing, engage with them. This will help to calm your loyal customers and keep them trusting you as a brand.
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Use A Domain Name Generator To Browse Your Options
Once you have a few keyword options, its time to brainstorm ideas for your domain name. While you can do this without any special tools, its often difficult because youll keep running into names that are already taken.
Using a domain name generator like Domain Wheel will help simplify the process by both brainstorming for you and making sure that all its suggestions are actually available for purchase:
All you need to do is visit the website and enter a keyword into the search box. To illustrate this, lets imagine that youre starting an advice blog about how to train dogs. For your keyword, youve settled on dog training. Entering that term into the search bar will return these results:
As you can see, there are lots of variations to choose from. If you dont like any of them, you can try a slightly different keyword, or scroll down for random ideas and keyword suggestions. We suggest taking your time and coming up with a few solid options, so you can narrow them down in the next step.
What Is A Domain Name Registrar
OVHcloud is an example of a registrar. As an accredited service provider, OVHcloud can create your web addresses or domain names with the extensions .uk, .re, .yt, .pm, .wf or .tf. We act as an intermediary between you and the registry when registering domain names. Our role is to carry out all the necessary procedures with the services that concern domain names: creation, renewal, transfer, change of owner and deletion. In addition to managing your domain names, OVHcloud can offer other services, including a custom email address service, web hosting for your website or blog, and more. All of these essential services can be linked to your domain name.
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Keep The Domain Name Short
If your domain name is too long and fairly complex, you risk customers mistyping or misspelling it. Short and simple is the way to go. You dont need to use every word of your business name in the domain, and in most cases, drop the LLC, Corporation, etc. from the domain. For example, our company name is Search Centered Digital Marketing, LLC and our domain is searchcentered.com .
Why Your Domain Name Matters
Your domain name is as much a part of your brand as your business name or logo. Even if youve nailed your branding in every other respect, if theres something about your domain name that puts potential customers off, theyll likely go elsewhere.
The opposite is also true. If your web address is accurate and as fun to say as it is to use, people will be eager to check it out and share it. First impressions matter, and sometimes your domain is the initial experience people will have of your brand.
Its also not easy to change your domain name after your site is online. You can do it, but it can be time-consuming and does have consequences. It can lead to a loss of traffic and unnecessary downtime. In other words, life will be a lot easier if you take your time now and come up with a name you love.
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How Long Does My Domain Name Registration Last How Do I Renew My Domain
How long your domain registration lasts can vary depending on the domain you purchase. Many domain name registrars will allow customers to register domains for 10 years at a time, but typically customers will register domains for one to three years.If you want to extend your registration, its easy to renew your domain with GoDaddy. You can choose to manually renew or set up auto-renewal, so you ensure it stays registered to you.
Can I Look Up Org Info Biz Us Or Tel Domains
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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.
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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Make Sure The Domain Is Registered
You wont know for sure if the domain youre interested in is registered until you check for yourself. The easiest way to check is to search for the domain name at a registrar like Name.com. That way, if the domain is available, or being resold as Premium Domain, you can easily purchase it directly from the registrar. If the domain is listed as unavailable, it is likely already registered and youll need to turn elsewhere for more details.
But before you resort to trying to buy a domain that is already registered , its worth looking into alternative options for domain names. You might find that by using a different or new domain extension, you can get the SLD you want for a fraction of the price.
Should I Reserve Other Domain Names
Because of the prospect of typo-squatters and other forms of piracy, you might consider registering additional forms of your domain names, even if you are not planning to use them. For example, if you obtained your domain name in the TLD “.com, “you could register the same domain name under the “.net” or “.biz” TLDs. You could also attempt to register variants of the SLD that consist of logical misspellings or a plural form.
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Protect Your Brand With Multiple Domains
Have you ever heard: If the shoe fits, buy it in every color? Well, if the domain name fits, buy it in every TLD.
Even if you manage to snag a coveted .com address, you might consider purchasing other options and setting up redirects. You can even go a step further and buy common misspellings of your domain name.
This is a smart strategy to apply to social media as well. Even if you dont think youll use Twitter, you might want to grab a decent handle if one is available. Youll be ready if you ever decide to tweet, and youll prevent anyone else from taking that username.
Choose One Or More Keywords That Represent Your Site
There are a lot of ways to start generating ideas for a domain name. You can simply base your sites domain on your own name, or on your existing business. However, a key ingredient of a truly effective domain name is a strong keyword.
Using keywords in your domain name is smart for the same reasons using them in your content is. The SEO benefits can bring in more traffic by helping your site rank more highly in search engine results. Plus, keywords can help potential visitors better understand your sites focus and niche.
Fortunately, the process of researching keywords for your domain name is the same as finding effective keywords for other uses. You can use tools like and KWFinder to search for terms that have both a high search volume and low competition. Just remember that in this case, youre looking for a keyword that represents your website and content as a whole.
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Identify Your Domain Host
A domain host is an internet service that manages your domain name, such as, example.com. Domain hosts use Domain Name System records to connect your domain name with email, websites, and other web services. Popular domain hosts include GoDaddy, enom, DreamHost, and 1& 1 IONOS, to name a few.
Google Cloud uses DNS records to set up online services. For example, to use your domain with Google Workspace, add DNS records with your domain host.
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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The Parts Of A Domain Name
The standard domain name consists of two halves: a top-level domain and a second-level domain . Take our domain name wpengine.com as an example.
The top-level domain is .com. The purpose of the TLD is to provide context around the websites contents . Youve probably seen a variety of TLDs in your time surfing the webbecause there are hundreds of them. They all fall under two subsets.
Dont Register A Trademarked Or Copyrighted Name Or Word
Research your domain name to make sure youre not including any trademarked or copyrighted product names or business names. You could find yourself in legal trouble if you try to start a website and advertise your business using words, products, or services in your domain name that are owned by another company
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