Domain name forwarding: when it does and does not make sense!

And then also wonder if you should forward the domain name? Whether that makes sense?

I'm going to answer that for you now, so sit back and relax!

Why own multiple unused domain names

Very simple. Domain names are worth money. Why they are worth money can have a number of reasons:

• The domain name has built up authority (and thus many backlinks) in previous years
• It is an easy, recognizable and/or common name
• The domain name matches an important keyword.
• Someone else would like the domain name (for whatever reason).

So if you can get your hands on a popular domain name for a few tens of dollars or you can take it over from an acquaintance, for example, you can think of it as an investment.

Take for example OMA.nl. This is a domain name I would be extremely interested in because it is the abbreviation of my company.

The organization that now owns OMA.nl is not using the domain name, but is forwarding it.

That's one of the reasons why people own a domain name but don't use it. So the other reason is that they (may) be worth money or you may want to use them at some point in the future (for your current business or your future business).

The reason why our customers ask if they should forward a domain name

Suppose you sell houseplants and your website is Willemsenplant.nl. Your cousin, who has been around the Internet for years, tells you that he owns chamberplants.nl and wants to sell it to you for €100.

That, in my mind, is a godsend. You then buy over the domain name and then think: now what?

At that point, our clients always call us with: What should I do with it now?

My response then is: if you are not going to create a website on it, it is not worth anything to you and there is no point in forwarding it. Why do I hear you thinking now? Because forwarding only makes sense if the website has built up a certain value in Google.

And your domain name probably doesn't have that.

The only nice thing now is that competitors cannot start using the domain name.

When it makes no sense to forward your domain name

In addition to the above example of a generic search term such as chamberplants.co.uk, there are other cases where it makes no sense to forward your domain name:

1. Domain name with the name (or part of the name or a corruption) of your competitor. Example: bolpuntcom.co.uk.
2. Variants with dashes or plural. Example: online-marketing-agency.co.uk.
3. Textual corruption of your domain name or company name. Example: onlinemarketingagency.com.

What should you do with your domain name if you don't forward it?

You have a domain name that you don't have to forward because it thus falls under the variants mentioned above. So what should you do with your domain name?

To that end, I've listed a few options for you.

1. Taking your domain name and putting a website on it.
2. Saving your domain name (so you can use or sell it later)
3. Selling your domain name to someone else
4. Letting your domain name expire (I do not recommend this unless it turns out to be a totally uninteresting domain name)

When it does make sense to forward your domain name

In the dozens of times I have been asked, the answer has only been 3 times: it certainly makes sense to forward your domain name.

Now you're probably wondering when it makes sense to forward your domain name then. Well, for example, in the following cases:

1. You will change URL or get a different company name
2. Many people make a spelling mistake when typing/writing your URL
3. You ever have international ambitions
4. It is the abbreviation of your company

2 and 4, I think, require no additional explanation, but 1 and 3 do.

Let's start at 3 because it is the easiest to explain:

Should you ever want to operate internationally, a .NL is not useful. After all, someone from Italy will never be so quick to order something from a .NL website.

Therefore, it is a good idea to capture the .com and .eu, for example, and then forward those as well.

Moving on to 1. If you're going to change URLs, we're talking about an SEO migration. Also called an online move.

All the value you have built up must be forwarded. Otherwise, you will lose positions in Google. Should this be the case, I really recommend you read my blog "The Ultimate SEO Migration Guide.

How do you forward a domain name?

Forwarding a domain name is incredibly easy and can be done without prior knowledge. Forwarding a domain name is done at the hosting level. In other words, you have to do it through the hosting party.

This just varies by hosting party. My advice to you? Google on "domain name forwarding [HOSTINGPARTY]" and use the manual that your hosting party has written. In fact, almost all of them have one.