Domain names are a great investment for your website. You can use them to build a brand and get more customers. However, you need to be careful when choosing a domain name.
If you have a consistent budget and time, it is vital that you know how to approach domains for acquisition. Keep in mind that this article only touches upon the process of domain hunting; there are other elements in the domain acquisition process such as talking to the appropriate organizations and finalizing the deal.
While most companies would want to go directly for the big players like .com, these are also limited. You’ll need to find your own ways to discover what domains might give back more relevant traffic rather than keeping hunting for accessible high traffic .com’s.
Here are 10 ways to determine if it is available or not.
1) Check the availability of the domain name on the domain registry.
2) Search for other websites with similar domains.
3) Use Whois Lookup.
4) Check if there are any trademark conflicts.
5) Checking if the domain has expired and it would be available to purchase or lease again.
6) Check if there is an active lawsuit filed against it.
7) Search for similar phrases in Google Trends.
8) Checking the availability of the domain name with a domain auction site such as Godaddy or Flippa
9) See if the website exists in a web archive.
10) Try to purchase it from the current owner.
11) Check their social media presence for mentions and written materials about their existence online.