Five mistakes I made buying my first domains

Mistake one: buying on excitement

My first purchase happened at midnight, ten minutes after the idea appeared. The name looked brilliant that night and awkward a week later. Now I write a name down and wait 48 hours before paying for it. Good names still look good after sleeping on them.

Mistake two: choosing an extension because it was cheap

A one-dollar first year is not a discount, it is a renewal trap. Some extensions renew at twenty times the intro price, and some carry weak trust signals with visitors. Check the renewal price, not the promotion.

Mistake three: ignoring the domain's history

An expired domain arrives with a past. I once bought a name that had been a spam blog; nothing I published on it ever ranked. Look at archived snapshots and the backlink profile before you pay, not after.

Mistake four: not thinking about trademarks

A name that clearly echoes an existing brand is a liability, not a bargain. A single complaint can cost you the domain and the work you built on it. Search the trademark registers for your market first.

Mistake five: forgetting renewals

I lost a domain I actually used because a card expired. Turn on auto-renew, keep a calendar reminder, and register the important names for multiple years.

How I buy today

Shortlist three names, check history and legal risk, compare them side by side on measurable criteria, then buy one and let the others go. Boring, but it has stopped me wasting money.