How to get the domain name you want (even if it’s unavailable)

You’ve come up with a brilliant idea for a new product or website: You’ve already brainstormed a killer website name, wordsmithed a clever slogan, and even designed the graphics to go along with it … only to find out that the domain name you planned on registering is already taken.

Unfortunately, cases like these are not uncommon. Generic domains have a high level of occupancy, so many of the best names are already being used or are sold at Premium prices for thousands of dollars.

Despite all the doom and gloom, stories like these can have happy endings. Rather than having to make your selection from a limited pool of generic domains, you can now choose from hundreds of unique domain options that will define your brand and differentiate your online presence. By thinking outside the box, you can create a web address that is memorable and relevant to what you do.

Maybe your passion in life is traveling the world trying to find the restaurants, food trucks, and hole-in-the-wall joints that make the most delicious waffles. When you go to register your number one choice of websites, wonderfulwaffles.com, you’re dismayed to find that it’s already taken. You’re now faced with a number of options.

Option 1: Add hyphens, numbers, or intentional misspellings so that you can achieve some form of your intended domain. For example, wonderful-waffles.com and wonderfulwafflez.com are both available alternatives to wonderfulwaffles.com. However, this solution is not ideal because it makes the URL more difficult to remember and users may have a harder time navigating to your website.

Option 2: Add more words to your desired URL until you find one that is available. If you do some experimentation, you’ll find that allisonswonderfulwaffles.com and wonderfulwafflesadventure.com are both possibilities. But tacking another word onto an already long domain name is a nuisance when typing the web address into your browser.

Option 3: Register a New Domain that is relevant to your website. With just a passing glance at the search results, I can immediately see that wonderfulwaffles.global, wonderfulwaffles.international, and wonderfulwaffles.reviews are just a few of the many available choices (and there are a lot of them).

And here’s a pro tip: If you’re planning on making social media handles that are the same as your domain name, there’s a super easy way to check their availability all in one place. Just download the Chrome extension Rembrandt and whenever you search for a domain name on Name.com, the extension will tell you if those social media handles are available!

Don’t settle for a domain name that you don’t love. With New Domains, you can get creative with your online presence and create a website that stands out.