Multiple Domains: What You Need to Know

Having multiple domains can help drive traffic to your website, if you use them correctly. Learn how to use multiple domains to your advantage at a low and affordable cost! First and foremost, the more domains you register, the less chances of your competitors claiming your branding. Sadly for me, my name is taken at .com and .ca, but the good news is that I can stake them out until they expire and then snatch them if the current owners forget to renew them! The point is, protect your branding – if the domains you want are taken, then keep an eye on them until they expire and grab them right away if they are not renewed by the original owners. Once you do have the domain you want, protect it against people like me who are keeping an eye on them and ensure that you do not allow them to expire!

Let’s talk about the first and most important step: purchasing a domain(s). There are various domain providers offering affordable prices for domains. The downside to registering a domain elsewhere is that you have the extra work added to your plate of making sure the domain’s name server (DNS) settings are correctly pointed to the host of your website (which in this case is us), as well as make sure it doesn’t expire. Alternatively, for a $25 annual fee we will register it for you and free you of all the technical duties associated with your domain; you will never have to worry about your domain expiring, we take care of all of that for you.

Enhancing your online presence is a never-ending work in progress. By registering several domains, you would have the following advantages, at an affordable cost:

• A wide range of options to choose from when creating an e-mail at your domain. For example, advice@realestateexpert.com, connect@yourtorontoagent.com, info@commercialproperties.com, and the list of possibilities is never-ending. You could open up the possibility to create an e-mail designated for specific information, such as the commercial example above specifically designed for commercial inquiries.
  
• Register the common misspellings of your main domain. For example if I were to use my name, sevi.com, I’d register sevy.com and svei.com as well and have them redirected to sevi.com as you don’t want the improper spelling showing up in the address bar - you can do this by logging into your account, clicking on the ‘Website’ tab, then on ‘Domains’, and then click on ‘Forward To’. Obviously it’s virtually impossible to register all the possible misspellings, but try to fish out the most common ones. That way you will ensure that nobody is redirected to a “Sorry, this page does not exist” error if they mistakenly misspell your domain without realizing it.
  
• In terms of protecting your branding, you should register hyphenated versions of your domain as well. For example, your-toronto-agent.com and commercial-properties.com.
  
• Some people recommend that you register the “sucks” version of your domain as well, for example, sevisucks.com (not to use it, but to own it so that nobody else can create it), however that would not be beneficial. Not only would you be paying for an extra and unused domain unnecessarily, but if someone had a problem with you important enough to create a domain against you – they would have other options like sevireallysucks.com, .ca, .org, .net, and the list is endless.
  
• One of the most useful tools available to you for having multiple domains is that you can create microsites that branch out from main website. These can be used to advertise listings in specific buildings, or specific areas, or just focus on one specific service that you offer. For example, 207queensquay.com to specialize in a particular building or yongeandbloor.ca to specialize in an area. If you are an agent specializing in both real estate services and mortgage services, the option of creating a separate short and sweet mortgage broker website is there, while still paying for only one host/website.

When registering a domain, ensure that you are following RECO guidelines. To view the RECO guidelines, please click here.

Ultimately, having several domains registered is handy even if you are not planning to use them right away. The advantages outweigh the amount of time required to maintain several domains and the low and affordable cost of purchasing them.

Have you had success with using multiple domains to enhance your online presence? Are you someone who has successfully benefited from microsites? Leave your comments below!

Authored by: Sevi, Client Relations