December 15, 2023

What To Do After Buying a Domain Name

written by

Joe Uddeme

Joe Uddeme

What To Do After Buying a Domain Name

Domain Buying Guides

Name Experts provides premium
domain service to:

MAX
MAX
MAX
Hope Channel
MAX
MAX

Congratulations! You bought a domain name. But now what? In this post, domain name expert Joe Uddeme explains what to do next to keep your domain name protected – and extract its full value.

 

“I have a domain name. Now what?” – this is a very common question people ask.

The fact is, a domain name is pointless if you don’t do anything with it! After buying a domain, many things will run through your mind, and choosing how to use it productively can be confusing. However, don’t fret. This article will guide you on what to do after purchasing a domain name.

Do it right, and you can leverage your domain name and build it into an attractive asset. Do it wrong, and you’ll waste 20 bucks on the temporary ownership of something you can’t even touch.

 

Key takeaways:

  • What is web hosting and why do you need it?
  • Building a website and a brand you can leverage
  • Attracting online customers to your new business
  • Planning your exit strategy

Before we proceed, let’s run through how to buy a domain in the first place.

 

Acquiring Your Domain

Buying a domain has become more simple than ever. In 2025, it’s just a few clicks and a swift online transaction. The first step is to choose a domain name you like that is relevant to your business. Afterwards, you can check if it’s available to buy immediately.

Find a domain registrar accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization overseeing all domain names on the Internet. If the domain name is available, you can purchase it immediately from an accredited registrar. The price depends on how high the demand for the domain name is.

If the domain name has already been claimed, you need a different approach. You can check domain marketplaces to see if the owner has possibly listed the domain for sale (see our list of the best domain marketplaces). Otherwise, you can possibly contact the owner to negotiate a deal.

If this is out of your comfort zone and you have a high-value premium domain name in your sights, check out an experienced domain name broker with a great track record.

For more details on securing a domain name, check our in-depth article about how to buy a domain name.

What To Do After Buying A Domain Name

You have acquired a domain name and have taken the first step in building your web presence. There are many other things to do after buying the domain, and we’ll outline them below.

1. Get Web Hosting Setup

After buying a domain name, the first thing to consider is hosting a website with it. You’ll need a web hosting package from a reliable company. The company will host your website on its servers for a fee, and your website will be accessible once someone types your domain name into their web browser.

Web hosting has become a walk in the park, at least in terms of getting started. You can get reliable web hosting for a few dollars monthly, and the price keeps going down as computing capacity increases around the globe.

Sometimes, a domain registrar also offers web hosting services, meaning you can buy a domain name and a hosting package from the same platform. Otherwise, you can buy them separately and point your domain name to your hosting company’s servers.

2. Connect Your Domain to Your Hosting

Connecting your domain to your hosting provider is relatively easy. You can do it via two methods:

  • Changing the nameservers to those of your web hosting provider.
  • Adding a DNS A record.

Either method involves changing the domain name system (DNS) configurations from your domain registrar. Your registrar allows you to directly change the nameservers from its default to the one provided by your hosting company. You can also point your domain to the hosting company’s nameservers by adding a DNS A record. It’s the same action but with two different approaches.

3. Create an Email Address with Your New Domain

Instead of using a common email address ending with “Gmail.com,” “Yahoo.com,” or “AOL.com,” you can use one ending with your custom domain name. It makes you look more professional and shows people you’re serious about your business.

Many domain registrars also offer email hosting, so you can pay for it and create custom emails directly. Otherwise, you can choose an external email provider and change your domain’s DNS MX records to point to its mail servers.

4. Build Your Website and Brand

The best way to put a domain to work is to create a website with it. It can be any type of website, such as a blog or online store. Creating a website is usually complex, but there are ready-made tools that make the process as easy as it can get. You can use a designated website builder like WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.

WordPress is the most common tool for building websites because of its versatility. You can use it to create virtually any type of website you want. Follow these steps:

  • Install WordPress on your web hosting account (many hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installation). Afterwards, log into your WordPress dashboard to begin customizing your website.
Installing a new website via EasyWP, a WordPress hosting solution from Namecheap.
  • Choose a theme for your website. The theme is critical because it dictates the look and feel of your website. Just like a great brand name, colors and fonts will play a part in the ‘feel’ of your business. Every WordPress version has a default theme, but you can change it to anyone that suits you best. You can choose a free theme from the WordPress theme directory or buy a custom theme from marketplaces like ThemeForest. You’ll install the theme directly from your dashboard or manually upload the theme file.
WordPress theme library
  • WP plugins. Install WordPress plugins to add features to your website. The best part of WordPress is its ecosystem of plugins built by external developers. You can find any plugin you think of to add custom features to your site. Examples of popular plugins include WooCommerce for selling products, WPForms for creating forms, Akismet for anti-spam protection, etc.
WordPress plugins screengrab

If WordPress is unsuitable for you, you’re free to choose any other website builder to create your site. Some people prefer ‘drag-and-drop’ visual editors, like Wix, for example.

5. Register and Trademark Your Name

If your domain name is part of a new business or startup, it’s advisable to register the business with the relevant government agency and file a trademark for your domain name. Formal registration makes your business look more legitimate to customers and fellow businesses.

You can register your business under various legal structures, including a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability protection (LLC). An LLC means the business has a separate legal identity, and the shareholders (including you) won’t be personally responsible for corporate debts and judgments, i.e., limited liability.

You can file for a trademark with your relevant government agency, e.g., the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for U.S. residents. A trademark gives you legal protection against another business using your name. Domain consulting services may be able to help you here.

6. Market Your Website

It’s not enough to just create a website. You must promote your website to ensure your relevant target audience finds and interacts with it. The best ways to promote your website include:

Submit Your Website To Search Engines

You want your website to be indexed by popular search engines like Google, and by submitting your website through a tool called Google Search Console you can get it indexed effectively.

Backlinks

Find a way for other websites to link back to your website. These ‘backlinks’ improve your site’s reputation with search engines, and they’ll suggest your website more when people search for relevant queries.

You can write informative content that other websites will gladly link back to. You can also exchange backlinks with relevant websites to boost your rankings. Note – this is a long-game strategy that can take months or years to pay off!

Social Media

Promote your website on popular social media platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), Reddit, Quora, and others. It’ll help you spread the word about your brand and get customers.

7. Create A Google Search Console (GSC) Account

Google is the world’s most popular search engine, with an 83% market share. It’s practically the gateway to the web, and you’ll be doing your website a disservice if Google does not index it.

Google Search Console (GSC) is a platform that allows website owners to check their indexing status, detect errors, and optimize their visibility on the Google search engine. Anyone can create a GSC account and add their website to it.

You must verify ownership of any domain you want to add to GSC, and it works in different ways, including

  • Uploading a specific HTML file to your domain’s root directory.
  • Adding a custom HTML tag to your website.
  • Adding a TXT record to your domain’s DNS configuration.

After verifying ownership, generate an XML sitemap of your website and submit it to Google Search Console. This sitemap defines the relationship between all your website’s menus and pages, helping Google index it effectively.

A Google Search Console account allows you to monitor which website pages have been indexed by Google and which have not. You can detect and fix indexing issues to improve your visibility and search engine rankings. Google also provides a tool to evaluate and enhance your website’s speed and performance, which plays a significant role in its search engine rankings.

8. Sell Your Domain

After putting a lot of effort into building and maintaining a website on your domain name, it’s understandable to want to sell the domain and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The good news is that domain names become more valuable when you use them to create websites and follow the other steps mentioned in this article; here are some tips on buying and selling domain names for profit.

The easiest way to sell a domain is to list it on a marketplace to see if you’ll find willing buyers. However, the best option is to hire a domain name broker like Name Experts to help you. Domain brokers are experienced in judging the value of a domain and negotiating the best deal for you. On your own, you may significantly undervalue your domain and sell it for less than it’s worth or overvalue it and find no buyers.

A domain broker helps you strike the right balance and sell your domain for an optimal price.

Computer keyboard with a green shopping cart button to denote selling a business with an attractive domain name

 

About the author

Joe Uddeme is Director and Principal of Name Experts, one of the world’s leading domain name brokerage services. He has overseen domain name sales and acquisitions totaling more than $150 million and is renowned worldwide as a go-to expert in buying and selling premium domains. Need help? Contact us at: [email protected]

Subscribe for More Domain Buying & Selling Advice

Related posts

Family of people of various ages crowded around a computer as if investigating domain name services online.
What Is the GoDaddy Domain Broker Service, and Is it Worth It?

Everybody’s heard of GoDaddy, whose services include quick, cheap registration of available domain names. In this post, NameExperts.com Director Joe Uddeme explores their other services – and whether they’re the right option for premium domain name buyers.   GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain registrar, with over 90 million domain names registered and counting. Thanks to never-ending marketing, the average person likely thinks of GoDaddy when they want to buy a new domain. It’s common for people to visit GoDaddy, type the domain they want to buy, and see that someone else has already taken it. But GoDaddy doesn’t leave the user hanging– it suggests an alternative domain name or advertises its domain broker service, as seen in the image below:
Image of outerspace with small icons of people connected by faint lines to denote interconnectivity in the domain name world
How to Buy Business Names for your Startup Success

When you have the perfect name for your new business, it’s imperative you can secure the right domain name to match – ideally not for the reported $11m Elon Musk paid for Tesla.com. Domain name expert Joe Uddeme shares his tips. Need to buy business domain names for your startup? In this article, we’ll explore where to buy them, the steps to secure the ideal name, and why a good business name can make all the difference for a startup with big ambitions. In many instances, the domain name for a startup business name you have settled on just won’t be available. Or at least at face value, that appears to be the case. However, dealing with a domain name broker can make a world of difference. We’re here to make the impossible possible!   Key Takeaways A strong business name enhances brand identity, recognition, and customer loyalty, playing a crucial role in a startup’s success. Legal protection through trademark registration safeguards a business name, preventing infringement and ensuring exclusive rights. Choosing a unique, memorable business name that reflects company values and accommodates future growth is vital for long-term success.   Why Buying a Business Name Matters
Close up of man's hand pointing at a laptop keyboard, as if checking how to buy/sell a doman name online
Your Expert Guide On How To Buy and Sell Domain Names

In this article, we look at the ins and outs of buying and selling a domain name for your business. Here’s NameExperts.com Director Joe Uddeme to walk you through the process.   Are you new to the industry and need to know how to buy and sell domain names? You’re most likely looking for the best places you can buy domains, where to sell your domains, how to transfer names to your buyer, how much you can sell your names for, and more. At Name Experts, we help corporations and individuals around the world buy and sell domain name assets. It’s what we’ve been doing for more than 15 years, and we have brokered deals worth more than $150m. So you can trust the information in this post. If you need more help, get in touch. We’ll help you navigate the waters – and even help you choose a great domain name for your business at the best price. Here’s our complete guide to buying and selling domain names – updated for 2025. Key Takeaways Buying domain names – everything you need to know Selling domain names – everything you need to know How a domain name broker can be your ‘secret weapon’ when buying or selling   Buying domain names Buying the right domain name for your brand can be a pretty big undertaking. New TLDs like .online or .law are part of more than 1,500 alternative top level domains that can sometimes confuse your customers. How can you know what the right choice is to help your business grow? Or maybe you’re buying domains to turn around and sell them. Whatever you need a new domain name for, having a broker on your side to help you with how to buy and sell domain names and get the domain purchase over the finish line. Especially when it comes to the negotiation process, you’ll want to have an experienced broker who knows what your purpose is for the domain name so that they can plan the proper strategy. We also encourage you to use an accredited, third-party escrow provider. We use Escrow.com as the preferred method for domain purchase transactions because it identifies all the parties involved to ensure proper transfer and a smooth transaction experience. The broker you choose should be able to work with the escrow provider and help you complete the entire domain purchase process. Escrow Process to Buy a Domain Name Here are the general steps outlined below: Buyer and seller agree to terms Buyer selects a payment method Escrow secures buyer’s payment Escrow will prompt the seller to transfer The transfer will occur either by account transfer or authorization code Seller confirms shipment of merchandise Buyer confirms receipt of a domain name in the account Buyer marks the transaction complete Domain Purchase and choosing the right broker Your domain broker should be open to communicating with you throughout this entire process and make sure the timeline is being met – as well as meeting all other expectations. At Name Experts, we will make sure that we will get you the domain you want or find an appropriate alternative if the one you want truly isn’t available. Most reputable brokers will charge a fee for any successful acquisition and should be upfront with you about that fee. They’ll also help you with successfully transferring domains so that everything is out of your hands when all is said and done.   Selling Domain Names Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned domain investor with dozens of assets or someone who just has one domain name to sell, it’s always a good idea to hire a professional who knows what they are doing. Domain experts make it their mission to maximize your sales potential and work on your behalf. This means letting you know if you’re sitting on a goldmine when it comes to domains or buying assets that are only worth a few pennies – they’ll help you figure out the value of your domain. The first step of the selling process is to establish the right expectation for your domains. Sellers should identify their needs and realistically price their assets in a way that will make people want to buy them. We’ll help you identify your goals and get to the bottom of why you’re really selling. Typically, there are different types of pricing models that we use to sell your domain name, but it all depends on intent. They include retail sellers, market seller, and liquidation seller. At Name Experts, we have experience negotiating and marketing your name assets successfully. We have the knowledge to help you nail down a strategy to make sure the right people are seeing your domain names. If you’re in the market to sell, we will help you with all of our services. Value your Domain Name Your domain name, and really anyone’s domain name, is only worth as much as a buyer is willing to pay. There are different factors to consider, though. For example, single word .com assets sell for a higher price than longer names. At Name Experts, we will evaluate your assets and take comparisons of other names that recently sold in the market. We’ll make sure you have a realistic expectation of what your domain is worth. Marketing Especially if you’re new in this industry, you’ll want someone experienced putting your name in front of the right people. We use a combination of email, phone, and press releases to ensure global exposure. This also includes reaching out to our industry-wide relationships to help you find the perfect buyer. Negotiation Don’t leave money on the table. Let Name Experts negotiate on your behalf and help you maximize your profit. Transfer Service This part of the process makes sure that the buyer lives up to his end of the deal. We handle all transfers through Escrow.com, a licensed and audited escrow service ideal for domain names.  We’ll make sure that your domain name ends up at the right registrar.   Let Name Experts Help You At the end of the day, you need someone you can trust to help you navigate these waters. A professional domain brokerage service can make all the difference. They will outline both the buying and selling process for you and make sure both sides understand the goal of the transaction. They’ll also help you take the guesswork out of the process, as well as represent your interests. As experienced brokers with an industry-wide reputation, let us help you with all the phases of how to buy and sell domain names. When you work with an experienced professional like us, you’ll see that they will also have all the relevant contracts and paperwork to help you secure the name that you want or sell it for a fair price. We’ll make sure that every step of the way is completely transparent and we always keep your best interest in mind. We don’t want to compromise your identity or your confidentiality, and we work hard to earn the trust of our clients with consistent performance and open communication. When you’re ready to get started or just want more information on the buying or selling process, reach out to us today! We’d love to prove to you why we’re the experts.   About the author Joe Uddeme is Director and Principal of Name Experts, one of the world’s leading domain name brokerage services. He has overseen domain name sales and acquisitions totaling more than $150 million and is renowned worldwide as a go-to expert in buying and selling premium domains. Contact him at: [email protected]

Why Work with Name Experts

Name Experts offers personalized domain brokerage services, assisting clients in buying or selling premium domain names with expert appraisal, negotiation, and complete transaction management while ensuring confidentiality.

Free Consultation

Some of our most
successful stealth acquisition and sales

Aid.com

Fit.com

Mine.com

GLD.com

Jeff.com

Fora.com

Nori.com

Secure.com

Guitar.com

F*ck.com

Radian.com

MetaData.com

Prize.com

Link.com

Loop.com

Programs.com

Claim.com

Quince.com

Hook.com

QXO.com

NQ.com

Rest.com

Humani.com

Max.com

Need help buying or selling premium domains?