Domaining MBA Monday: 3 Things To Do Before Buying A Domain

Domaining MBA Monday

Hello and welcome to another Domaining MBA Monday here on MorganLinton.com! Today I wanted to talk about a few things you should be doing before you buy a domain name. Whether you are buying a $1,000 domain or a $10,000 domain, taking these steps can help you make sure that what you are buying is as good as you think it is. It’s easy to judge a book by it’s cover, or in this case, a domain by its name. However it is so important to look a layer deeper and make sure that the domain your buying really has the value or liquidity that you think it does. Follow these three simple steps below and you can be more confident when you buy.

  1. Check the search volume and CPC – this metric should not be the only thing you use to decide if you want to buy or not, but it should absolutely be a factor. If you think “everyone must be searching for this” or “this term is hot!” then validate it first. If you find that only 100 people a month are searching for the term and the CPC is under $0.25, that hot keyword domain might not be as hot as you thought.
  2. Make sure the domain doesn’t violate any Trademarks – you can easily hop over to USPTO.gov and make sure that the domain does not violate any existing Trademarks. The last thing you want to do is spend thousands of dollars buying a name just to lose it to a UDRP or even worse get sued for damaged. Think it can’t happen? It can. It is completely free and takes no more than a minute to check so if you’re not sure, just do it.
  3. Search for the domain on Google – you should search for the domain name you are buying on Google to make sure it wasn’t previously used to run an online scam or fraudulent organization. If you see a bunch of results like “yourname.com is a scam” or “yourname.com took my money” then you probably want to steer clear. You never know what the domain was used for before you buy it unless you take the 30 seconds to look. I also like to use Screenshots.com to see what was previously on the domain, you never know what you might find!

That’s it, three steps and no more than 3 minutes of your time and you can know a lot more about the domain name you’re thinking of buying. I go through more steps than this myself but these three steps are ones that I think are pretty darn important for everyone to follow.

As always I’d love to hear the steps you yourself follow before buying a domain, comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton