Have you found the dream name for your domain and are you already imagining an e-shop full of products with your brand on top?
In that case, slow down a bit more – you should first make sure that the given domain is even available.
Domain verification and control is the first step to being able to start building your website.
In this article, we will therefore explain how to verify the availability of a domain and what to do if the domain is already taken.
What is a free domain?
A domain is, simply put, the name of a page by which people on the Internet can find you, or simply discover you in the Google search engine.
Each domain consists of a main name (e.g. “ wp ”) and an ending (e.g. “ .sk ”, “ .com ”, “ .org ” and so on), in some cases it also contains a subdomain (e.g. “ admin ”):
Example domain: ” admin.wp.sk “
So, if you want to start a website, blog or in short an online store, you have to come up with a domain name and find out if it is free or if someone already owns it.
So a free domain is a domain name that has not been rented yet, and which you can buy and start using for your website.
💡 Tip: If the topic of domains is a big unknown for you, or if you are a complete beginner in domains, be sure to read my article: What is a domain (and how is it registered) , where you will learn basic information about domains, together with useful advice and tips on how to choose and register it.
How to find out if the domain is free?
So, if you have already thought about a domain name and would like to own it for your website, it is important to verify it first.
Domain verification is very simple, it takes only a few seconds.
First of all, you will need to go to the website of the domain registrar, which will help you find out the availability of the domain – in this case, you can use the Websupport page:
- Open the Websupport – Domains page.
- Enter the full name of the domain you want to verify in the search engine.
- Click the “ Search ” button.
If the domain is already owned by someone, you will see the answer on the page: ” Sorry, your domain is taken “:
However, if the domain is available and nobody owns it yet, Websupport will show you the answer: ” Great, the domain is free “.
In that case, you can (preferably as soon as possible) buy it from the registrar in question and use it for your own purposes:
Buying a free domain is very straightforward and simple at the registrar Websupport :
- After verifying the availability of the domain, click on the shopping cart icon.
- Open your shopping cart and fill in the necessary data for the purchase.
- After paying the registration fee (usually for 1 year), the domain will be yours (the system will confirm and assign the domain to you usually within 24 hours after placing the order).
In addition to selling domains, Websupport also provides high-quality web hosting for your site, along with useful marketing tools.
Thanks to this, you will be able to start creating your new website as soon as possible and you won’t have to deal with other things that you need to get websites up and running.
💡 Tip: Not sure how to choose web hosting? In that case, you can read my article “ How to choose the best hosting (not just for WordPress) ” where you can compare the best hosting services for commercial websites and other systems, along with useful hosting tips and advice.
What to do if the domain is not available?
It can often happen that even with the most original name for your domain, you find that it is already taken.
In that case, you have only two options left – to find out who the owner is (and try to buy the domain) or to slightly modify your dream name to a form that is still available .
1. Find out the owner and buy the domain
The domain registrar itself (such as Websupport ) will not tell you who actually owns the given domain.
In order to search for the owner of the domain, you will need to go to the site of one of the domain managers and look at the information record about the ownership of the domain, along with the technical data about it.
Finding out the owner of a domain is a relatively simple matter. All you have to do is:
- Go to who.is
- Enter your domain into the search engine
The system will then show you a record of the domain, along with important information about the domain’s ownership and technical status:
For domains with the Slovak ending ” .sk “, you can use the pages of the administrator of Slovak domains SK-NIC . The same applies to the Czech endings ” .cz “, which are managed by the CZ-NIC administrator.
The procedure for verifying and searching for domains with these administrators is the same as in the previous example.
However, when searching for the owner of the domain (and its potential purchase), it is important to note that even if you manage to find out and contact the owner, you may not be able to buy it, or the price may be dizzyingly high.
Many people who trade domains are aware of their value and actively buy domains in bulk so that they can sell them at a significantly higher price.
In that case, it’s up to you whether the purchase and price of the domain is worth it, or whether it’s better to try another name for your site.
Use expired domains
On the other hand, it may happen that you come across a domain that, although owned by someone, is also expired.
An expired domain is a name that an owner has already registered but has not paid a fee for extending ownership – thus it is possible to register it for yourself and pay only a small fee for it.
Expired domains also bring with them other benefits than just the name itself.
If you would like to verify several domains and find some that are already expired, you can use them, for example, for:
- Supporting content – it is enough to simply create useful content, with which you would subsequently direct visitors to your main, dream domain.
- Redirect – simply use the 301 redirect command, thanks to which the visitor will reach your main domain. This is especially useful when it comes to slightly modified names of a single domain (e.g. you can redirect the domains ” najlepsie-auto.sk “, ” najlepsie-auto.com “, ” top-vozidla.sk ” to your main domain ” najlepsieauta.sk “, thanks to which you can get a larger number of visitors.
- Sell - as we already mentioned, selling domains is a lucrative business and it can be worthwhile to buy back several expired domains, which you will then be able to sell in the future for a better price.
💡 Tip: If you would like to know how to find the owner of the domain, or who (or what) is the owner, registrar and administrator of the domain, be sure to read my article: Domain owner: How to find out who owns the domain?
2. Edit the domain name
The second option is to simply modify the name slightly to a form that no one already owns.
You can modify the domain in different ways – for example, when it comes to a two-word domain (e.g. ” najlepsiekavy.sk “), you can simply add a hyphen between the words (” najlepsie-kavy.sk “) and check whether such a form of the domain is not available.
You can also try adding numbers or characters to the name (however, so that the given domain is still easy to remember and makes sense), or simply change the ending of the domain (e.g. instead of a domain with the ending ” mojadomena.sk ” you use the ending ” mojadomena.com “ ) .
When it comes to endings, however, it is important to remember that domain owners often buy a domain with several endings for marketing, brand, or simply other reasons – based on this, it may happen that domains with other endings may already be taken.
💡 Tip: If you’re still thinking about what your domain name should be, be sure to read my article: How to choose the best domain name for a website .
In it, you will learn a lot of useful tips about choosing and creating a domain from a marketing, pragmatic, but also technical point of view.
If your domain verification and purchase went smoothly, nothing should prevent you from launching your dream e-shop.
Of course, when setting up a website, don’t forget other important things, such as:
- Choosing the right hosting service (either shared hosting or VPS ).
- Installation of a CMS platform (such as WordPress).
- Creation of websites (e.g. for e-shop) .
- SEO optimization for the Google search engine.
Creating a website starts with choosing (and buying) a domain , but it certainly doesn’t end there. Remember – owning and creating websites is a marathon, not a sprint 🙂
