What to Do When Your Preferred Domain Name is Taken

by on July 27, 2017

Choosing a domain name is a big undertaking. You want it to be creative, descriptive and easy to remember so it takes time to come up with a great name you can be proud of. Once you do come up with the perfect name for your domain, it’s time to register it before someone else does.

However, what happens when you go to register your perfect name and discover that it’s already taken? It can be a devastating blow and even put you behind schedule launching your website so, what do you do now? Do you have to start all over again?

Here are three suggestions that may help when you discover your preferred domain name is taken:

  1. Make a slight alteration to the name. Perhaps changing a C to a K, adding or removing an S at the end or some other slight change may make it possible for you to use the name you want. However, do be careful when taking this approach to ensure you don’t infringe on someone else’s trademark and for businesses, you don’t want to be confused with the competitor.
  2. Use a different extension or suffix. It’s hard to find a name that is not already taken if you want to use .com at the end. However, you may be able to use your name if you choose to end it with .net, .info, .biz or some other suffix. While these extensions are not as popular as the traditional .com, they are growing in popularity.
  3. In some instances, you may be able to buy the name from the original owner. It’s possible the name is on reserve and the owner changed their mind about using it or perhaps the owner no longer uses the domain. The possibility of getting the name you want is worth the effort it takes to find out if it’s for sell even if it doesn’t pan out.

Finding out someone else already has the name you want is disappointing. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to start from scratch to find a new one. The tips above may help you find a way to use your preferred name even though someone else thought of it first.