You’ve analyzed your great idea from top to bottom, worked through your business plan and are finally ready to take the leap and launch your new business.

Then the inevitable happens– you go to register your domain and find out your desired name is already taken.   Nothing short of taking the wind out of your sails, right?

Our advice?  Take a deep breathe and reboot… it’s not the end of the world.   You will just have to move to plan B. Use these 5 tips to choose a domain name.

1) Rethink your name.  Chances are there’s a pretty good alternative that will work with only a slight variation.

2) Register with an organization that tracks domain names that are about to expire. Oftentimes, you can request an alert when a domain relevant to your business was not renewed.   Patience is certainly a virtue and you may have some luck and get the domain name you really want. You can also try to contact the domain owner if the domain isn’t being used, you may be able to get your hands on it for a price you can afford.

3) Own the Trademark already? Assert your ownership. Although, this can be a tiring and expensive route to take. Domain disputes happen all the time, but they don’t always end the way you would think they should. Like the most recent example of Nintendo losing in the fight over the WiiU domain. If you are already in business and want to use your existing business name as your domain name, then you may have the upper hand in a dispute with someone who’s already using the name online, just realize that it may just be easier to call it a loss and search for an alternative. If you think you have a case, you should open a claim with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

4)  Tight on money?  Consider a .net, .biz or .org.  These are widely growing in popularity, and may hold you over until your .com becomes available, or you allocate enough budget to buy it from another owner.

5) Relax… your domain name isn’t going to make or break your budding business.  People will evitably be drawn to the products and services you offer and how well you market them, not just where they sit on the internet.

What are your tips for choosing a new domain if the one you want is already taken? Have you ever had this happen to you? Share your thoughts in the comments! Also, be sure to click share below to share this on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus!