Multiple Domains for One Business: What to Own and Why

Which extra domains are worth owning

• The matching .uk. Since June 2019 anyone can register it. Owning it stops a lookalike.
• The .com. Worth having if you sell abroad or your brand is distinctive.
• Obvious misspellings. Only the ones customers actually make, such as a doubled letter.
• Product or campaign names. If a product is marketed under its own name.
• Your old domain after a rebrand. Keep it renewed and redirecting for years.

You don't need every extension. Buying dozens of variants costs money each year and rarely stops a determined copycat.

Ask a simple question of every candidate: would losing it to someone else cause real confusion or harm? If not, you probably don't need it.

One main address, the rest redirect

Choose the domain you want on your van, your invoices and in Google. Every other name should send visitors there with a 301 redirect that keeps the path. Avoid running copies of the same site on several domains: search engines see duplicates and customers see inconsistent addresses. See domain forwarding for how we set this up.

Pick the main domain early and use it everywhere: email signatures, social profiles, invoices and listings. Changing the main domain later is possible but means updating every one of those, plus redirecting the old address permanently.

Stop spare domains being used to spoof you

A domain you don't send mail from can still be forged in the From address of a scam. Two TXT records make that much harder:

• An SPF record of v=spf1 -all, which says no server may send mail for the domain.
• A DMARC record at _dmarc, such as v=DMARC1; p=reject, which tells receivers to reject mail that fails.

Only do this on domains that genuinely send nothing. If a spare domain receives mail, set its MX records and use email forwarding to deliver it to your main inbox. Background in SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

Keep renewals in one place

Several domains with several suppliers means several expiry dates, payment cards and logins. Losing a redirecting domain is easy to miss until a customer finds a parked page. Bring them into the dijitul client portal, turn on auto-renew, and keep a simple list of what each domain is for. Domain transfers explains how to move them in.

Review the list once a year. A campaign domain from three years ago may no longer earn its renewal, but check that no email or old links still depend on it before letting it go.

Email on more than one domain

If you send from two domains, for example after a merger, each one needs its own MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. If you only want to receive on the second domain, aliases that forward to your main mailboxes are simpler. See business email addresses.

If you plan to move to a single domain, run both for a while: send from the new one, keep receiving on the old one, and redirect the old website. Customers update their address books slowly.

How dijitul helps

Register extras at clients.dijitul.uk. One registration or renewal a year is included with dijihost Complete Hosting at £1 a day + VAT, which usually covers the main domain. We'll set up the redirects and the anti-spoofing records in Cloudflare.

How it works and what it costs

Domains are priced live in the client portal. DNS management and 10 mailboxes are included with dijihost Complete Hosting at £1 a day + VAT. On their own, DNS and email set-up is £45 an hour + VAT or a fixed quote.

1. Tell us what you have

   Your domains, who they are registered with, where your DNS and email live today, and what you want to change.

2. Plan the change

   We list every DNS record and mailbox first, so nothing is forgotten, and agree a time to switch.

3. Make the switch

   Transfers, nameserver changes, DNS records and mailbox moves, done carefully with low TTLs and a rollback plan.

4. Check it works

   We test the website, email delivery, SPF, DKIM and DMARC from the outside before calling it done.

5. Look after it

   Renewals, records and email stay looked after, and you can call a person when something changes.

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