Moose
New member
How do I go about buying/renting (whatever it is you do with a website) a website and how do I found out which company owns the website at the moment?
Buying a website
- Thread starter Moose
- Start date
gonfishing
New member
a simple google search on "Domain Names" should give you most info
webcraft
Well-known member
Eh?
Why do you want to buy or rent someone else's website?
Presumably you mean that you want to register a domain name, eg moosehole.co.uk (available, BTW)
First look it up to see if it is available, and if it is buy it. One of the cheapest and easiest places to buy a domain name is 123-Reg - it will cost you approx. £6.00 for a .co.uk for two years and about three times that for a .com for the same period.
If the domain you want is already owned then my advice is to just forget it and choose another one - it's generally not that critical, you will be able to get known / found with a different (carefully selected) domain name. It's having the website constructed and publicised properly that is important.
If you really want it then e-mail the owner and make an offer, but make sure the domain is transferred to you before you part with any money, or do it through a broker.
- Nick
Why do you want to buy or rent someone else's website?
Presumably you mean that you want to register a domain name, eg moosehole.co.uk (available, BTW)
First look it up to see if it is available, and if it is buy it. One of the cheapest and easiest places to buy a domain name is 123-Reg - it will cost you approx. £6.00 for a .co.uk for two years and about three times that for a .com for the same period.
If the domain you want is already owned then my advice is to just forget it and choose another one - it's generally not that critical, you will be able to get known / found with a different (carefully selected) domain name. It's having the website constructed and publicised properly that is important.
If you really want it then e-mail the owner and make an offer, but make sure the domain is transferred to you before you part with any money, or do it through a broker.
- Nick
Moose
New member
Thanks
Right, the address I want is available. Is there any restriction on what .com/.net e.t.c I can have? And can I own a website with a name that is the same as another company? For example Could I own www.ybw.net even though I have nothing to do with ybw?
Sorry for all the questions!
Right, the address I want is available. Is there any restriction on what .com/.net e.t.c I can have? And can I own a website with a name that is the same as another company? For example Could I own www.ybw.net even though I have nothing to do with ybw?
Sorry for all the questions!
l'escargot
New member
I use www.easily.co.uk a lot and they are easy to use - domain names, websites, e mail the lot. If you find a domain name and register it, it's yours.
Sammo
New member
Well one things for sure, you couldn`t start a sale`s website called <font color="red"> phantom37.co.uk </font>
But then you don`t need to do you.
.....................
naughty naughty
But then you don`t need to do you.
.....................
naughty naughty
kimhollamby
Active member
Same name issues
Be careful about this one. If you manage to buy a name which also happens to be an established brand name of a trading company it is increasingly the case than you can get into hot water if there is evidence to show that using the URL to trade off of the company's image/strength.
It is better to buy a URL that is descriptive of your own intended business activity - if you can get a keyword that you imagine someone searching for you would use, within the URL, that's a good starting point.
If control a URL you can also add sub domains for a similar purpose:
eg marinedirectory.ybw.com
Be careful about this one. If you manage to buy a name which also happens to be an established brand name of a trading company it is increasingly the case than you can get into hot water if there is evidence to show that using the URL to trade off of the company's image/strength.
It is better to buy a URL that is descriptive of your own intended business activity - if you can get a keyword that you imagine someone searching for you would use, within the URL, that's a good starting point.
If control a URL you can also add sub domains for a similar purpose:
eg marinedirectory.ybw.com
BrendanS
Well-known member
Re: Same name issues
Was going to say pretty much the same.
Still a grey area, but if you start infringing any of the big guys, they have software trawling the internet looking for infringements (eg Coca cola, Pepsi, UPS, who have all had chinese versions removed recently by Chinese Gov order). On the other hand, www.whitehouse.com wasn't picked up by the US government quickly enough, and made a lot of press attention.
There have been incidents where small companies in existence since 1900 odd have been given cease and desist instructions because they had similar names to big corporates, even if they are not trading on the internet, for infringing big name brands, even though they were in existence first. Personally think that stinks, but one man bands or small shops can't often afford the legal costs of fighting it.
Best advice is don't pick any name that sounds like a well known brand
Was going to say pretty much the same.
Still a grey area, but if you start infringing any of the big guys, they have software trawling the internet looking for infringements (eg Coca cola, Pepsi, UPS, who have all had chinese versions removed recently by Chinese Gov order). On the other hand, www.whitehouse.com wasn't picked up by the US government quickly enough, and made a lot of press attention.
There have been incidents where small companies in existence since 1900 odd have been given cease and desist instructions because they had similar names to big corporates, even if they are not trading on the internet, for infringing big name brands, even though they were in existence first. Personally think that stinks, but one man bands or small shops can't often afford the legal costs of fighting it.
Best advice is don't pick any name that sounds like a well known brand
Davy_S
Well-known member
Hi Nick,
I have been pondering buying a domain name also, but being computer thick am baffled. The domain name is available, it will eventualy show a Greek property let.
Question is, how will it end? ie joe bloggs .com .co.uk or .gr any ideas gratefully received.
I have been pondering buying a domain name also, but being computer thick am baffled. The domain name is available, it will eventualy show a Greek property let.
Question is, how will it end? ie joe bloggs .com .co.uk or .gr any ideas gratefully received.
BrendanS
Well-known member
It depends which are available - they are all different domain names. If your target is UK market, .co.uk will probably be fine, if international market .com is better, but don't bother with .gr unless market is purely greek internal market.
However, far, far more important than the actual .co.uk or .com bit, is tagging your site so that it turns up high on search engine listings, unless you intend to rely purely on word of mouth and references to get people to your site
However, far, far more important than the actual .co.uk or .com bit, is tagging your site so that it turns up high on search engine listings, unless you intend to rely purely on word of mouth and references to get people to your site
Davy_S
Well-known member
Thanks for the advice Brendan, looks like I will opt for co.uk.
As for the tagging, my domain name includes the location so should figure OK in search engines hopefully! I wont be setting it up until I change my ISP, so I have time to learn a bit more.
Off for a liquid lunch now /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
As for the tagging, my domain name includes the location so should figure OK in search engines hopefully! I wont be setting it up until I change my ISP, so I have time to learn a bit more.
Off for a liquid lunch now /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
BrendanS
Well-known member
Nope, to get a good search engine listing, the name of the location in itself will be too specific and liable to be lost in a plethora of sites which contain the name, or totally missed by people searching for say a region or price range or availability. You need to make sure that anyone searching can find it easily, and put your self in the shoes of someone who doesn't know the area but is using a search engine
Davy_S
Well-known member
Just thought I would let you know that I bought the domain name anyway. It wont be up and running for a long time yet, but for reasons only known to me I just had to have the domain name before someone else did!'
I will worry about it later /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Thanks Brendan.
I will worry about it later /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Thanks Brendan.
tinstaafl
New member
Re: Same name issues
[ QUOTE ]
There have been incidents where small companies in existence since 1900 odd have been given cease and desist instructions because they had similar names to big corporates, even if they are not trading on the internet, for infringing big name brands, even though they were in existence first. Personally think that stinks, but one man bands or small shops can't often afford the legal costs of fighting it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Mr Uzi Nissan is fighting it! Check out www.nissan.com for a few more details but there is somewhere on the net with the whole story...
tinstaafl
[ QUOTE ]
There have been incidents where small companies in existence since 1900 odd have been given cease and desist instructions because they had similar names to big corporates, even if they are not trading on the internet, for infringing big name brands, even though they were in existence first. Personally think that stinks, but one man bands or small shops can't often afford the legal costs of fighting it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Mr Uzi Nissan is fighting it! Check out www.nissan.com for a few more details but there is somewhere on the net with the whole story...
tinstaafl
jhr
Well-known member
Re: Same name issues
Sometimes the small guy wins. There's a place local to me called the Forte Tea Rooms, run by a Mr Forte (I think he might even be a distant connection of Rocco et al, though without their wonga). THF threatened him with 24 carat lawsuits soon after he opened for business, but he was able to argue that he had a right to use the name and that he wasn't trying to pass himself off as a Trust House Forte establishment. The judge agreed and he's still there.
Sometimes the small guy wins. There's a place local to me called the Forte Tea Rooms, run by a Mr Forte (I think he might even be a distant connection of Rocco et al, though without their wonga). THF threatened him with 24 carat lawsuits soon after he opened for business, but he was able to argue that he had a right to use the name and that he wasn't trying to pass himself off as a Trust House Forte establishment. The judge agreed and he's still there.