If you own a business, you probably understand how important registering a domain name for your company website is. For many people, however, buying one domain name isn’t enough.
There are some significant benefits to owning multiple domain names for your business. Learn more about this option to see if it’s a good idea for you.
Key takeaways:
- Businesses buy more than one domain for various reasons, including search engine optimization (SEO), marketing, and legal protection.
- There are various domains to consider purchasing, from trademarked to location-specific ones.
- You can manage multiple domains by pointing them to a single website or creating a separate website for each domain you own.
- Multiple domains can be challenging, creating more expenses, customer confusion, and more.
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Why Do Businesses Buy More Than One Domain?
There are many reasons why businesses consider purchasing multiple domain names. The following are some of the most common reasons a business would spend the time and money needed to set up and manage more than one domain:
- Marketing strategies: If you have a specific domain for each service, you may be able to run more precise marketing campaigns.
- SEO: Your domain can greatly impact your search engine results, and having multiple domains can benefit your SEO efforts.
- Legal protection: Buying domains related to your business or business name now can help you to avoid the need to sue someone for trying to steal it later.
What Types of Domains Should You Consider Purchasing?
There are many types of domains you could consider purchasing for your company. Each type provides different benefits. Read through the most common types of domains businesses purchase to see which would be the best investment for your company.
Multiple TLDs
The most common domain type that businesses buy when purchasing multiple domains is simply their URL with different top-level domains (TLDs). This is the part at the end of the URL after the dot. For example, on Whoishostingthis.com, the TLD is “.com.”
Securing your business name with multiple TLDs can help ensure nobody else tries to set up a competing site. Hundreds of TLDs exist, so you don’t need to buy them all. The following are among the most popular, so you may want to start with these:
- .com
- .net
- .org
- .info
If your business operates in multiple countries, secure your company name on each of their TLDs. For example, in the U.K., sites generally end with .uk. In Germany, it is .de TLD.
Domains that sound alike or are spelled similarly
If you have found that people often misspell your business name, purchase domains based on those errors. This helps ensure potential customers looking for your business website reach you. If you don’t do this, competitors may register the name, or search engines may never properly direct them to your page.
Trademarked or patented domains
Purchasing the relevant domains is a good idea if you trademark or patent your business name or the name of various products you offer. You can point these domains to specific product pages on your main website or create a separate website dedicated exclusively to that product.
Service-specific domain names
If your business offers multiple services, you may want a separate domain for each one. For example, if you run a local handyman service, you may benefit from registering a separate domain for your roofing services, remodeling services, appliance repair, and more.
Location-specific domain names
Businesses that operate in many locations often want to purchase a separate domain for each one. Having domains that combine the business name and the city each location is in can be very effective.
This allows you to display the correct contact information to people based on what they’re searching for. In addition, domains specific to geographic areas appear more often for local searches on Google and other search engines.
How Do You Manage Multiple Domains?
When you own many domains, you have a few options for managing them. First, you can have multiple domains pointing to a single website. For example, if you own the domains www.YourSite.com and www.YourSite.net, you can have both pointing to the same website files through your control panel.
Also, you can set up a separate website for each domain you own, creating and handling two unique websites differently. You can manage the backend work from a single control panel, but beyond that, you would simply be running two or more sites.
Keep an eye on your domains
Make sure you’re keeping track of renewing each domain. This is especially important if you didn’t register all of your domains simultaneously. Generally, you can buy a domain name for one year at a time or multiple years. Either way, have the domains renewed automatically or set reminders to renew manually when it’s time — or you risk losing ownership.
What Are the Challenges of Owning Multiple Domains?
While there are many benefits to owning multiple domain names, there are some potential problems to be aware of. Take note of the following challenges you may face with owning multiple domains so you can prepare ahead of time:
- Ongoing costs: In addition to the initial cost of purchasing the domain, you pay the renewal costs each year to maintain ownership.
- Keeping all the sites updated: If you have a separate website for each domain, keeping them all appropriately updated can take time and effort.
- Confusion for customers: Customers may be unclear if they’re shown multiple URLs for the same company.
- The need to manage forwarding: If you’re having multiple domains all forward to one website, update the settings on each site if you ever change hosts or make other adjustments to your main website.
What Should You Do Next?
If it makes sense for your company to own multiple domain names, the following steps are simple. First, figure out which domain name registrar is best for you. Next, make a list of all the different domains ― including TLDs ― you want to purchase. If you have an extensive list, consider contacting the domain name registrar to see if you can negotiate a discount. If not, simply register each domain separately to your account.
Once you own the domains, point to an existing website or create an entirely new site for each one. Verify you’re keeping track of each domain and how long you own it. Ensuring you renew the domain before it expires helps ensure you never lose access to your domains.
