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Read Time: 7 minutes

Table of Contents

1. Why do You Need to Renew Your US Trademark?
2. Renewal Timeline for Your Trademark
3. What Goes After This?
4. Common Mistakes that Should be Avoided
5. Bottom Line

Has your trademark registration lapsed and you are looking forward to renewing it? Do you need further assistance even after reading a series of articles on trademark renewal? Are you still in the darkness trying to figure out the next legal steps to be made?

At Brandnic, we help you by giving comprehensive guides that are easy to follow.

The simplicity of the guides makes them DIY-friendly hence, no need to hire an attorney.

This article is, therefore, meant to help those who need help to renew their trademarks. Therefore, sit back and prepare to learn.

Why do You Need to Renew Your US Trademark?

Trademark is very important and overall, it acts as a protection of business ideas. This defines why there is a need to renew trademarks once the need arises. Remember after registering the trademark, you were entitled to the ownership and other responsibilities by the United States Patent & Trademark office. One of these responsibilities is to make sure that the trademark is renewed at the required period as needed by the USPTO. So, what are the reasons that make it necessary to renew a trademark? Let’s find out.

Renewing your trademark.

Maintaining Ownership

In the US, trademarks are valid for up to 10 years and are renewable. However,

The USPTO requires trademark owners to renew their trademarks in the fifth to sixth year.

This is a mandatory failure to which, you will automatically draw in a penalty. The penalty is nothing else but a cancellation of the trademark. That’s bitter! Renewing your trademark, therefore, puts you in a better position of further ownership.

Trademark owners should also note that the USPTO doesn’t remind you when the renewal time arrives despite being crucial.

Proof of Use

After getting a trademark, the USPTO gives you up to 10 years. Under this period, you are required to ensure that the trademark is active and usable.

However, the USPTO doesn’t know whether you are using the trademark or not.

Renewing a trademark, therefore, can be used as an indication that you are still owning the trademark and it’s active.

Renewal Timeline for Your Trademark

We’ve seen that the duration for a federal trademark is 10 years. Renewal dates are very important. There are different renewal dates that you ought to know. The renewal of a trademark majorly aims at ensuring that your trademark is active. In the next section, three different timelines have been discussed. However, considering the importance of a trademark in your business, you can choose to file a renewal earlier than the stated time.

Renewal of trademark expired.

First Renewal Timeline

The first renewal timeline is due 5 years after the trademark registration date. This is the most important renewal date that you can’t afford to miss. Here, the USPTO requires you to file a form that proves you’ve been using the trademark and you’re still using hence, ownership shouldn’t be terminated.

You should also note that renewal comes with fees that you will be required to provide.

Also, you will be asked to disclose whether you are still using the trademark in the same way or you changed in the long run.

Trademark renewal waiting timeframe.

If humanity is to be considered then, forgetting can’t be an exception. You may just forget that you are supposed to file a renewal considering that no one reminds you. The good news is that there is a grace period.

The grace period lasts for 6 months after the required renewal date.

However, the grace period isn’t ‘grace’ as you may think. If you file a renewal in the grace period, you will have to draw in a penalty that would see you paying up to $100. It doesn’t matter if you are going to renew a slogan or a tagline, So, if you forget to file the renewal in the normal period, don’t miss doing it on the grace period.

Click on the link to find out about how to register a slogan or phrase.

Second Renewal Timeline

This is due 9 years after the registration date. The second renewal timeline constitutes all the information in the first renewal timeline. Besides, you will be required to file a statement of continued use. Effectively filing of the second renewal will see your trademark extend to the 10 years. The renewal is done on the period between the ninth and the tenth year.

Third Renewal Timeline

The third renewal is due 10 years after the second renewal. Here, the USPTO just wants to know whether your trademark is in use or not. Therefore, you will be filing renewals to confirm ownership and continued use.

What Goes After This?

You may still be wondering what happens after the third renewal timeline. Well, it’s simple. After you renew your trademark for the third time, you will be required to make further renewals after every ten years. Besides, trademark owners are required to provide strong evidence that may include photographs of products. In the long run, you will also have to ensure that your products are a usable failure to which your trademark may be canceled. Remember, a trademark is not just owning a logo, a brand or a word. Instead, it’s all about making sure that your customers continue benefiting from the product or service and making them aware that you are the only producer or manufacturer.

Just in case you’ve been trying to figure out how long a trademark can last, it depends on yourself. It can last for decades provided that you maintain it.

You can also consider applying an affidavit to prove incontestability.

Trademark renewal timeline.

Filing an affidavit triggers extra protection for your trademark. On the USPTO website, you can find the affidavit of incontestability form. As a business owner whose trademark has been in existence for comparatively long, it’s important to consider filing this form. Filing the form may also prevent you from drawing in different possible charges in the future.

Common Mistakes that Should be Avoided

In this last section, let’s look at the common mistakes that people make and should be avoided at all costs. Renewing and filing trademarks takes a lot of time, conscious, and concentration. Below are some of the possible mistakes that people can make and should be avoided though there are many more.

Misunderstanding The US Laws

Different laws abide by the process of application and renewal of trademarks. As a trademark owner, you ought to know all the rules and ensure you don’t transgress any.

Erroneous Filing

When making an application to the United States Patent & Trademark Office, ensure everything is correct. After inserting all the required information, double-check the application to see if there are any errors. Some of the possible errors that can lead to disregard are; poor grammar and spelling mistakes.

False Declaration

When filing a renewal, USPTO requires you to be honest and provide the correct information. For example, when some of the goods and services that were registered under your trademark aren’t provided, again, you will be required to indicate them in the renewal form. The mistake of retaining the items that you aren’t selling may put your trademark at a very big risk since it’s a transgression of the USPTO laws.

Irrelevant Hiring of Attorneys

When you want to file a trademark renewal, depending on how knowledged you are, you may consider hiring a lawyer. Although lawyers can help you effectively, hiring the wrong one may be the biggest mistake you can make.

Missing a Deadline

The first trademark renewal timeline is due 5 years after the registration date. As a trademark owner, missing a deadline can cause two possible problems. Filing a renewal during the grace period (6 months given by the USPTO) would see you pay an additional $100 as a penalty. The second problem that you may land on is getting your trademark canceled – this happens after you fail to file the renewal even after being given the grace period.

To avoid mistakes while trademarking a company name check the link.

Bottom Line

Here at Brandnic, we consider it our responsibility to keep you safe and protect you from any inconvenience. There are a lot of companies and individuals who can be found online claiming to offer solicitations. For security and protection purposes, we recommend you to be extra careful just in case you want to undertake such activity.

The US Patent and Trademark Office, also, don’t advise anyone to use those private companies. Some are legit and they can help you effectively.

The most important thing is to make a thorough research about the company before accepting to work with them. You should note that any loss that may arise as a result of using private companies to help you file a renewal or register, wouldn’t be compensated by anyone.

The companies and individuals who want to “run away with your money” you can be very active at the period approaching the renewal date. They are doing this since they know most trademark owners tend to be desperate at that time. They may be willing to offer their services at a lower rate just to take your money. Please beware and take caution. Remember, the USPTO team is available to offer any help and answer queries to all. If you are stuck, it’s advised to contact them and see how they can help you.

Read Time: 13 minutes

Table of Contents

1. The brand name should be original
2. Make your brand name descriptive
3. Your brand name can reflect the purpose of the business
4. Brand names make use of keywords
5. Books contain powerful keywords which you can use
6. Play around with words to keep it original
7. Brand names can make use of different languages
8. Maps can provide a powerful brand name
9. Your brand needs to last into the future
10. Different perspectives of your product can provide inspiration for brand names
11. Abbreviations can become unique brand names
12. A user-friendly brand name is essential
13. Ensure that your shortlist of brand names is open for use
14. A brand name should be loved by you and your customers

If you’re a startup looking for success, one thing’s certain: you need a unique, attention-grabbing name that attracts your target market.

The process of thinking of a catchy name isn’t easy.

There are many things to consider when trying to come up with a unique name. But with this guide by Brandnic, you’ll soon begin the brainstorming process. You’ll soon be able to ensure that your brand name is innovative and can stand the test of time.

By the end, you’ll have the perfect brand name for your company – one that will have potential consumers visiting your webpage or buying your products.

If you’re ready, let’s begin looking at some of the above values that we associate with a successful, unique brand name. These are some of the cornerstones of coming up with a powerful identity.

The brand name should be original

To dare to do something new is often frightening. It’s also difficult to do. However, it’s something that is almost imperative when trying to think of a name for your business. Don’t be scared to be original or to set your business apart from the hundreds of thousands of new startups that pop up every month. You need to stand out from common names.

Show some creativity when choosing a brand name.

So many applications have taken names such as Tumblr, Grindr, Flickr… Choosing a name like this means that yours will lack innovation and won’t get noticed. If you’re a startup finding its feet, you’ll need a name that convinces people to find out more about your company or to take notice of your business. Because competition is fierce when it comes to new companies.

Free-flowing brainstorming is a great way to unleash the power of your imagination and create unique names. By writing notes while thinking you can create many different choices as potential candidates for naming your business.

It’s important not to edit your thoughts when brainstorming; you need to be creative in this process.

Also, picking a brand name by browsing the Brandnic marketplace can take the strain out of the brainstorming process. Just one click and you can search some awesome, cool names in seconds.

Read our in-depth guide about understanding the cool company names.

Make your brand name descriptive

Thinking of the one word that describes your business best can be a good approach to creating a unique brand name.

An example of this could be;

The supermarket 7-Eleven, which reflects an essential selling point of the business – it’s all-day

opening times. Later we’ll discuss the use of keywords, which can make this process easier.

Your brand name can reflect the purpose of the business

Before considering a powerful, unique brand name, you should be able to work out two things: who your target consumer is, and what services or products you provide. Because of these two factors are not confirmed at the beginning, it will be nearly impossible to create a unique name.

Once you’ve defined your main consumer, you’ll be able to get the name right. Many startups attempt to come up with a brand name before figuring out what their business offers, and this often hinders the process.

By all means, consider some ideas for your brand, but you should make sure that it has something to do with your brand’s principles.

Using tools like Alexa is a good strategy to identify just who visits the websites of your competitors. It even allows you to research the gender, location, and age of their consumers.

Understand your consumer and target market.

Another useful approach is to check the Facebook and Twitter pages of your competitors, which can provide some information about their online presence and following. And with these two steps, you can easily identify your typical avatar – a particular description of your company’s target market.

So, you’ve got your brand avatar. You’ll now need to be able to nail down the brand archetype – and there are 12 main ones that you can choose from. You should consider this carefully in order to identify which archetype is best suited to your company.

The sports brand Nike is an eponymous name that makes reference to the Greek goddess of victory.

The skincare range Dove uses the image of the dove to reflect purity. In short, these brands have specified their archetypes and avatar, and they are popular around the world.

Brand names make use of keywords

Searching brand names within your business category.

One of the first things to do, to help the brainstorming, is to research keywords for your domain name. You should think and look for the best name that is available to make them your brand as brandnic marketplace got a lot of names that can be converted into a brand and they are simply amazing.

You can start your search by Just typing the word in the search box and you will see the magic… a lot of brand names are being generated in the marketplace and you’ll be provided with a graph of the many words associated with it. At the click of a button, the tool generates a list of potential words!

Books contain powerful keywords which you can use

Another step to take, when thinking about a new brand name, is to look up words in books. You could make use of a dictionary, a non-fiction book, a magazine or perhaps a novel that you enjoyed reading. Skim read the pages and jot down the words that seem powerful. At this stage, even if the words are not completely related to your startup, still include them. The important thing is to create a broad list that you can later narrow down.

Play around with words to keep it original

Another method to consider when trying to think of an original brand name is to use wordplay. Using words that are homophones, for instance, can inspire and intrigue your consumers.

Some examples of this include:

Sole Man (a company specializing in shoe repairs, playing with the word ‘soul’ man), Melon Cauli (a vegetable and fruit store making use of the word ‘melancholy’), and Spoon Me (which is a frozen yogurt company).

Place your keyword and the brand name generator will generate business names.

the example of our own comes from;

Brand Name (a company selling brand names and playing the words with ‘brand’ and ‘nic’ comes up with ‘brandnic’)

The above examples play around with different words to create innovative brand names. And there are ways other than making use of homophones that can be used to come up with powerful brand names. For example, misspellings can work in your favor too, provided you don’t misspell a word that describes the product. Both Rice Krispies and Google use this technique of misspelling, and they are some of the biggest brand names out there.

Brand names can make use of different languages

A unique option for your brand name could be hidden in another language. Considering words that aren’t English, or are not your mother tongue, can be very useful when trying to be original.

Popular brands often make use of words from the romance languages – Spanish, Italian or French

Which can conjure intrigue or a sense of international recognition. You might even choose to use Latin to create a powerful brand name with a deep meaning, in the same way, Volvo ‘I roll’, Acer ‘sharp’ and Verison ‘truth’ have done.

The name can be half English and half other – to make a perfect combination.

However, if you do consider a language other than English for your brand name, you should be careful. Research the meaning behind the word before choosing it, because the last thing you want is to convey a slang meaning of a word that offends your target market. Search the internet to be certain that your chosen word doesn’t secretly mean something else.

Maps can provide a powerful brand name

In a similar way, if you’re stuck for inspiration, you could always take a look at an atlas or world map to generate some fresh, exotic business names. There are plenty of companies that have used this approach.

A brand could be anything that shows authority and power.

Fuji makes use of the globally-recognizable highest mountain in Japan;

Amazon uses the name of the Amazon river – the largest in the world; Adobe is named after the Adobe creek…

Your brand needs to last into the future

It’s important to recognize that a brand name can make or break a company. This is because a business should always aim for expansion or growth, and a name that is limiting in its nature can hinder business progress. As your business grows you’ll want a name that encompasses this growth.

For example,

Your enterprise specializes in women’s shoes, before choosing a name you should consider that there is the potential to create men’s shoes too. Limiting yourself with a name like Heels for a Queen would be a potential mistake.

Your brand must be ready for future demands.

So how can we avoid limiting a new company to its current products or services? One method is to consider your business as a whole – to recognize that your company has values that set it apart from others.

It’s important to think about your company’s story when brainstorming; this is what makes it unique.

You should consider some of the following points when trying to determine your company’s story: the way you would describe your startup to other people, the company’s main goal, the emotions you want to stir up in your consumers, your unique selling point. When brainstorming, write the answers to these points on a piece of paper.

Think about what your company offers. This can be particularly useful if your company is service-based.

If you include the service you offer in the brand name, you have a higher potential to attract your target market. This is, after all, what they will be searching for.

A brand name should not be too complicated. Using lots of words that attempt to achieve many things can often confuse your consumers. You should try to come up with a name that is simple and which creates positive feelings in your target market and, of course, yourself.

Different perspectives of your product can provide inspiration for brand names

Perhaps your product or service conjures up a different image or reminds you of something different. You can actually use this to your advantage. Just view your product from a different perspective, ask those close to you to describe the product or tell you what it is similar to.

Companies such as Caterpillar and Blackberry made use of this strategy – some of the largest companies in the world.

And, with that, you can create a very premium brand name.

Abbreviations can become unique brand names

Using a word that resonates with you or your company can work well if you abbreviate it. One example of this is the company Cisco, the globally-recognizable IT company, which abbreviates the city San Francisco – (the place in which the enterprise was created).

A user-friendly brand name is essential

You may now have a shortlist of initial ideas for your brand name, so what should you do now? The next step is to select a name that can be pronounced easily – a name that can be spelled without difficulty and can be typed into Google without problems. The name may be made-up, but it should still fit into these criteria.

Thankfully, Google enables users to correct their spelling of the words typed into the URL browser, using the “Did you mean…?” system.

However, this doesn’t mean that your brand name shouldn’t be easy to spell. Because, if your target market isn’t the best spellers, they can easily be taken to a completely different webpage if they mistype a word. And if your consumers land on the pages of your competition, essentially you’re handing your target market to another business.

You should say your potential brand names out loud to hear how they sound and to see if they are memorable.

Your brand speaking to your audience.

So how can we create a name that is user-friendly?

1. One thing to think about, at this stage is limiting your creativity. As you get further and further into the brainstorming process you should now think about short, snappy names that are powerful. Constrain yourself to words that have one or two syllables in order to create punchy brand names.
2. Using techniques such as alliteration in your brand name can be an effective way to create powerful names. Examples of this include Squarespace or PayPal, names that are easy to remember and are user-friendly.
3. If you include verbs in your brand name, you’re also likely to attract more consumers. Verbs associated with your business and keywords can resonate well with your target market. For instance, Shopify or Dropbox makes use of the verbs ‘shop’ and ‘drop’, words which the target market is going to use when searching for a service or product in Google.
4. It’s important to test out your brand names in different ways to ensure they feel ‘right’ for your company. Draft and create logo designs in order to test out how your brand name appears on paper. You can do this via the Brandnic website – through which you can instantly create the perfect, professional logo for your brand.

Ensure that your shortlist of brand names is open for use

At this point, you may have a few company names that you’re seriously considering using for your business. Now it’s time to do some research into the availability of these brand names to make sure that they are open for use.

1. First things first, you need to think about search engine optimization.
You’ll want to have the brand name within your domain or website URL, so the first thing is to research whether or not it’s available in the form “.com“. Because using a URL that has “.com” has the potential to ensure your business has authenticity and can generate more traffic or visits from your target market. Now, using “.com” may not be possible. But don’t give up – there is still hope. You can select from so many options out there – .CO.UK, .NET, .TV… the list is endless.

2. One good thing to do is to be creative.
During the early stages, because the more creative you are during the brainstorming process of creating a brand name, the more likely your brand name is to be open for use as a URL.

3. The next step, in making sure that your brand name is available, is to check this using particular tools.
ICANN Domain whois tool is one example of a tool that is useful for this. It allows you to see potential, available domain names and variations. All you need to do is type in your ideas and check of each name has already been taken. Then, if they are taken, you’ll want to jot down which ones have already been used. And while you’re at it, a trademark search is also a useful thing to do.

Make sure you understand how to secure your domain name?

4. You have to be quite resilient when creating a unique brand name.
If one of your brand names has already been taken, you could add another word to it – either at the beginning of the end. Some of the more common ones are, ‘hello’, ‘app’ or ‘get’. If your company is service-based, a good idea could be to add a word that describes what the company offers.

5. Social media sharing is becoming more and more prevalent for new startups.
It’s a powerful way to increase business and awareness of a growing company. So one strategy to ensure that your name is unique could be to research social handles. You’ll need to see if your desired name has been already used.

The brand name must be available for registration.

A social handle usually contains the ‘@’ sign and can be researched on Namechk. This is a useful tool that you can use, which will allow you to determine if you can use the name on particular channels to increase awareness of your business and build your online presence.

Handle names, just like “.com” brand names, may not always be available. But you can always work around this by adding an underscore or another word. It’s important to confirm that the content of other handle names isn’t repeated on your own.

Your business might be constrained by a geographical location, and a URL that reflects this can still work. Again, just do some digging and make sure that the information, services or product information on the “.com” address doesn’t clash with your own.

A brand name should be loved by you and your customers

An obvious point to make is that you should really feel enthusiastic about your brand name. You should love it. You should have the confidence to use the name everywhere you go. So it’s important to consider many different ideas before you decide.

Maybe your company has a really intriguing story that made it big. You can use this when thinking of a unique brand name.

Particularly because this often means that your target market will really love the name. Some of the examples of this include Mozilla, Virgin, and Kenvelo, all of which have stories behind them.

Alternatively, most companies have principles or values which they believe in, which can also be taken into consideration when thinking of a unique brand name.

The company Minolta is an example of this, meaning ‘your principle, what you believe in’.

Your name must be loved by your customers.

Although it is possible to rebrand, and it’s true to say that millions of businesses change their brand name, later on, it’s best to try and get it spot-on straightaway. Changing a name can be time-consuming and also costs a lot of money. You’ll want to use both of these resources for other means, so really consider your brand name carefully to make certain that you and your target market love the name.

So, with these points, you’re ready to create an original, unique brand name for your business.

Continue to browse the Brandnic website for more information.

Read Time: 12 minutes

More and more people want to know about acquiring to buy aged domain names. It has actually become a good strategy to help your online business, but how is it possible? The answer can be found studying its benefits.

Table of Contents

1. Why are they called – “Aged Domains”?
2. Does Domain AGE matter A LOT?
3. Benefits of buying old domains
4. Choosing an aged domain
5. Go for your niche
6. How about specific niches?
7. Some niche relevant brand names
8. How to know which aged domain to buy?
9. How Moz ranking work?
10. What’s next?
11. Red flags before going for your aged domain
12. Let Brandnic help you find your vintage domain

Let’s just think about a domain that has already promoted its content and gained great SEO value, this will very likely provide traffic for free before you’ve launched. In other words, a great boost for your business and potentially more sales!

In this guide, you’ll learn about the practice of buying an aged domain and all the necessary information before you get started.

Why are they called – “Aged Domains”?

As its name says, an aged domain is a domain address that has a few years around the internet. They have previously been used for other websites, but they have now been discontinued. Some of the main reasons for this:

• The original owner probably forgot to renew it.
• He had some issues with his payment method.
• The owner lost interest in his domain.
• The business went bankrupt.

It is important to be aware of the last reason before purchasing a domain unless you want to face some businessmen wrongly seeking a solution for their losses.

Why are they called aged domains?

It is possible to bid for a domain that is for auction (usually for seven days) when it reaches its expiration date. However, this happens when it is not renewed within 30 days. Another thing to take into account is that the people who are able to buy a domain are very likely to pay more than the first owner.

This happens when the domain registrar, where it was purchased from, retains the aged domain (in other cases, domain resellers will take these domains upon expiration). 

Does Domain AGE matter A LOT?

Domain age for SEO is extremely important, it is actually one of the main advantages of purchasing one.

Aged domains have previous ranking power that can be powerful tools when developing your website.

For instance, a 10-year-old domain probably has many backlinks that tell Google “I only publish quality content” which immediately increases your chances of being at the top of Google rankings. In other words, Google looks at a domain that has been so long on the web as something that must be interesting.

Does the domain age really matter?

This may not be the only factor that will get you on the top!

For instance, studies have proved that learning how to use your SEO tools can take a lot of time, this is why registering a domain that has been around at least 3 or 4 years will have better chances to improve your page rank than working on a never-used domain name.

Benefits of buying old domains

Getting an aged domain is big business nowadays since it plays an important role in your website’s success.

Many domain names expire every day so you won’t miss your chance to buy one.

Here are some factors that make just dropped domains the best for you.

301 redirection

Are you worried about transferring the link juice to your website? 301 redirect is a good solution without creating other sites.

The process is simple, you complete the 301 divert after purchasing a domain name and it will be automatically redirected to your main site.

An old domain contains many backlinks that it has gained over the years.

It’s just a matter of time before you watch it grow in Goggle rankings.

Google considers the age of domain names

This is another important reason to consider when looking for aged domains, “search engines trust in old domains more than new ones”.

In fact, they have considered a more secure and better tool to start any marketing strategy. First, spammers don’t usually last long on the internet. Second, aged domains are already popular in the networking world as well as Alexa and Google rank.

Better page rank using directory listings

Submitting your website in online directories is the first step to be noticed by search engines. Public Directory and Yahoo! Directory are some of the best links in order to improve your website rank. Yet, this process isn’t easy and most of the time getting into important directories is not possible.

This is why it is recommended not to register your website directly to search engines since it is more likely that you get banned for spamming.

Luckily, aged domain owners have already registered their page into many directories, that is to say, it will be much easier and simpler to update your information with a pre-existing directory.

It provides the right traffic

Another key benefit that you should consider is that old domains can make you gain traffic much faster than a brand-new domain.

The reason is simple, aged domains already have a crucial source of traffic that will improve your industry sales.

You just have to make sure to buy a domain name that is involved with your business and always check if its backlinks are spam-related. You can avoid this type of domain name by using the tools that Brandnic provides.

It can help you have an authority site

An authority site is considered an ultimate goal among website owners. It means you reached top quality content which is usually linked to other knowledgeable pages.

Even though it may take years to develop a new domain name, domain names can be a great help when building an authority site.

This process is achieved through the other benefits we mentioned above.

Shorter domain names

Shorter brand names are expected to be more successful than longer ones due to the fact they are catchy and easy to remember. It is recommended to aim for 6-10 characters or even fewer. However, most of them are already taken a long time ago and registering for a new one is almost impossible.

Accordingly, buying aged domains may be a great idea if you are a business owner and you are looking for a short domain name.

The best option for sub-niches

Some people believe that sub-niches require a different domain each, but in reality, this is not necessary. A niche market is able to become as large as the main group, therefore targeting a specific group may be the key strategy to succeed in any marketing campaign.

Furthermore, purchasing an aged domain will be a useful tool to target sub-niches as well as improving the existing backlink portfolio.

Having many mini sites won’t help you if you prefer having a large authority page, for that reason, it is always better to start working with one domain name.

Choosing an aged domain

Your domain name will be everything for your business so there are a few points you have to consider before going for your first one. For instance, adding keywords in a domain name won’t be useful for SEO anymore.

The “challenge” for every business owner is to find an aged domain that is brandable and easy to remember.

Unless you want to have a personal blog, you should only choose words that are related to your website content.

An aged domain name is easily brandable for any business.

Another important tip is to make it short and registering a .com, but most importantly, you have to know well what your niche is,… For more info refer to our guide specifically for entrepreneurs about choosing brandable domain names.

Go for your niche

Is your website about education, marketing or culture? Each one of them has its features and its audience which means there are many domain names that can work for you.

Older registered domain names are fit for most of the niche.

Thankfully, you have a wide range of tools that will filter all the aged domains available based on a keyword.

It is essential that they give you a backlink analysis before finding your domain options. Moreover, these domain analyses come from the free version to paid ones.

How about specific niches?

Choose a broad niche domain so it will be easy to develop. For example, try to find a pet niche if you are in the small dog products niche. Choose a real estate niche if you are working as an investment advisor someplace in Florida and so on.

Don’t worry about your business. A broad niche domain can be used to create many niche categories.

The point is to get a domain name with a generic link profile so you won’t have to use a specific anchor text.

As we mentioned above, an expired domain is usually either listed in auction websites or they are ready to be registered again.

Aged names are fit for your specific niche.

It is recommended to figure out the domain name registrar in order to know the auction partner. This can be done through the WHOIS lookup. Following this, it will be easy to determine the auction partner of the domain name you are interested in.

A complete tutorial on how to deal with Whois is on the link.

Some niche relevant brand names

If you are still wondering how brand names work, here you have some examples of how you can use your 4-5 letter domain name that already has some ranking history (we have manually picked them for you). Remember that they are not limited to any particular business niche so one brand name can be relevant in many niches.

Some niche relevant brand names.

Some niche related domain examples are;

1# Fickk.com – Fickk.com rhymes with “flick”, a word that is related to moving something quickly through a sudden movement. It can be used to build an eminent business that is good dealing with tasks fast and effectively. For instance, construction, marketing, security, or even medicine niches go well with this brand name.

2# Eatd.com – This unique 4-letter domain name almost sounds like the word “eat it” which represents food, food delivery and food app. Eatd.com will definitely be a hit in the online food, restaurants, and HoReCa industries niches.

3# Aprif.com – A catchy domain name that is related to the spring season because of the month “April”. It also means “to open” as a reference for the blossoming of flowers or trees. Aprif.com can represent a business that achieves its goals efficiently. It can be used in different fields such as technology, medicine or other services.

To understand more about catchy business names, follow our guide.

4# Daczy.com – A vigorous domain name that comes from the word “dancy”. A modern and different business will match perfectly with Daczy.com such as music, dance, adventure or tech companies. This brand name boosts creativity in any enthusiastic ambiance.

5# Iraff.com – This name comes from the word “giraffe” which is a fun way to relate your company to increasing progress. Moreover, iraff.com shows elegance and confidence. Software, media or tech niches will do well with this domain name

How to know which aged domain to buy?

Bad domains seem to be everywhere and sadly, there are people who purchase them, but later find out that they are completely useless. Fortunately, we can filter a domain based on its metrics and avoid this kind of situation.

Here are some of the metrics you should look for in order to make your domain a success. you can also follow our securing a domain name guide to make sure your domain is secure and withing your grip.

How to know which aged domain to buy?

The older the domain the better

As you heard it before, domain age is one of the key factors to know if your website will be worth it.

An old domain is known for the authority that it has established over the years. In other words, they are more trustworthy and accepted by search engines.

WhoIs’s details are an important tool to understand how old a domain is. However, it also depends when the website was launched since the search engines don’t consider either domain that was dropped or websites that don’t exist on the domain.

Google prioritizes older domains which are more likely to ensure you the top of its rankings.

We all want to avoid a domain that will expire after one year, therefore, once you have put some effort finding a list of great domain names you should choose the one that is at least 2 years old.

This may be the tough part because you’ll have to pick a domain name that is related to your website niche, but the results are especially important for your business.

Make sure to always go with a -.Com domain name extension as they have the highest brand identity.

Page Rank (PR)

Google Page Rank was an algorithm that measures websites from 0 – 10 in their search engine results. That is to say, this major SEO metrics were based on quality backlinks.

Being on the top of this ranking meant that your website was incredibly important.

But that was before because PageRank was removed by Google since 2016 so it is not a crucial tool for SEO anymore. The reason for this was the link spam and artificial system that tried to buy high PR in order to improve their website.

Yet, it is still recommended to check if the domain name has any page rank such as PR 2.

Traffic

A site that only gets a couple of visitors per month won’t be much of a help for your business. This may be an extra tip, but we do recommend you to check the monthly traffic in order to get more quality references.

Having many visitors means more inquiries for guest posts and more sales!

Additionally, you should also check Google bans before you decide to buy the domain name.

How Moz ranking work?

The Moz is a well-known software that developed some metrics in order to rank search engine result pages (SERP).

Some of them are:

Domain Authority

Also known as DA, it is a metric that goes from 0 to 100 which determines the search engine results pages of each domain. It is usually used to understand how well a website performance will be through a logarithmically scaled score.

The domain authority tends to fluctuate from time to time so it can adapt to Google’s algorithm changes.

As a result, it is better to use it to compare more than two domains.

Try to always find a domain that has at least a DA 5+, but it’d be perfect if you run into one that has 10+.

Page Authority (PA)

Page Authority is another important metric that determines whether a domain name is for your business or not.

The PA is in charge of measuring the SERP of a single domain while DA is able to measure entire domains.

There is some confusion about PA and DA since they use the same method to rank domain names so it is essential to understand this difference.

Every single website can be represented by PA, but you should look for an aged domain that has PA 20+ to be worth buying. One useful tip to increase PA is to always make sure that your page has its link juice from pages with high PA and reduce harmful links to your page.

Backlinks

All links that a website gets from other websites are considered backlinks. They are extremely important when improving a website’s SEO since search engines use factors such as backlinks to calculate rankings.

Make sure to use a google domain disavow tool to remove toxic backlinks over your domain name

Backlinks data is able to display the total backlinks that a domain name has. In addition, you are able to check their quality and which type of links you are dealing with. This may be the most important step when picking up aged domains since the previous metrics can vary or be manipulated.

There is not a specific amount of links when you are looking for a good backlink profile, but the more high-quality links an aged domain has the better.

The aged domains should have links that come from other domains so Google can consider your website as a high-quality content one.

Last but not least, look for links that have a natural anchor text without too many keywords. This can be a sign of spammy backlinks which may have received a penalty in the past.

What’s next?

It’s better not to waste time and start building your website. However, you should keep an eye on the old content that the previous owner left on your new aged domain. Use tools such as Yahoo’s Site Explorer in order to learn the old URLs so you can redirect them to new pages.

Remember that there is a strict copyright law on the internet over content which means you cannot copy other content that isn’t yours.

Red flags before going for your aged domain

You now understand the steps you must follow to find the right domain name, but how about the “don’ts”?

For instance, questionable money-making, gambling or pornography sites should be discarded from your list.

You must always use the Wayback Machine search tool after visiting the Web Archive. This is a crucial step to check whether the domain name was previously used for any purposes that Google blacklisted.

Things to consider when buying an aged domain name.

Other important buying tips:

• Don’t think that an aged domain is the only thing that will promote your website. Continual marketing activities are needed such as building social media and promotion campaigns.
• Don’t pay for an old domain that is not able to offer additional value.
• Don’t bid too much so you won’t pay above the market value. Always do some research about the domain you are interested in.

Let Brandnic help you find your vintage domain

We have 24/7 online customer support to ensure you the best services while looking for your domain. Brandnic provides domain names that have great value to any company.

Brandnic helps you find your aged domain name.

Furthermore, we make sure they are easy to market as well as easy to bring results. We also offer logo design, common law trademark, and trademark monitoring on premium domain names worth more than $1500.

To find out more, you can explore some of our catchy domain names for your business niche. Remember that using tools such as Domain Age Checker will let you know if the brand name has all the benefits you are looking for.