Monday, April 29, 2024

What To Do When Your Domain Name Is Taken

Don't Miss

What Happens When You Have Low Bandwidth

What to do when your domain name is already taken.

Low bandwidth means slow network performance, and it generally refers to bandwidth issues by attempts to process large amounts of data over an extended period. There are a few common activities that can cause low bandwidth problems, such as:

  • Streaming videos
  • Large file transfers between computers
  • A constant stream of data

All of the above can cause low bandwidth issues in a network. Low bandwidth issues will negatively impact your regular and potential customers. Due to low bandwidth, you may lose your potential customer forever.

Option 1 Be Flexibleuse A Variation Of The Domain Name

If your business competes with multiple companies that all want an SEO-perfect domain name for the niche you all share, you can play that game as well as they can!

In this section, well give you some tips on selecting a domain name that, even though wasnt your first choice, is so close to it that the difference will be negligible.

Verify Ownership Of Your New Domain

Paying for your domain might seem like the last step in the process, but you also need to verify your ownership. This step lets you send email using the domain and keeps other people from using it without your permission.

If you purchase your domain through Mailchimp, this process is simple. Youll receive a verification email after you complete your purchase. Simply click on the Verify Domain button in the email and follow the instructions on the next page, and you can start using your domain to build your brand. Youll only ever have to complete this step once.

You May Like: How To Apply For A Domain Name

Connecting Your Domain Name To Mailchimp

Whether youve bought your domain through Mailchimp or a third party, you can transfer your domain name and connect it to your Mailchimp account. Once connected, you can use that domain with a custom landing page or Mailchimp-hosted website. If you dont already have a website, Mailchimp offers a free website builder that you can use to make your brand stand out with no coding skills required.

Should Domain Names And Social Media Usernames Be The Same

How to Register a Domain Name (+ tips for getting it for FREE)

Domain names and usernames dont have to match, but many people make them similar. Its easier to remember for both the website owner, employees, and customers if both are similar.

However, having a matching domain and usernames isnt always possible. Availability will dictate whats possible. The best chance to make a domain name and usernames match is to set them all up at once and conduct a domain name search and a username search at the same time.

Don’t Miss: Does Squarespace Own My Domain

What Is The Difference Between Domain Speculation And Squatting

Theres no single, definitive definition, but generally squatting implies bad faith intent on the part of the person or company that has registered the domain.

That means they have no interest in or intentions of creating a website for the domain or otherwise using it . That person just bought it to sell it for more than they paid for it .

Domain speculation, on the other hand, involves registering domains that might be useful or of interest, but which dont block an existing trademark or brand. For example, instead of registering a variant of an existing companys domain, a domain speculator would register something more general, like weselldomains.com, in hopes that some domain registrar might want it.

Speculators are often more open about the fact that the domains in their portfolio are for sale, as well. Whereas squatters might set up a basic page to make it marginally look like the domain is in use, or create a parking page full of ads to try to get click traffic for extra revenue until they can sell the domain.

Some squatters own many domains, though some will only target a few, since the more domains you own that havent sold yet, the more money youve invested without return. Speculators often own a large portfolio of domains, targeting various industries with a selection of relevant terms.

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.

Also Check: How To Make Godaddy Domain Secure

Include Your Country/ City In The Domain Name

This is similar to option 2 and 3, and works if .com.au isnt available. This option works best if your business is going to stay national . If you find that your perfect URL is taken try and add au or aus to the domain name.

As well as this you could go even more local. For example if you were a cleaning business in Sydney, your domain name could be cleanerssydney. However, this does add potentially a barrier if you are looking to expand in the future.

It is important to think about the likelihood of business expansion or similar. If you include a geographic location, especially something as specific as a city, users are likely to think you only operate that area alone.

What If I Still Want The Domain

What To Do If Your Domain Name Is Already Taken

As you might have guessed from the process outlined above, there are a few options for reclaiming an expired domain name.

At that point, you can either renew the domain name , redeem the domain name , take your chances with the auction house, or purchase a backorder. Without a doubt, the safest route is to either renew your domain name immediately or pay to have it redeemed.

You May Like: What To Do After Buying A Domain Name

What To Do If Your Dream Domain Name Is Already Taken

Why is it so hard to find a domain name thats not already taken?

Part of the answer is that years ago business owners, hobbyists, and investors snapped up the obvious ones such as food .com or pets .com.

Another issue is that there are more than 1.9 billion websites now, which means getting your first-choice domain name is not guaranteed.

If your top choice domain name is taken, you can still end up with a great domain name. Here are three solutions to consider based on your goals, your budget, and your willingness to be creative.

You Can Always Buy The Domain

You can get a couple of similar sites underneath your name and see if something else works better for you. This is especially great if they are affordable. You can also buy the actual domain from its owner. However, if the site is used for commercial use and it is doing pretty well chances are slim that youll end up with it as a rightful owner. Try to contact the owner directly and see if you can make a trade or if they are willing to sell it to you and at what price.

Also Check: Where Can You Buy Domain Names

Same Name Different Extension

How important is the extension part of your web address?

Unless you choose something spammy like .buzz or. top, no one will be put off if your domain doesnt end in one of the common extensions.

So, if yourdomain.com isnt available, you can simply go for yourdomain.net, for example.

There are popular extensions that have been around for a while, like .biz and .info, plus newer extensions like .club and .shop. You can view changing the extension as a good thing, selecting one thats memorable and describes what your business does.

See If You Can Purchase It

What Is a Domain Name System (DNS) &  How It Works?

This is clearly the most obvious option. And if you love your domain name this needs to be your first option. However, keep in mind that you may not be able to purchase. But you will never know if you dont try so make sure you look in to it.

Another issue with this option is that if you do have the option to purchase it, you may not have the cash to do so. However, there are some circumstances in which you may be able to purchase a domain name for a cheaper price. For example, if the current owner isnt using it.

If you find yourself in this situation you should get in touch with the site owner. But how do you find the site owner? Well, lucky for you there is a tool for that! Try inputting your desired URL into Whois. Its free to use and it clearly shows whether your URL is available or not. If not, it also offers some suggestions for similar names. Here is a screenshot of results when SEO Shark is searched:

This tool explains that the domain name SEO Shark is not available . However, it gives options of similar names, as well as this you can click Whois to find out more details about the owner of the website. Unfortunately SEO Shark is not going to sell its domain name!

Read Also: How To Setup A Minecraft Server With A Domain Name

Recommended Reading: How To Obtain A Web Domain

Verify Your Site With Google Search Console / Webmaster Tools

Google, as you may know, isnt actually the internet, nor does Google actually search the entire World Wide Web.

What Google actually does is search their index of the internet. This index is created by relentlessly scanning the web for new sites, pages and content. This is how Google can provide search results so quickly.

This makes Search Console an absolute necessity for any website looking to get found online via search.

Not only does it help Google find your site in the first place , but it also helps them keep track of changes and updates to your site, such as new pages and content.

Since Search Console spots any errors Googlebot may find with your web pages, you can easily identify and fix common problems including

  • Penalty notices

You dont need to use Search Console in order to be included in Google search results, but you get a heck of a lot more control over how Google processes and views your site and its content so why wouldnt you use it?

Setting up Search Console is pretty straight-forward, and it wont take you long to get to grips with the basics either.

Your Domain Name Is The Key To Your Crown Jewels

Ultimately, where technical means are concerned, everything hinges on whether you have control over your domain name.

A domain name is a name like thesitewizard.com. It is the means by which visitors reach your website. For example, ifyou type thesitewizard.com into your web browser right now, you will arrive at the front page of this website. When youor the person you hired started your site, one of the first things that would have been done is toregister a domain name.This typically involves the payment of a small annual fee to a company called a domain name registrar. In exchange forthis fee, you get the right to use the domain name for as long as youkeep up the annual payments.

The domain name is not the same thing as your website. Its just a name. As explained in my tutorial onHow to Make / CreateYour Own Website: The Beginners A-Z Guide, its like registering a business name for your company in the physical world.Getting a domain name does not automatically get you a website any more than registering a business name get you shoppremises in the brick and mortar world.

What you or your web designers did when your website was created was toattach your domain nameto the set of documents they created. When your visitors enter your domain name in their web browser, they seethe set of documents.

Also Check: How To Make A Gmail Account With A Different Domain

Registrant Email Address Considerations

Unfortunately, just finding an email address for the registrant doesnt guarantee contact. Particularly if someone has owned a domain for a long time, they may not use the email address anymore that they provided for registration. Lots of things can change: leaving school, getting hacked, and changing addresses, or simply upgrading the email hosting you use.

Also, many email clients have stringent spam filtering, and emails from addresses that theyve never received email from before may not be allowed through automatically. There are lots of articles out there outlining other spam filter triggers. Heres a good example. These are good things to be aware of for how you craft your email to the owner of the domain you want.

Some people also use WHOIS privacy services, either provided by their registrar or by a third-party service. Sometimes its obvious when one of these services is in place. For example, for customers using our new WHOIS privacy service, information for WhoisTrustee will be shown instead of a person or organizations contact information.

There will be email addresses shown for the contacts when a WHOIS privacy service is in place, but theres a chance that the registrant cannot receive email sent to them.

Your Ideal Domain Name Is Takennow What

How to choose a domain name when your URL is taken (WEBSITE TIPS FOR ACTORS)

Youve just come up with the best idea ever for a business, and the perfect domain name to boot. When you go to register that domain for your website, you realize its already taken. What do you do?In lieu of cueing those tiny violins, its time to re-strategize your domain naming game.

Also Check: How Much Does It Cost For A Website Domain

What Happens If I Don’t Renew My Domain Name

Expiration date: If you do not renew the domain by the expiration date, the name will enter a renewal grace period. … Day 1 after expiration: The domain will be deactivated and “parked,” indicating that its registration has expired. Other services associated with the domain, such as email, may cease to function.

Make A Small Change And Move On

Theres another option for site owners whose ideal domain name is taken. You can modify the name in some small way that barely lowers its impact.

If yourdomain.com isnt available, try variations that make sense. Especially in cases where youre still establishing your brand, you have the chance to play with the domain name a little.

If you wanted newyorkdental.com, wouldnt NYdental.com be just as good?

Perhaps using a variation of your business name with an SEO-friendly keyword could solve the problem. Building on our example above, if newyorkdental.com and NYdental.com are taken, theres a good chance you can lock down a domain name like NYpainlessdental.com.

The key to this approach is letting your first choice go and realizing that you might come up with a domain name thats better than what you originally had in mind.

Also Check: How Do I Check A Domain Name

The Hard Way: Buy It From The Current Owner

If you go to your favorite WHOIS lookup site, you can enter the domain you want and get the publicly available details of who owns the domain. Be aware that not all WHOIS lookups are official and present accurate information. Also be aware that sometimes registries have their own WHOIS lookups, which may provide different or additional details.

Ideally you want the registrant contact email address, as the registrant is the domains legal owner. gTLDs have four registrant contacts: registrant/owner, admin, technical, and billing. These can all be the same person/organization, or four different ones. Some ccTLDs, like .uk, only have two contacts.

The Right Domain Name Draws In Business

What are premium domain names and how can they turbocharge your online ...

If people are able to easily identify what you do from your domain name, they are more likely to seek out your services. If you own shoes.com and someone looking for shoes comes across it, well, theyre likely to check it out.

That is of course if you followed our first tip of making sure your domain name matches your business intent. If you own shoes.com and sell umbrellas, well then you might need to do some website rebranding.

Not only will you automatically draw in business, a domain name that contains keywords that are relevant in search will rank higher in Google and show up higher in the SERP. While traffic isnt the only goal with a domain name, more traffic means a more successful business.

Read Also: How To Pick The Best Domain Name

What To Do If The Domain Name That You Want Is Taken

So, you’ve come up with a great domain name⦠only to find out that it’s already taken. Don’t worry! There are many wonderful domain names out there and plenty of ways to find another one that will work for you â or to potentially claim the one that you want. Here are some helpful hints for what to do next:

How To Buy A Domain That Is Taken

Youve decided to start a new venture and youve come up with the perfect name. But when you search for the domain you want, you discover that someone already owns it. So what do you do? Do you give up and change your business name, or do you figure out how to buy a domain that is taken? If you want to choose the latter option, youve come to the right place.

This guide will share not only why its so important to get the exact domain you want, but also give you step-by-step instructions on how to buy a domain that is taken.

Read Also: Where Can I Buy Ai Domains

More articles

Popular Articles