How to Buy Real Estate Domain Names (Best Real Estate Agent & Realtor Tutorial)
So you want to know how to buy real estate domain names. What’s the best no-nonsense real estate domain name registration company (hint: it’s Hover)? Here’s our guide for real estate agents and Realtors on how to choose and buy the right real estate domain name.
I’ll let you in on two secret real estate domain name generator formulas no one else is using to choose real estate domain names just like me. My real estate domains have been featured in news outlets and also acquired when I want to sell them, and I’ll give you some real estate domain name ideas and examples too!
There’s only one place at which real estate agents and Realtors should buy real estate domain names, and that is:
Who am I and why you should listen?
Hey, Darin Thompson here with Agent Next Level where we help real estate agents level up further faster with tech. I’m a veteran real estate broker, launched 2 first of their kind tech innovations in real estate over the past 15 years, and am broker and owner of one of the fastest-growing real estate brokerages in the US.
Agent Next Level does software and tool reviews and tutorials just like this one, all specifically for real estate agents. If you’re new here, definitely subscribe. Keep your eye out for links throughout this post.
Why buying the right real estate domain name matters.
If you plan to have a real estate website that can serve as the home for your real estate business and brand, a website that you own and control, not a third-party social media platform, you’ll need to buy a real estate domain name.
I highly recommend establishing a platform, a website, on the Internet that you personally own and control, not your real estate brokerage – if you’re running your business like a business, it’s an absolute must. A domain name is one of the cornerstones of your business and brand, so this is an important topic.
That said, real estate agents have a lot of questions about domain names, there are a few myths related to domains names that Realtors struggle with, and while there are a lot of options on where to register and buy a domain name for real estate, there’s only one you should be using.
How this real estate agent & Realtor tutorial on how to buy real estate domains will help.
This how to buy real estate domains guide will help both new and experienced real estate agents who are trying to navigate the maze of launching a tech stack of their own to build their business and brand.
So, I’m about to walk you through how to buy real estate domain names, and in this guide, I’m going to:
- Share some basics about domain names you should be familiar with (TLD, URL, DNS, etc.)
- Show you, as a real estate agent, exactly where you should buy your real estate domain names and why (hint: buy all your domains at Hover)
- Give you some real estate domain name ideas and examples
- Debunk myths around domain names and search engine optimization (SEO)
Don’t miss the 2 bonus pro tips below where I reveal domain name mistakes I’ve seen real estate agents make – the second one will save you time and money!
Stick with me because after we’ve looked at how to buy real estate domain names, I’ll also share 2 pro tips around domain names that have tripped up real estate agents on my team so you don’t get burned too.
Before moving on, let me know where you buy your real estate domain names today.
Let me know in the comments below where you bought your real estate domain name. It’s always interesting to hear from real estate agents and Realtors on what tools and platforms are being used to build brands and businesses, your comments below really do matter, not just to me but for everyone else watching too!
Here’s the best guide for real estate agents choosing the perfect real estate domain name.
First, some domain name basics for real estate agents.
You’re familiar with a domain name, youtube.com, for instance.
The “.com” portion of the domain name is what’s referred to as a top-level domain or TLD.
Many of us are familiar with a handful of TLDs, like .com, .net, .edu, and .org, but there are literally hundreds of TLDs and we’ll talk through the pros and cons of using anything but a .com.
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator), in essence, a domain name you type into your browser’s address bar, is a unique identifier used to locate a resource on the Internet.
Your domain name routes traffic through the configuration of domain name servers (DNS) to an actual server owned and operated by your real estate website hosting provider, that physical resource, the sever, serves up your website.
So now that we’re on the same page with some Realtor domain name basics, I want to show you something.
As a real estate agent, here’s exactly where you should buy your real estate domain names and why.
I’ve used a number of different domain name registrars or registration companies, by far, my favorite is Hover.
Here’s what I like about Hover:
- It’s no-nonsense with a super clean user interface (UI)
- Industry-leading customer support
- Free WHOIS privacy – real estate domain private registration is free
- Comprehensive list of domain name suggestions along with all TLDs conveniently listed in one place
- Hover respects my time and does not bombard me with a ridiculous upsell funnel as I attempt to checkout – if you’ve ever bought a domain name before, you probably remember being overwhelmed with probably no less than 5 upsells during checkout – Hover keeps it clean and they don’t bother you with silly nonsense
Let’s get more specific to help real estate agents choose the right domain name.
It’s actually really convenient to dovetail into this with Hover, because they actually help quite a bit with getting the creative juices flowing with different ideas on both domain names and TLDs or extensions because Hover conveniently lists all of them for you in one place
If you search for a domain name on Hover, and even if it’s taken, I’m presented with a very long list of suggested options that are available, and they do a great job of laying out all the different TLDs, including the real estate focused domain name extensions.
A warning, if you’re a Realtor, you should know that while you can use your name in conjunction with the word realtor in a domain name, you cannot use the word realtor in your domain name if you’re trying to make it appear like you’re the designated Realtor of a market, like I did accidentally years ago with a domain name I bought (that’s why domain names like newyorkrelator.com don’t resolve to a website, it’s actually illegal to use the word realtor in that way). See the Realtor trademark name and fair use guidelines for more information.
More generally, some things to keep in mind when buying real estate domain names
- Keep it short. The shorter the better, I do think having a shorter domain name is helpful, not from an SEO or discoverability perspective, it’s just more efficient in day to day operations
- Make it easy to spell. Perhaps less important, and I’ll tell you why in a moment, is whether you (or more likely someone else) will misspell your domain name. For instance, I have the word entrepreneur in a domain name I own, people misspell that word all the time – I remember hearing John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire podcast fame cite that as a concern when naming his show
- Don’t use hyphens, ever. Avoid the use of hyphens, they’re just not necessary, and, see point number 1 😀
- Think big, create a brand. Create a brand, don’t build your business entirely around your name, if you think consumers are typing your name into the address bar of their browser directly to find you, by all means, buy first name last name .com and forward it to your main domain name. When starting as a real estate agent in the early 2000s, I made the mistake of going with a domain name that centered around my name, but when I had the opportunity to reset and begin again in an entirely new market, I followed the advice I give to all new agents, which is, build up a personal brand, rather than the brand of your brokerage. There are a lot of reasons to do this, growth, scale, and eventual exit included. I recommend you tie that brand to something bigger than you. Building a brand allowed me to seamlessly transition brokerages several times and eventually sell the brand as an exit strategy in conjunction with launching a residential real estate brokerage (Stuart St James).
- Don’t use subdomains. Don’t build content across multiple domain names, it will dilute the effectiveness of the hard work you’re putting in to establish authority online with your domain name
If I’m a real estate agent or Realtor, do I have to buy a .com domain name?
To keep it simple, I don’t think you can go wrong with a .com domain name.
However, it’s my opinion, and I’d love to hear your constructive feedback in the comments below, it’s my opinion that you’re not materially impacted by using other TLDs that are not .com.
I say that for a couple of reasons…
- Google treats all TLDs the same, so you’re not inherently penalized or skipped over from being indexed by selecting something other than .com
- I believe the vast majority of discovery online is done via search, so not directly typing URLs into an address bar, and that’s only going to continue. Said differently, the best content is going to win out, in the organic serps (or search engine result pages).
I also think you can do some clever things with the vast array of TLDs available now that you couldn’t do before, like dramatically shorten URLs going from antioch.com to just the word antio.ch by using a .ch extension (that’s a 30% reduction in domain name length, which is compelling).
There were concerns years ago that new TLDs would not create clickable links on major websites like Facebook, that they would actually be treated as misspelled words, but that’s no longer the case.
Here are the real estate domain name ideas and examples I promised.
Let’s shift focus toward some real estate domain name ideas and examples.
If your brand and business are large enough, or you anticipate that growth, one strategy would be to identify your marquee domain name and then buy up the adjacent domains, like the .com, .io maybe if you’re a tech-focused real estate agent, and forward all the others to your main domain name. Use Hover and its comprehensive listing of both suggestions and all the TLDs to your advantage here in mapping out your strategy
Here are my 2 secret real estate domain name generator formulas to help get your creative juices flowing. The following are personal examples of real estate domain names I created, these formulas are clever and their use is not yet saturated – said differently, you can steal these ideas and there’s a high likelihood you’ll be an early adopter in your market and have something unique.
Remember, keep your domain names short!
Real estate domain name generator formula #1
Formula: Local street name + Local street name
Example: Stuart Street and St James Avenue
Domain: stuartstjames.com
Real estate domain name generator formula #2
Formula: Location + Real Estate Property Type + Noun
Example: Boston + Condos + Guy
Domain: bostoncondoguy.com
Ultimately, you’re aiming for something iconic, not a fad, something you can still love 5, 10, 15 years down the road and that your business will not grow out of (don’t choose pittsburghrentalhero.com when you’d ultimately love to specialize in luxury single-family homes in the Pittsburgh suburbs)
Let’s debunk myths around domain names and search engine optimization (SEO) I hear from real estate agents.
While domain names mattered in search engine ranking algorithms in the early 2000s, keywords in a TLD do not give any advantage or disadvantage in search in today’s market (case in point, bostonrealestate.com was purchased for high five figures, some say six figures years ago and is no longer on the first page of organic Google SERPs for the corresponding keyword phrase “Boston real estate”).
I mentioned this earlier, but for clarity, if you use a TLD other than .com, major websites can indeed handle that, they’re not seen as misspellings. So, it’s ok to use a TLD other than .com, you’re not going to be programmatically penalized.
And while it can be tedious to transition to a new domain name, yes, you can move your site to a new domain by leveraging 301 redirects, which is a formal and structured way to signal to search engines that your site has moved and you won’t be penalized and your new site will capture all the same Google juice your previous site had. So don’t think you’re boxed in if you make some fundamental changes in your real estate business that would necessitate a domain name change.
Before we get into the 2 pro bonus tips around domain names that have tripped up real estate agents on my team so you don’t get burned, it’s recommendation and summary time.
At this point, you should have:
- A good feel for domain name basics for real estate agents and Realtors, including some knowledge about TLDs and how URLs function
- I showed you, as a real estate agent, you should buy your real estate domain names at Hover and why
- I gave you some real estate domain name ideas and examples, and even shared with you my 2 secret real estate domain name generator formulas I’ve personally used to buy unique, catchy, and attractive real estate domain names
- We debunked myths around domain names and SEO, which should help bring you some clarity so you don’t have to burn cycles worrying about silly things that can slow you down
To recap, I recommend buying real estate domain names at Hover because:
- No-nonsense, super clean user experience
- Industry-leading customer support and free WHOIS private registration
- Helpful domain name suggestions and comprehensive list of TLDs all in one spot
- No pushy upsells
Bonus time! I promised you 2 pro bonus tips around domain names that have tripped up real estate agents on my team, I want to share these with you so that you don’t have to go through the same trouble.
- Decouple, separate, your domain name from your hosting provider – I see a lot of low cost hosting providers bundle “free” domain name registration with a hosting account, but I recommend registering your domain names separate from your real estate website hosting provider. This will give you greater control and flexibility over your web presence and reduce, and possibly eliminate downtime if you decide to switch hosts at a later point in the future.
- Decouple, separate, your domain name from your hosting provider – I see a lot of low cost hosting providers bundle “free” domain name registration with a hosting account, but I recommend registering your domain names separate from your real estate website hosting provider. This will give you greater control and flexibility over your web presence and reduce, and possibly eliminate downtime if you decide to switch hosts at a later point in the future.
- Ensure social handles that match your real estate domain name are available on the major platforms you plan to use before you finalize and actually buy your domain name (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). Getting online, the right way, is a super marathon, and it’s a real bummer when you have to start over after a few miles in.
So there you have it…
A rundown on how to buy real estate domain names for real estate agents and Realtors (do that at Hover), my 2 secret real estate domain name generator formulas that have served me really well, and 2 tried and true bonus tips from other real estate agents.
If you know someone contemplating starting their real estate business or someone rebranding, would you do me a solid and please share this content with them, that would mean a lot.