I am fully convinced that the majority of people will start their domain name purchase looking to see if the domain name they are interested in is "Available" in the TLD they are looking for, which is normally .com . I explain the term Available as going to a domain name registrar and doing a search to see if you can purchase that domain at that instant, for the price the domain registrar offers it for a year.

At that point, the domain is either Available or it’s Not. The ones that find the domain available, likely purchase it and their journey starts then.

For those that find the domain name they were insterested in Not Available, is when things start going wrong.

Many drop that name from their list and move on to the "Next Best" in the list. The second domain in the list is gone and the search continues until many decide on buying a crappy domain just because they can get it cheap. (A crappy domain is one that, is Not clear, does Not makes sense without explaining it, contains add on words mainly like The, Go, Net, Online, E, etc., contain hard to spell words, contain made up words with proper words, number sets, words with acronyms)

At this point, you may also want to back up a step or two. First, if you have not considered a budget for your domain name.. you may want to consider that. There are many ways of doing this. The "Want" and "Need" part is for you to figure out. Will domain X save me advertising dollars over X amount of time etc.

I would also suggest putting the domain name you are interested in, in a class. Each domain name basically has a category. Most of the time, this category is an "industry". So let’s say you are in the Loan Industry. The prime domain would be Loan.com . The most searched terms for the loan industry, I would put in class 2 and in the order of search rank. Your budget has to fit in order to purchase that domain, if it’s even for sale.. which is not always likely, but could be. The more specific you get with your domain, also goes away with what you can or should offer on your site. Owning Loan.com leaves it open for your to offer Any Kind of Loan. If you offer Car Loans, you should consider CarLoan.com . Keep in mind, the internet is about providing what people are looking for. Having your domain name match what people are looking for not only Makes Sense but is Natural Branding at it’s best!

So try hard to find the BEST domain for your budget and your site. Many times, it’s likely you are not even searching for The Best fit domain for your business or your budget. Don’t be afraid to ask somebody that understands domain names for some help. Even if you have to pay for the help, this can save you loads of money down the road and the domain expert will likely be able to paint you a pretty clear picture on why one domain name is better then another.

Here is how you can purchase the domain name you REALLY want and likely Need!

If you happen to do your search for your domain name at a registrar (Godaddy.com, NameCheap.com, Register.com) and the specific domain name you want is Not Available, the next step you need to take is:

1.) Use the service http://Whois.sc . When an entity registers a domain name, the system put in place to keep track of who owns what, is called Whois. So taking the very same domain name you searched to see if it was available, type in the domain name into Whois.sc . Using whois.sc will display a lot of data for you to see. Domain registration date, domain registrar, domain expiry date, domain name servers, domain owners name, domain owners email address, domain owners phone number etc.

Now keep in mind that since somebody owns the domain already, they may or may not want to offer it for sale. The only way to find out, is to send the owner an email. You can do so with an offer or the simple question. Offers are more likely to catch the eye of the owner, but a low offer can also result in a no reply. So understanding the value of the specific domain is needed, but it’s not easy to put a specific number on it. How bad do you want it! If the domain is 10 years old, do not offer $100. That’s common sense, because registration fees over the past 10 years, easily goes over that $100. What would make you want to sell the domain for $100 if you owned it for the past 10 years.

2.) Visit the actual domain name. Type into your address bar (the one that has http://). Visiting the acutal domain name can often tell you A Lot! Many domain owners make it very clear if a domain name is for sale or not. Many times a contact link will be displayed, an offering price or a Make Offer option is offered.

3.) The domain name aftermarket. Having a total understanding of domain names is not something I can explain in small writings. You could read every post that I have ever made on DotWeekly.com and still not know a lot of things, but I myself do not know everything. So putting aside the expired and expiring parts of the domain process, you have the domain aftermarket. Now the aftermarket is not only expired and expiring domain names. It contains a system for domain owners to list a domain name for sale so it’s easy for an interested party to purchase it either through a direct offering system or an auction. Now the domain aftermarket is broken, because their are so many aftermarket options, but the main ones are the following: SnapNames.com Sedo.com Afternic.com Pool.com and Godaddy.com

The aftermarket allows you as the buyer to do a couple things. The main thing, is to search by Keyword(s) or for the specific domain name that you are interested in or the industry. This can a.) allow you to find the exact domain you are looking for b.) find even a better domain then you expected c.) give you an idea of what is currently available for sale.

The great thing about the domain name aftermarket… it changes rapidly! Different domain names become available for sale daily, so if you didn’t find what you were looking for the first day, day two may provide a different story.

In closing, yes… all the good domains are gone (registered), but you now know you can buy one of those "good ones" using any of the above process. Not every domain name is for sale, but be sure you are buying The Best Domain you can for your budget and make sure you Have A Budget in place before you go out looking! Do not be affraid to ask or use a domain professional if you need the help to further understand domain names (you can read a lot about domain names right here as well).