You’ve finally found the domain that matches your business or blog flawlessly. Impactful, concise, and catchy, it’s the perfect website name for your brand, and you just know it’s going to lay a platform for your success. Someone else already owns the domain name, and they’re willing to part with it for a very reasonable price – you’re almost there. There’s just one thing left to do before proceeding: Conduct due diligence on the domain name to ensure it doesn’t come with any unexpected surprises or a spotty domain name history. But how? 

Purchasing or registering a domain name for your blog, brand, or business website is one of the most important choices you’ll make, so you’ll need to be diligent in how you go about doing so. Your website’s domain name will be its “face,” the first point of contact with your niche market. But (like most things on the internet), domains come with baggage: Histories, associations, and conflicts that can damage your brand or leave you out of pocket, paying for a string of letters or numbers that are worthless. 

Understanding how to check the history of a domain name and conducting a WHOIS lookup is fundamental to ensuring that you conduct the proper due diligence before registering or buying a domain name that you’ll associate with your blog or business for years to come.

We explore the importance of checking a domain’s history, how to do it properly, and which tools and techniques are best suited for the task. So, whether you’re looking into a domain you already own or have your eye on one, we’ll show you how to do a full background check on it first.

Domain names are like people in a sense. Each one is unique, and all of them have a past. Understanding how to check the history of a domain name is like getting to know someone – well. Domains must be registered before being used and, once created, are stored on the web – forever. While IP addresses are like telephone numbers, domain names are similar to street addresses or building names. They’re easier to remember, great for customizing and vary in value depending on what they tell people about the website they represent. 

Avoiding Problems Down the Line

Domains that were perhaps previously associated with a failed business, offensive or inflammatory content, or undesirable people, can pose a risk to your brand. Some bloggers have purchased a domain and used it successfully for some time, only to have someone raise an issue with it or for it to be flagged as a problem domain later on. This can leave you reeling after the work and effort you’ve put into growing your website. 

Making a Good Investment

Investing in domain names is a profitable business opportunity for many people. These investors look for domains they can develop into valuable assets or buy lower-value domains, develop their websites and SEO around them, and resell them at a profit.

If you’re looking to invest in domain names, check out this article on how to do so successfully before buying one once you’ve learned how to check the history of a domain name. 

When a domain is registered, the information used to do so is made public. This information is stored in a public database called WHOIS. You can search this database by running a WHOIS lookup protocol to access the information stored within it, around every domain registered to an IP address. 

The WHOIS database is managed and regulated by the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which keeps an eye on things and provides the resources needed to make this service available to everyone. 

The WHOIS global database consists of networks of servers called the Domain Name System, or DNS, which adds new domains every day, stores them and indicates which are owned, which are currently being used, or those that are available. 

Now, while all this data is kept within the WHOIS database, it’s the registries (who manage extensions like ‘.com’ and ‘.org’) and domain registrars who deal with, price, and sell the domains themselves. 

When inspecting the history of a domain, you’ll submit a WHOIS lookup request to ICANN, which checks the various DNS networks containing the information about the domain names owned, managed, and run by the domain registrars. 

Domain names come with various elements and associated data that we can request and review before investing in one. These aspects of the domain can influence its potential, value, and usefulness, as well as tell us how risky owning it may be. So figuring how to check the history of a domain name is vital to making a good investment.

There are other elements around your domain history to consider. These include names with similarities to existing domains, names that may be regarded as offensive in different regions around the world, or trademarked names. So think about the intended purpose of your site when checking up on them. 

While manually reviewing a domain name is an effective way to check it for any issues before committing to buying it, there are numerous tools and resources you can use to do these checks for you. Some are free, some charge for their services, and others look for specific issues instead of running a general review. 

These tools and resources will review a domain’s history and create a report for you, listing various domain name elements, including previous ownership, uses, dates and potential. Most tools assign a score to your chosen domain before recommending alternatives. 

MIn case you’re not keen on using WHOIS lookup tools, you can also take the manual alternative options. While these routes may be a little more labor intensive, they are free and provide your insight into a domain, making them great supplementary techniques for how to check the history of a domain to go along with the tools listed above. 

Just Google it

A simple Google search on a domain may often be a practical starting point to see if your chosen domain names are even available, to begin with. Use Google Domains, run an advanced search, cross reference dates, associations, mentions, and any news or associated articles that may give you a more holistic view and access to how to check the history of a domain name.

Checking Backlinks

Backlinking is an important element of any domain name history – especially on the SEO front. So think about using SEO tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, or Moz to audit historical backlinks to and from the domain. You’ll get a good look into site associations and a view on existing DA or optimization levels for the domain. 

Look at Social Media

The social media realm is vast, and cross-referencing a domain on various platforms and sites may provide different results from what you find with a WHOIS lookup tool. Seek out any existing social media pages or profiles linked to the domain, and keep an eye out for negative reviews or mentions. 

Speak to the Old Owners

You can go the ‘old school’ route and simply reach out directly to previous owners to get a subjective opinion on the site. If willing, people can often provide insights that tools cannot and answer questions about any issues that lookups may have missed. Get email addresses and phone numbers from WHOIS lookup results. 

If you’ve already purchased one, and only now learned how to check the history of a domain name, there’s a chance you’ve discovered something that isn’t good news. Don’t stress too much, though. You can always work the problem and save your investment. 

Here are some options in case you find yourself sitting with a domain name history with a spotty track record. 

• Do some damage control – Start taking control and get to work on managing the risks of having a dodgy domain. Remove it from social media pages, or prepare a response if someone queries your association with the domain. Try reaching out to Google to let them know that you’re a new owner of the domain. 
• Look for similar alternates – Consider switching out your extension with another one or purchasing similar domains you can migrate to without anyone noticing. It’s always a good idea to have backup domains within your portfolio to use in this event. 
• Appeal to the previous owners – In cases with negative ownership associations, you could try appealing directly to the previous domain owners. You could ask them to issue a statement indicating they’re no longer associated with the site or even get them to buy it back from you. 
• Ride it out – Depending on the nature of the issue, you could choose to sit back and wait for everything to die down or for enough time to pass that your domain is no longer considered “problematic.” Leave the domain alone for a couple of months and see how things go before using it. 
• Invest in a new domain – If all else fails, it may be easier to simply cut your losses and buy a new domain for your site. While this may hurt you financially, sometimes you just need to take the hit. Put the domain up for sale and – if anyone buys it – reinvest the revenue in a new one.