How to Buy a URL

“My brother and I don’t park many names and have trumpeted the advantages of developing portfolios before anyone else.” –David Castello

You might have gathered from the title that this post is about how to buy a URL. Luckily, this guide will be easy to write, because buying URL’s isn’t hard, and because I’ve got a lot of experience. So if you’ve never bought a URL before, you’re in the right place.

What’s a URL?

URL is an abbreviation for the phrase “uniform resource locator.” All websites on the Internet consist of ip addresses, which are twelve digit numbers. Since memorizing twelve digit numbers is hard for most people. the people who run the Internet have set up a URL system where website owners can have that ip address resolve somewhere that’s easy to remember. A URL is similar in concept to a domain, but every web page has a URL, but a domain can have multiple URLs.

How to Buy a URL

How to Buy a URL

Think of it as an address type system, with the domain being the name of the street. Each house on the street also has an address, and the address for each specific web page is its URL. For example, http://www.google.com/ is a domain AND a URL. But http://www.google.com/analytics/ is a separate URL, even though the domain is still Google.com.

So how do you buy a URL?

Strictly speaking, you’re not buying the URL, but the domain. And in web speak, they don’t even call it buying a domain, necessarily. If the domain is available, you register it by paying a registration fee. So really, instead of buying a URL, you’re registering a domain. But if someone else owns the domain, you will almost surely have to buy the domain from the owner. (Most people don’t just give away domains, even if they’re not using them.

The first step in buying a URL is choosing a registrar. The Internet is full of registrar services, but the two I’ve used the most often to register domains and buy URL’s are Network Solutions and GoDaddy. Both registrars have been in business for years, and they both have excellent reputations with customers.

But what’s a registrar?

Your domain registrar is the company that registers a domain on your behalf with ICANN, an organization I lovingly refer to as, “the guys who run the Internet.” No matter which company you register your URL with, they’ll be following up with ICANN to make sure you’re listed as the owner (or registrar) of the domain.

Determining whether or not the URL you’re interested in buying is available to register is as simple as typing it into the domain availability search box on the homepage of your chosen registrar. If it’s available, you’ll be able to register the domain immediately. Registration fees vary from registrar to registrar, and they also vary according to which tld you register. (The tld is the .com, .net, or .org section of the domain. There are several of these to choose from.)

How to pick a URL to buy?

My suggestion for selecting URL’s, or domains, is to look for the following criteria, and get as many of them as you can:

  1. Try to register a .com, but if you find a really good two word phrase, it’s okay to register a .net or a .org instead.
  2. If the best you can do is come up with a three word phrase, then don’t settle for anything less than the .com.
  3. Avoid hyphens if you can, BUT if you can get a good two word .com with a single hyphen, it’s worth doing.
  4. Pick a keyword phrase for your domain that exactly matches a phrase that someone might type in to find your company. If, for example, you operate a bar in Plano, TX, consider registering “planotexasnightclub.com”.
  5. If your company has a distinctive name, you should just go ahead and use that as your URL. If I own a bar called Lonesome Randy’s, for example, I’d probably just register “lonesomerandys.com.”
  6. If someone else owns the .com domain that you’d like to have, think about how much you’re willing to pay for that domain.

Negotiating for a domain that someone owns

The problem with trying to buy a URL that someone else already owns is that perceived value increases with ownership. Psychological studies have proven this. You’ll appraise the value of a house you own higher than you would the exact same house owned by your neighbor. But you can still come to an agreement with some of the folks who own URL’s.

Most people who own domains won’t even reply to an inquiry about buying a site unless you approach them with an offer. If you’re not sure how much to offer, get in touch with someone experience in Internet marketing and ask him for advice. (A search for “SEO” will bring up a list of plenty of web savvy Internet marketing types who would probably love to consult with you about which URL you should buy.)

Keep in mind when making an offer that the person who owns the URL will almost never say, “Okay.” to the price you offer. They’ll come back with a higher amount. So when you make that first offer, make an offer that’s lower than what you’re actually willing to pay. But don’t be insulting about it. If you really want to buy the URL, you want to avoid making the current owner angry.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to avoid looking like someone who has a lot of money. If you own a major corporation, and you want to buy a URL from someone, and they find out how much money you have, they’re going to raise their price accordingly. (You’d do the same thing.) I’ve known businesspeople who have purchased domains via someone else just to avoid that kind of price gouging based on the wealth of the buyer.

After you’ve bought the URL, it’s time to start planning your content and work on launching your website, but that’s another topic for another article.

Related posts:

  1. How to Find Someone’s Address
  2. How to Search the Internet
  3. How to Connect PSP to the Internet
  4. How to Play Internet Scrabble

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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