Simply put, a parked domain is a purchased domain name that’s not connected to a website or other online services, they are “parked” for later use. They can also be used as ‘aliases’, additional URLs that will redirect to another, primary domain.
Why have a parked domain?
What’s the point of having one? These are just some of the several reasons why you could benefit from having a parked domain:
To protect the domain name
Ever found the perfect name for your project just to see the domain name is not available? Top choices are rarely available, leaving website owners with no option but settling for another name, or spending hundreds of dollars to purchase it from the current owner.
For this reason, it is definitely worth it to hold a domain name while projects are still being developed.
To Send Users to the Same Website as a Primary Domain
As mentioned above, a parked domain can also be used as a secondary domain. This parked domain will point to the same IP address as the primary domain and will therefore show the same website.
It’s a common practice for companies to purchase multiple parked domains with names that sound similar to their primary domain, or with common typos for it.
To protect your business from cybersquatting
Cybersquatting is the practice of purchasing domains that are variants of a business’ primary domain name, then attempting to sell them back to the business. This may damage brand credibility, as cybersquatters can do whatever they want with this domain until you buy it back. Purchasing several related domains at once and connecting them to your site reduces the chances of this happening to you.
To Sell a Domain
Since domains are a highly sought-after commodity, many individuals and organizations make money by purchasing domains for a low price and then selling them off for a profit. In the meantime, the domain stays parked. If you’ve found your perfect domain to be taken, this is a likely reason.
How do I park a domain?
If you want to park a domain, either to save it for later or to utilize it as an alias, the process is similar to securing a normal domain.
The first thing you wanna do is verify if the domain is available for purchase. If it’s not, but there is no website associated with it, the domain may already be parked. In that case, there are numerous WHOIS lookup tools that will tell you who owns the domain, in case you want to buy it from someone else.
You can always try variants of the domain name and extension (try .net, .org, .co, .io).
Once you purchase the domain, you can keep it parked for as long as you want, just remember to renew your ownership of the domain. Once your project is ready for launch, you can link the domain to your website.
How to create a domain alias
If you want to use your parked domain as an alias for your primary domain, you can easily do it using your control panel. To add a domain alias using cPanel follow these steps:
Login to your cPanel account
Look for Aliases. You can do this by scrolling down to the Domains section or by using the search bar
On the Create a New Alias section, enter the name of your parked domain and click on the ‘Add Domain’ button
It will redirect to a page like this, click on the ‘Go Back’ button below the success message
Great, you should now be able to see your new alias on the ‘Remove Aliases’ section. You can manage your secondary domains from here
