Dont Sweat It Too Much If Your Perfect Domain Name Is Taken And Cant Be Obtained
Okay, so as much as domain names do matter, and having the right one can mean the world to you, if you cant get your hands on what you want , dont sweat it too much.
First of all, something thats more important than anything else even than the domain name itself is to actually get the idea behind your website or business right. If you dedicate yourself to executing that idea and do it deliberately, the lack of that perfect domain name wont hold you back.
Secondly, domain names can be changed later on. Even if you dont have the right domain today, you can always get it later, and then just redirect your website to it.
For example, that is what Sumo a suite of online marketing tools did not that long ago. The domain name they started with was sumome.com, but then, after a while, when they got enough funding, they bought the domain they really wanted sumo.com. In their case, that domain switch was kind of expensive. Their new sumo.com domain actually cost $1.5 million. But dont worry, yours doesnt have to be this expensive. Sumo has actually turned out to be the 83rd most expensive domain name ever.
Couldnt Registering A Bunch Of Domain Extensions Lead To More Visits
Its more about how you use the domain names. Its not uncommon for a business or individual to register several domain names for a variety of reasons. Many businesses target specific buyers or interests, so it makes sense for them to register multiple domain names to reflect that targeting. While .com is the preferred domain extension for many businesses, adding other extensions could be a smart play depending on your digital strategy. The key is having a strategy.
Businesses and individuals need to think about how they plan to use the domain names they register and what message they want to send to potential customers. Whether it is a .tv to drive visitors to a video hub, or a .brand for brand protection, a domain portfolio should complement your primary domain name and help advance your digital strategy.
Arent Shorter Names More Memorable Though If The Domain Is Shorter Does The Extension Really Matter
Length is only part of the equation. More than anything, youll want potential visitors to recognize and trust your domain extension so they will visit your website. User trust in the internet is waning with the daily reports of data breaches and identity theft. Businesses already have so many hurdles to overcome in their daily operations. Why add user skepticism of your domain name to the pile? Unusual domains can create a challenging dynamic that can be overcome, but people need to understand that they are basically signing up for a handicap, and thats the last thing most businesses owners are looking to do.
My advice is to follow the leaders. Every Fortune 500 company and most of the top startups have .com domain names. Successful companies like buy .com domain names on the secondary market, passing up other domain extensions entirely, because they know that its a smart and secure investment for their future. Even domain and SEO experts agree that a long .com domain name is better, more memorable, and less confusing to consumers than a short domain name on a lesser-known domain extension.
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Google Loves A Com Domain Because Its The Oldest And Largest
The .com domain extension is by far the most used and valuable domain suffix. Put bluntly, Google is biased towards websites with a .com TLD.
Although businesses may wonder why .com is still afforded so much authority by Google. The answer is within human interaction with the search engine. Cognitive fluency favours a top level domain thats easy and familiar.
A website with the domain name yourbusiness.com is likely to be afforded more authority by Google than yourbusiness.co.uk or yourbusiness.business because users are more likely to type in yourbusiness.com than yourbusiness.co.uk or any other TDL for that matter.
Despite sharing its birthday with suffixes like .net and .org, .com has become the default domain extension, and therefore the most memorable. This, in essence, is why .com is the best domain extension for SEO.
As .com domains are the most powerful, they have become more popular. As with custom licence plates or the new fad food, this has led to an increase in competition for the best .com domains. Many .com domains are now only available at a premium price, or will already be taken, meaning finding your ideal .com domain can be difficult.
Which is what leads many businesses to seek their domain name with a less popular suffix. This might seem reasonable for branding purposes could be detrimental to your sites online visibility.
Which Domain Extension Should You Choose
If youve narrowed it down to the .com or .org domain extensions, you may be struggling to choose the right domain, but out of the two, it really doesnt matter much. It depends on what type of company or organization the domain will represent.
Those starting an online business or getting their personal name as a domain, should choose the .com extension. This works best for established companies, new companies, blogs, affiliate marketing and any other type of website.
However, if you plan to start a non-profit organization or any other organization, the .org domain extension makes the most sense. This will make it easy for members of the organization and outsiders to recognize your website as an organization.
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Try For A Different Top Level Domain
If your domain name is not available in the .com extension, try to get a different TLD instead. As long as the current .com domain isnt trademarked or in a similar niche, you could register using .co, .shop, .biz, or other trustworthy TLDs.
To check for trending TLDs, head to NameStat. You can check the biggest selling and fastest growing TLDs to help decide your domain extension.
To see which TLDs to avoid, check Spamhaus, a tool that analyzes the TLDs with the worst reputations, so you can create a trustworthy domain.
Once you find some great ideas, youll want to take the final step in choosing a domain.
How Much Does A Domain Cost
The average domain name costs around $12 per year. However, domains range in price from a couple of dollars to thousands, depending on the domain name you want and the registrar you choose. For example, extensions like .club and .site are much cheaper than popular extensions like .org and .com.
Remember that people trust popular extensions more, so factor that in before buying a cheap name. Also, you can get .com domains for free through web hosting plans, such as those from Bluehost, which is a great way to save money.
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Lock The Domain So It Cant Be Stolen
Even though it may seem odd at first, domain hijacking actually happens more often than youd imagine.
Not going into the boring technical details, your domain can be stolen via several means. Most commonly, this involves either hacking your password or convincing you to give out your password via a phishing attack, plus some other fun things.
Basically, if someone gains access to your registrars user account, they can do whatever they wish with your domains.
Some domain registrars offer a feature in which they keep your domain in Registrar-lock status, which prevents unauthorized attempts at domain transfers. In this state, your registration information and DNS configuration cannot be changed until you unlock your domain name.
Luckily, enabling this option is often very easy and only requires you to select a specific box in your registrars user panel. Heres what it looks like at SiteGround:
When It Makes Sense To Invest In A Domain Name
It makes sense to invest in domain registration as soon as you have a name you know you want. If you wait too long, the name might not be available so its a good idea to snag it as soon as you know.
If the name you want isnt available or is selling for thousands of dollars, you can either choose a different business name or make do with the fact that your domain name doesnt match your business. Neither of which is ideal.
At the end of the day, youll need a domain name to create a website and theres no way around that. So, its never too early to buy one but it could be too late if youre names already taken or being held hostage by a domain squatter looking to flip it for profit.
Because of that, we highly recommend snagging the name you want as soon as possible.
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Dont Buy A Dropped Domain Unless You Aware Of The History Of The Domain
I once saw a real estate website that had formerly been a Japanese adult site. Even if any penalties or negative association had been scrubbed in search engine ranking algorithms, you can imagine that the backlinks to that site were not pretty.
Theres no reason to be affiliated with negative topics when there are so many potential domains in the world.
Be Careful When Buying Existing Domain Names
As I mentioned a couple of points above, buying an existing domain name is a bit different from buying a new one. First of all, since its not new, this means it already has a history. And you can never be entirely sure what that history is.
- On the bright side, the domains history may give you a boost in Google since youre not starting from scratch Google already knows the domain.
- But, on the flip side, if the domain has featured any kind of non-kosher stuff , then it may be banned from Google entirely.
Buying your domain from a marketplace such as Flippa gives you some safety, since every domain is validated at least in the most basic way. However, to make things a bit safer, you should also perform checks of your own.
First, do a manual check by going to Google and searching for:
site:YOURDOMAIN.com
This will tell you whether Google has any pages indexed from that domain. Finding anything is a good sign. It means the domain isnt banned. Not finding anything doesnt have to be a deal-breaker, though.
- If the domain is blank no website then theres nothing for Google to find in the first place.
- However, if there is a website but Google cant see it , this is a red flag.
You can also do checks via tools such as bannedcheck.com and ismywebsitepenalized.com. But also keep in mind that these things are not foolproof. Consider them helpers.
But we can still do more:
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Namesilo Review The Best For Buying Domains By The Dozen
NameSilo is my top pick for people who need a lot of domains at once.
Along with Namecheap, NameSilo has some of the best prices on domain names out there. This is obviously important if you are buying domains in bulk.
If you order more than 50 domains, NameSilo will cut the price. If you order more than 100, the price drops even further. Need 500? 1,000? 2,500? The price keeps going lower at every tier.
The bulk pricing discounts through NameSilo can give the edge to resellers or provide a huge discount to buyers who need a whole bunch of domains to secure their online presence.
Since WHOIS privacy is free forever with every purchase, youre also saving $10-15 per year per site compared to a domain registrar who charges for it. With dozens or hundreds of sites, this adds up quickly.
NameSilo has a massive selection of TLDs. Youre never going to run out of options.
The incredibly rich search tools make it easy to find similar domains with different TLDs. Or you can search based on batches of keywords , which can yield results of available domains you might not have thought about otherwise.
The bulk domain search is useful, too. You can simply check off the domains you want, filtering your search by TLD or extension category.
Another nice perk is that you can earn money off parked domains. This is not always the case, but with NameSilo, you get to keep all the ad revenue.
Every domain you register through NameSilo comes with:
Lets talk about those low prices on domains:
What Does Com Mean
A computer manufacturer first implemented .com in 1985. It was introduced as one of the first top-level domains . It was used by computer scientists and universities who utilized the internet for communication and research. As more institutions started using the network and electronic communication became more challenging, it became clear that there needed to be some organization to the internet.
The .com extension stands for commercial. Initially, .com was intended for e-commerce websites. Examples of the original intent for commercial .com usages include business websites and websites looking to make money online, personal websites, blogs, and portfolios.
Today .com is the most common domain used by over half of all websites. Because .com is used so widely, the website extension may not be available if it is already in use by another entity.
Even though .com is the most popular extension, there are several ways you can cleverly choose a .com domain. Here are some tips for getting a great .com domain.
- Make sure your domain name represents your business and what you do.
- Add a word before or after to make your domain unique.
- Make sure your domain is easy to remember and pronounce.
- Avoid using hyphens and numbers in your domain name.
- Use a domain generator to help you come up with a creative domain name.
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Does The Registrar Offer The Desired Domain Name
Those looking to register a domain name usually know the domain name they wish to register. When considering a registrar, they should first make sure the registrar offers the desired domain name. Not all registrars have access to the same top-level domains . A good registrar should have a user-friendly domain name search that can be used to confirm whether or not they can register a particular domain name.
How Do You Use A Domain Registrar
First, you need to determine which domain registrar is likely to be the best for you based on your requirements and the price range. Once you make the purchase, you can move on to using the software.
Im demonstrating the steps here with examples from an industry leader, Domain.com.
First and foremost, login to your account and click on the purchase domain option.
An editor will pop up so that you can type your preferred domain name, your niche, or any other related keywords. It lets you search and see various domain names that are available in the market.
The status of the name of your choice is visible on the right-hand side. In this example, the first name is already taken. You can choose from one of the remaining three choices below by clicking on the Add button provided.
Once you choose a name and add it, it automatically gets transferred to the purchasing cart. Youll get a detailed breakup of the cost youre incurring, domain information, and a sub-total in the cart.
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