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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

Realtime Register supports customers looking for good domain names

"SIDN's Suggestion Tool is definitely the number one choice when it comes to .nl domain name suggestions"

  • Thursday 27 May 2021

In business, it's very important to have a compelling and effective domain name. A name that matches the business's profile and is easily findable by internet users. Although countless strong .nl domain names remain available, coming up with one that's exactly right can be hard. Especially if the entrepreneur's first choice is already taken. That inevitably has implications for registrars and for domain name sales. So it pays for registrars to give customers a helping hand in their search for the best possible name.

Here, Berend van Dalfzen and Yasin Boelhouwer (CEO and Product Manager at Realtime Register) describe how they are using SIDN's Suggestion Tool to support customers searching for .nl domain names. They also talk about their experience with the Suggestion Tool API and its benefits for their company and its clientele.

SIDN's .nl Suggestion Tool

On SIDN's home page, visitors can easily check the availability of their ideal .nl domain names. If a checked domain is available, the tool immediately suggests eight .nl registrars who can register the name for the user. If the checked domain is taken, the tool suggests alternatives that are still available, and invites the user to check out other ideas. SIDN is now making similar suggestion functionality available to registrars via an API. By interfacing with the API, a registrar can get suggestions for relevant available domain names, and show them to their own website visitors.

Portrait of Berend van Dalfzen
Berend van Dalfzen, CEO of Realtime Register

Realtime Register

Realtime Register is an internationally active, ICANN-accredited wholesale registrar. The company manages the registrations of more than two million domain names for roughly a thousand resellers in sixty-plus countries. "At Realtime Register, we feel we have a duty to help customers find the right domain names," says Berend van Dalfzen. "Although the number of registered .nl domain names now tops six million, there is still plenty of choice. But people need help making their choices. Even before SIDN developed its Suggestion Tool, we were working on our Advanced Domain Availability Checker (ADAC): a system that makes it quick and easy for customers to see whether a name they want is available. If it isn't, the ADAC suggests alternatives, including not only .nl domains, but also domains with extensions such as .com, .net and .eu. Resellers have access to a special tool management portal, where they can define suggestion preferences. They can control how many suggestions are presented, in what order, and so on."

Implementation and development opportunities

"Realtime Register has been involved in development of the SIDN Suggestion Tool from the start," continues Berend. "When SIDN made the Suggestion Tool API available, we implemented it within the ADAC. It's safe to assume that all registrars know what they're doing technically, so implementing the API shouldn't be a problem." Yasin adds that "Implementation does take a few days, though, and that can put off some registrars. Fortunately, the threshold to implementation can be significantly reduced by generating a block of JavaScript that a registrar can simply add to the front end of their website. All the registrar has to do is insert the Suggestion Tool code, add some visual formatting, and define the suggestion sequence. Our ADAC also uses JavaScript code, so we're happy to help SIDN on this."

Portrait of Yasin Boelhouwer, product manager at Realtime Register
Yasin Boelhouwer, product manager at Realtime Register

"Going forward, it's important to keep working on the speed of the tool. In other words, how quickly a user gets suggestions after looking up a domain name. Ideally, you want the ideas to be appearing as the user types, like a search engine's autocomplete functionality. That's especially important if the registrar supports registrations under multiple extensions such as .com and .net. Obviously you want the .nl suggestions to be above the .com and .net suggestions in the list. I'd also like to see SIDN add more suggestion display functionality, such as a 'Show more suggestions like this' option. So, when a user sees a .nl domain name that appeals, they can zoom in with their search. My feeling is that the number of suggestions should be limited to ten, otherwise the choice gets bewildering. However, that does depend on the type of customer. Some want to make a choice quickly, while others want to browse and mull over the options."

The Suggestion Tool for the .nl domain

SIDN is constantly working to enhance the .nl Suggestion Tool. "The feedback from registrars has helped SIDN to improve the Suggestion Tool enormously. The search algorithms have been optimised, and filter options such as 'Search by location' and 'Use hyphens' have been added. Good progress has been made with the speed of the tool, and suggestions have been tailored to the Dutch business market. As a result, SIDN's Suggestion Tool is definitely the number one choice when it comes to .nl domain name suggestions," says Yasin.

"For our resellers, the Suggestion Tool delivers results in two ways. Our experience is that use of the tool boosts .nl registrations by up to 15 per cent. That's obviously very attractive for any registrar or reseller. We've also observed higher conversion rates: customers stay on the website for longer and go through with a registration more often. Seeing suggestions and alternatives leads many customers to register multiple domain names. We therefore use the SIDN tool in combination with tools for other extensions, such as Verisign's NameStudio and the DomainsBot tool, so that we can give customers a comprehensive range of suggestions. In short, we see the SIDN Suggestion Tool as a real boon for registrars and their customers," says Berend.

Want to know more about the .nl Suggestion Tool? Visit https://registrars.sidn.nl/tools-en-rapportages/suggestietool or contact Alfredo Garcia Frias by mailing to alfredo.garcifrias@sidn.nl or calling +31 682 912 222 .

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