To Check Domain Availability

The domain name is the formalization of the IP address of your site. It is what makes it possible to find your site among all the other sites on the Internet. In addition to being evocative and easily remembered, it must above all be unique and available. As in the supermarket, first come is first served. Each year, around 250,000 new domains are registered. Among all the stages of creating your website, the reservation of the domain name is very important. So how to achieve this? How To Check Domain Availability? Here we will try to unfold the secrets for the same. You will understand here the reason and the process of the domain availability checking process.

Before you start:

When you decide to buy a domain name, know that it must be available in two different ways: the extensions .com and .fr or .in or .uk (or other, depending on your country) must be available! I strongly advise you to ensure their availability as this will allow you to choose the main one and redirect the other to the one you are using. The advantage of doing this is not to lose your potential visitors: many of them constantly hesitate between the .com and the UK. Here are the suggestions regarding what to overcome this problem to Check domain availability!

What Is A Domain Name For?

You can recognize a website by its URL (its full address). The domain name is part of this URL.

The domain name contains between 3 and 63 characters with numbers or letters separated or not by dashes, but without special characters (accents, comma, question mark, etc.).

The domain name is never really yours. Rather than buying it, you rent it for a renewable fixed period (the duration varies according to the providers. Generally, it is about a period of 1 year). This is why we use the word “reserve” or “rent” and not “buy” when we talk about a domain name.

How to Reserve a Domain Name?

A domain name registration is done with an approved registrar (also called a registrar or registrar).

To reserve your domain name, you must follow these 4 basic steps:

  • First, check domain availability.
  • Reserve or renew the domain name to avoid its expiration.
  • Configure the DNS (“domain name system” allows you to translate the IP address into a domain name).
  • Secure the site using an SSL certificate. This is what makes it possible to display the padlock and the word HTTPS in the bar indicating the URL of your website (as below).
  • To save time and avoid making configuration errors that could negatively impact your online performance, we recommend that you be accompanied by a professional.

Why Choose The Right Domain Name?

Choosing your domain name is not a step to be taken lightly. It is also part of your online visibility strategy.

The ideal domain name should be as close as possible to the image you want to convey of your business. It will also serve you to stand out from your competitors.

3 Steps to Check the Availability of a Domain Name

  1. Select several possibilities

Before you even check domain availability, we recommend that you select 2 or 3 in case the other possibilities are already taken.

For example, Anna, who is an architect in Lyon, can keep in mind several names for her site related to her activity, such as architecte-lyon.fr, anna-architecture.fr, or architecte-anna.fr.

If you cannot position yourself among your ideas, your domain advisor will help you choose when checking their availability. Free domain name generators exist to help you find ideas, which revolve around one or more central ideas and generate interesting suggestions. This is what GoDaddy or Shopify offers, for example. They can also offer you a choice of personalized domain names according to your professional activity.

  1. Choose the extension

The extension is also called a top-level domain name. It can be linked to a geographical indication or to an organization status. Thus, the .uk or .nz designates the country or the territory, and the .org is intended for non-commercial organizations but remains open to all companies.

  1. Extensions are not assigned automatically. You have to choose it:

If you have stopped at a domain name, you can check its availability yourself before offering it to your site creation service provider. To do this, tools are directly linked to the registers and official databases relating to domain names, for example, Gandi, Ionos or OVH.

Depending on the tool used, different states may be indicated to you:

  • Domain name available:the domain is free. You can reserve it.
  • Transferable:transferring a domain name that you own means recovering it when it is already in use or to another registrar.
  • Renewable:it has expired because the current owner has not yet had the opportunity to renew it, and it is currently not to be reserved by anyone else.

After checking that the domain name was available, all you have to do is reserve it, then configure it. Checking the availability of a domain name is one of the first steps before creating and putting your website online.

To go further, be aware that reserving your domain name does not constitute intellectual property or industrial property. To do this, you can register it by filing a trademark with the INPI or WIPO. Your domain name then becomes a registered trademark, so you avoid litigation or unfair competition for infringement. Onlive Server is providing the best Domain Extenstions with VPS Server Hosting plans.