How Do I Find Available Domains Through The Whois Database
You can check the availability of a domain name by searching for it on the Whois database. It will give you the status of whether the domain name that you are looking for is available or not. Doing this for multiple domain names over time can help you build a list of available domain names.
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Who Owns Your Domain Name
by Richard Keyt, Domain Name Law attorney
Are you sure you own your domain name? Chances are that neither you nor anybody in your company has ever checked to see who actually owns your domain name. It is very common for domain names to be owed by a company employee, a web site designer or an internet service provider. The initial owner of a domain name is the person or entity that is listed as the registrant on the application for the domain name submitted to the domain name registrar.
Using the internet, it is very easy to determine who actually owns a domain name. A domain name is owned by or licensed to the person or entity shown as the registrant on the whois database of the registrar. The registrar is the name given to an entity that is authorized by ICANN to issue domain names to the public. The first and most well known registrar is Network Solutions, Inc. A whois database is a database maintained by all registrars that lists pertinent information about all domain names issued by the registrar. Each registrars Whois database may be searched online.
To check the ownership of a domain name, go to the Whois database of either Network Solutions or Better-Whois.com. Simply type in the name of the domain name and the top level domain name such as .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info or .name and click the search button. If the domain name is in the Whois database, the search results will display the following pertinent information about the domain name:
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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Contact Us Directly For Help
Are you unable to get the expected results when you run the ICANN check? Not to worry we will gladly assist you with finding out who your Domain Provider or Registrar is and transfer your domain and web hosting to FastComet.
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How To Hide Your Information From Whois Lookups
Online privacy is incredibly important and some people do not want their contact details publicly available on the internet. For anyone who does not want to sell their domain or be contacted by those browsing the Whois directory, we highly recommend purchasing Advanced Security for all of your domains, which includes Whois Privacy, Domain Lock Plus, and a free SSL certificate. It masks your contact information and prevents spammers and telemarketers from using your information for no good.
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Find A Custom Domain For Your Site
Whether youre working on a blog, an online portfolio, or an online shop, Mailchimp offers custom domains that can make all the difference to your online presence. And theres no reason to stop there. Use Mailchimp to build your website and connect it to our all-in-one marketing platform to really make your offerings stand out from the rest.
Learn more about how to get a free domain name from Mailchimp and how our offer compares to the competition.
What Is A Domain Name
Briefly speaking, a domain name is a unique name identifying a user in the Internet, their website and e-mail. A full domain name consists of a string of names separated with dots. At the end there is always a top level domain. In case of Poland it is .pl.
Each domain name must be registered in a registry responsible for a particular top level domain. The .pl country code registry is run by NASK. The rules on .pl domain name registration are specified in the .pl Domain Name Regulations.
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Tips For Choosing A Registrar
Determine which services you require
You may want services like email hosting or support offered in French, so find out what each registrar offers. Remember, if you registered your .CA domain name as an individual you have free WHOIS privacy protection already included.
Check references
Seek out customer reviews and testimonials, and ask friends or colleagues for a recommendation. You may find that some registrars come highly recommended by your peers. If you make a mistake, you can always transfer your .CA domain to another registrar.
Shop around
Shop around to get a good understanding of how much your domain name, and additional services, will cost. Registrars may offer bundles, packages, or special promotions. Keep in mind that cheapest isnt always necessarily best.
Search For The Domain Registrant Information In The Whois Database
If youre not successful in finding the contact information on the website directly, you can try using a domain lookup tool.
Some domain registrars submit the basic contact details of new domain owners into a WHOIS directory. This directory is an online database that contains data about the registered users and owners of domain names.
There are a variety of lookup tools available online. However, due to privacy concerns, the information may be limited. The information that WHOIS records can provide without infringing on privacy laws is:
- Name and contact information of the registrant .
- Name and contact information of the registrar .
- Domain name registration date and expiration date.
- Nameservers.
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Can I Register For New Domains Via Whois Domain Lookup
You can use the Whois lookup service to find the registration status of a domain name. If the domain has not been registered and is available, you can use Whois.com to register the domain name.
Alternatively, if the domain name has already been registered, you can either register similar available domain names that we suggest, or use the contact information provided in order to get in touch with the owner and respectfully negotiate a sale. Do note that unsolicited contact is forbidden using the information provided via the Whois lookup service.
How To Find Out Who Owns A Domain Name
If youve decided on a domain name for your new website only to find its unavailable, dont worry. There are still ways you can get your domain name, even if its already registered by someone else.
You can reach out to the current domain name owner and see if you can purchase it from them directly. However, first, you need to find out who the domain owner is.
To explain how that can be done, we created this step-by-step guide. Read on and learn the methods that can get you the domain name you want.
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How To Check For Domain Name Availability
To do a domain name check, simply use the search bar at the top of thispage.Our search engine will immediately let you know whether your domain name isavailable for registration.If its available, you can then follow through on the registration process.If its not available, youll be provided with alternative extensionsuggestions.
Migrate Your Site To The New Domain
Once youve secured ownership of the domain in question, youll want to migrate your existing site to that domain name.
If you build your website on a platform like Shopify, you can migrate to or from pretty much any online site builder. There are several options for migrating a site to Shopify, each being a relatively simple process.
Learn more: Get the features you need to grow your businessand the support to switch smoothly with Shopify website migration.
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How Is Whois Changing
In light of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, coming into force within the European Union in May 2018, many Registries and Registrars that operate within that region, or globally, are required to gain Registrant’s consent before disclosing Personally Identifiable Information to any third parties or the public. As a result of the implementation of the GDRP, much of the data historically found within WHOIS will no longer be included or be redacted. The absence of this information has a trickle-down effect throughout the domain industry, affecting WHOIS data output for domain names and Registrants that do not have an immediate or obvious nexus to the European Union
How To Find Out Who The Domain Owner Is
Youve spent time brainstorming domain names. Youve tried different domain suggestion tools. And youve finally figured out the perfect name.
But when you go to register the domain name youre set on, you find that someone has already claimed it. What a disappointment.
Before you give up on that perfect name and start the whole process again from scratch, know there might still be hope.
Registered domain names are sometimes still availableif you know how to find the owner.
People invest in domain names for a number of different reasons. Sometimes, its to start their own website at that domain. Sometimes its purely for investment purposes. And in a few cases, it may be for a website idea that either never comes to fruition, or that falls off the owners radar over time.
If the website youre interested in isnt being actively used and updated, then the owner may be happy to hear from an interested buyer. And even if the owner is clearly using the domain name right now, if youre willing to spend enough to make a sale worth it to them you may still have a chance.
In both cases, you should anticipate spending more for the domain name than if you went with something no one else owns yet. But if youre really set on that domain name, its worth trying your chances.
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Why Do You Need A Domain Name
Much like a physical address a domain name serves two main purposes. The first is as the address of your website. By typing your domain name into the address bar, visitors are directed to your website, in the same way they would use your physical address to arrive at your place of business. The second is as a mailing address. People can send emails to an email address that uses your domain name. This email will arrive in your inbox. This mirrors sending a regular letter to your business address where it will arrive in your post box.
What Domain Name Should I Register
When choosing a domain name for your business you need to consider your geographical area of business, your industry, and your company name.
In Australia .com.au domain names are the most popular and by default the .com.au is targeted to web searches made within Australia, so for an Australian business a .com.au domain is the best option. If you are looking at expanding internationally then a more generic domain extension such as a .com could be best.
Webcentral recommends registering several popular domains extensions including .com.au, net.au, .com and .net to protect your brand identity online.
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Avoid Numbers And Hyphens
Imagine asking your 10 friends to spell or pronounce a domain name filled with numbers and dashes. It wont work.
If you choose a domain name with these elements, youre likely going to lose traffic to people who cant remember your domain or effectively tell someone else how to find it. We probably wouldnt have Facebook today if you had to go to Face-Book.com to reach the site.
How Can I Hide My Remaining Public Contact Details From The Whois Database
For Canadians with a .CA domain name, the?Canadian Internet Registration Authority ?automatically provides domain privacy be default. However, non .CA domain names will need to purchase an additional service called a Domain Privacy service. Once purchased, all Registrant information on the WHOIS database is replaced by proxy contact information. In most cases, this information belongs to the operating registrar such as Webnames.ca.
While the details list a registrar or proxy contact information, the true owner of a domain name is still the original registrant.
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Choose A Domain Name Suffix Such As Com Or Net
After settling on the domain name, consider the suffix. The most popular suffix is .com, although .net and .org are also popular. These are considered to be top-level domains, or the highest-level domain suffixes in the domain naming system.
There are also other varieties to consider, such as country code top-level domains. These domain names end in a suffix that is particular to a specific country. A website in Germany might end in .de, for example.
Finally, there is another class of domain name suffixes called “sponsored, top-level domains,” which are sponsored by a specific community related to the domain name. For example, .gov is for the U.S. government and .edu is for education organizations.
For most websites, .com is the best suffix for its ease of use, but if you have a specialized website, you might consider a country code or sponsored top-level domain.
What Is A Whois Domain Lookup
A Whois domain lookup allows you to trace the ownership and tenure of a domain name. Similar to how all houses are registered with a governing authority, all domain name registries maintain a record of information about every domain name purchased through them, along with who owns it, and the date till which it has been purchased.
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