\n
In an ideal world, every new business would be able to choose a perfect domain name. The chosen domain would be concise and relevant to both the company and its industry, finished with a choice top level domain \u2010 .uk for a proudly British brand, .house for an estate agent, and so on.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world. And with an estimated 1.75 billion websites already in existence, there\u2019s every chance your preferred domain name is taken and already in use. That might not be a surprise if you\u2019re launching a company with a generic title like Astra or Belmont, but it\u2019ll still be annoying. Anyone assuming your company\u2019s domain name will be its name with a co.uk or .com suffix will find themselves on a completely unrelated website. Once there, they\u2019re unlikely to continue trying to find your actual domain. A prospective customer has been lost, possibly forever.<\/p>\n
Happily, there are things you can do if your preferred domain name is taken. We outline the key steps to consider below, using the fictional example of a garage in Cumbria specialising in old Saabs.<\/p>\n
A walk in the park<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s a chance your domain name has been registered but not used. An astonishing 100 per cent of some generic top level domains (gTLDs) are parked, featuring links to unrelated websites or simply gathering dust. The owner may be willing to sell this unwanted domain, and sometimes they\u2019ll advertise a price on the homepage. You could even approach a broker to negotiate a sale, though their fees can be considerable and there\u2019s no guarantee of success.<\/p>\n
Speak and spell<\/h2>\n
If your business\u2019s name is already associated with another website, you could consider an abbreviation, or change the order of the words. If classicsaabcumbria has already been registered, you could check the availability of alternatives like classicsaabs, cumbriaclassicsaab or saabsofcumbria. These still convey the essence of your business, and it\u2019s unlikely competitors would have registered them all.<\/p>\n
Top of the pops<\/h2>\n
There are over 1,500 generic top level domains in existence. Some firms register the .com version of their .uk address with an automatic redirect from the former to the latter, but no company has purchased every possible gTLD for their brand name. Although it\u2019s not particularly professional, if your ideal domain is in use, you could register the same domain name with a totally different gTLD. Our fictional mechanic could pick from .auto, .car or .repair, among many others.<\/p>\n
Waiting for changes<\/h2>\n
If your preferred domain name is taken, your final option is simply to wait. Domain names are generally reserved on rolling one\u2010year contracts, but they often come back onto the open market when their owner\u2019s circumstances change. This can happen for a variety of reasons, from rebranding to retirement. Patience may enable you to acquire the domain of your dreams, even if you have to use an alternative domain name in the meantime\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In an ideal world, every new business would be able to choose a perfect domain name. The chosen domain would be concise and relevant to both the company and its industry, finished with a choice top level domain \u2010 .uk for a proudly British brand, .house for an estate agent, and so on. Unfortunately, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[3767,11109,17523],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-74869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet-business","tag-blog","tag-domain","tag-uk2"],"yoast_head":"\n
What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an ideal world, every new business would be able to choose a perfect domain name. The chosen domain would be concise and relevant to both the company and its industry, finished with a choice top level domain \u2010 .uk for a proudly British brand, .house for an estate agent, and so on. Unfortunately, this […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-08T02:32:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-08T02:32:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\"},\"wordCount\":510,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Blog\",\"domain\",\"UK2\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Internet Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\",\"name\":\"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-08T02:32:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png\",\"width\":560,\"height\":315},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog - Som2ny Network","og_description":"In an ideal world, every new business would be able to choose a perfect domain name. The chosen domain would be concise and relevant to both the company and its industry, finished with a choice top level domain \u2010 .uk for a proudly British brand, .house for an estate agent, and so on. Unfortunately, this […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-02-08T02:32:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":560,"height":315,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog","datePublished":"2025-02-08T02:32:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869"},"wordCount":510,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png","keywords":["Blog","domain","UK2"],"articleSection":["Internet Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869","name":"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png","datePublished":"2025-02-08T02:32:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/uk2.net-online-store.png","width":560,"height":315},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=74869#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What if my domain name has already been taken? \u2013 The UK2 Blog"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74869"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=74869"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=74869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}