What if the domain name I want is taken?

Verbs, adjectives and abbreviations could work well as modifiers for a domain name. Sometimes, they may even add meaning and provide context for your business or industry. Here are a few examples.

• Verbs like get, go, use, try, fly, and so on. Dropbox famously used the url, getdropbox.com until they eventually managed to buy the dropbox.com domain from its previous owners. Marketing automation company Vero uses getvero.com.
• Nouns, adjectives, or other descriptors and modifiers such as country names or terms like app, box, HQ, base, global, etc. Carmaker Nissan uses nissanusa.com and choosenissan.com. Fitness brand Peloton uses onepeloton.com. Software maker InVision uses invisionapp.com.

A simple and easy-to-remember abbreviation or acronym may work well, as long as it’s easy for people to understand the connection between your brand name and the URL. For example, American Airlines uses aa.com.

There are many alternative domain extensions such as .net, .app, .biz, .global, and so on. These do not have the same level of recall as .com.au or .com, but if your business does not rely on unaided recall for your domain name, this may not necessarily be a setback. Most prominently, Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, uses the domain abc.xyz, since alphabet.com is owned by a subsidiary of BMW.

If none of these options works well for you, Lime can help you contact the current owner of the domain name to try buying it from them. Although a successful sale or transfer is not guaranteed, this option may be well worth the effort for well-established brands that stand to benefit from being accessible on the most obvious URL that their audience is likely to use.