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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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

Clubhouse craze drives a surge in demand for .club domain names

An object lesson in how unpredictable the domain name market is

Clubhouse app op telefoon

In the tech world, the Clubhouse app is trending strongly. Millions of iPhone users have installed the app in recent months. And the ripples of its success have reached the domain name industry: the .club domain has seen new registrations almost double in recent months, as the app's users have rushed to register domain names for their Clubhouse rooms.

Clubhouse app

Clubhouse is a social media platform that lets users form clubs and follow discussions involving celebrities, business leaders, artists and experts. The talks take place in 'rooms' that have names such as the Good Vibes Club and the History Club. Each clubroom can host an audience of up to five thousand, with the organiser deciding who gets to contribute. Only invitees are allowed to participate, and the app is currently available only for iOS. Nevertheless, Clubhouse already has more than ten million users.

Why .club?

Someone who wants to register the name of a popular clubroom as a domain name is unlikely to be able to get a .com. With 137 million .com domain names already registered, obvious room names such as historyclub.com are mostly taken. By contrast, there are 'only' one million .club domain names, so there's much more chance of finding that something like history.club is still available. Against that background, new .club registrations in January and February were 92 per cent up on last year. More significant still for .club was the seven-fold increase in the sale of premium domain names, which can cost thousands of dollars a year.

Is it all coincidence?

Clubhouse belongs to a US company called Alpha Exploration, which has no ties with LLC, the company that's operated the new generic top-level domain .club since 2013. So it seems that LLC is simply a chance beneficiary of Alpha's initiative. And the windfall has come at a good time for LLC. Because, although .club is a fairly successful gTLD, the number of registered .club domain names declined from 1.6 million to 1 million in the two years before the Clubhouse craze. Which only goes to show how unpredictable the domain name market can be, and the extent to which providers are at the mercy of external factors.

Premium policy pays off

Not everything is down to chance, though. The .club domain has also benefited from sound policy decisions made by the registry in the past. LLC spurned the freemium model, as used for .xyz, where domain names are given away on a large scale. Instead, the registry has invested in active use of its extension by celebrities and influencers -- exactly the market where Clubhouse operates. Consequently, .club is regarded as a suitable label for exclusive Clubhouse rooms.

Will it last?

It remains to be seen, however, whether Clubhouse is here to stay. Serious concerns have already emerged regarding the security and privacy of the app, which runs on a Chinese platform. With increasing public interest in personal data protection and cybersecurity, commanding trust could be the difference between success and failure.

Article by:

Michiel Henneke

Michiel Henneke

Marketing Manager