What to do if the domain you want is taken

It happens to the best of us: You get a great idea for a website name and go to register it, only to find that it has already been taken by someone else. Where do you go from here?

If the domain you want is already registered, there are a few things you can do to make the situation less terrible.

Whip out your thesaurus

If your ideal domain supertastycookies.com is already taken, think about other ways you can convey your idea while still getting the original message across. For example, you can try reallytastycookies.com or superdeliciouscookies.com instead. Be flexible and you can convey the message you want to your website visitors—even if it’s done in a different way than you originally planned.

Try a New Domain

In previous years, if your domain wasn’t available with a legacy TLD, you were at out luck. But now, New Domains have expanded the internet, allowing more freedom than ever before when it comes to expressing your website’s personality. Is denverengineer.com taken? Register denver.engineer instead. There are literally hundreds of options available for domain endings, meaning more space for you to register the domain you really want.

Make it plural (or not)

Lets say the ideal domain for your up-and-coming millinery shop, fancyhat.com, is already registered. But what about fancyhats.com? As simple as it may sound, adding (or removing) an “s” can be the difference between getting the domain you want and having to go back to the drawing board.

Add an article

Adding “a” or “the” in front of your domain address is a quick workaround for an unavailable domain. But note that this is now a flawless alternative: People are likely to forget to add them when they type your URL into the address bar, so you might inadvertently end up sending your traffic to an online competitor.

See if the current owner is willing to sell it.

If you absolutely have to have your original choice of domains, you can attempt to purchase it from the current registrant. Maybe the owner of the domain registered it a while back and never got around to doing anything with it. Or perhaps a domainer thought it was a great domain name and is now selling it for a higher price. While you can expect to pay more in these situations (and there’s no guarantee that you and the domain owner will be able to reach an agreement), there’s no harm in trying if you’re serious about securing the domain for yourself.