Most people who start a site spend a great deal of time working on the name of the site and its contents only to find that when the time comes to buy the associated URL that the domain name that they want is already taken. If you figure this out early enough in the process you can simply change your sites name but if you got into it after everything else has been set up then you are going to have to find a way to work around it, and those work around options are what we are here to talk about today.
Step 1: Visit the domain that you wanted and check out the site. If it looks abandoned or very old you may be able to contact the owner and buy it off of them. Use who is to find out who owns your site.
Step 2: If you can not buy the site for a fair price then simply move onto a suitable domain name that is close to what you wanted. There are a few ways you can do this.
Let’s say that you wanted the domain name real gamers use playstation.com you could:
* Check for the availability of an alternate suffix like .net, but this can cause confusion if you are not careful to advertise it prominently.
* Abbreviate a word/words like this:
o Real gmrs use Playstation.com
o Real gamers use PS.com
o Rl gamers use PS.com
o Just be aware that you have to use very natural abbreviations or your site will be hard to find.
- Drop a word like this:
* Real gamers Playstation.com
* Gamersplaystation.com
* Real playstation.com
This can actually be a benefit if it shortens a long URL and makes it easier for viewers to remember, provided you can get it.
Now that you know how to get a relevant domain name just keep in mind the basic rules of domain names.
* Short and simple is better
* Avoid misspelling of common words
* Avoid special characters like hyphens, they are too easily mistyped
* Keep it relevant, people don’t expect hotrodcars.com to be about knitting
Happy Hunting!
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