Boost Your Traffic With Expired Domain Names
Until now you might have thought that expired domain names are excellent just for branding.
But do you know that by registering the right expired domain names you can significantly boost your website’s exposure and traffic?
There is no doubt that Yahoo! is the world’s biggest portal. It’s no secret that many websites are making tons of money just from the fact that they’re on Yahoo!. It’s also nothing new that it’s getting more and more difficult to get listed there.
Now, listen to this. There are tens of thousands of websites listed on Yahoo!. That’s tens of thousands of unique domain names, some of which *expire*. Catching my drift?
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Example:
You own XYZ Web Hosting Corporation (xyzhosting.com) and you want to boost your website’s traffic. John Qwerty once had a web hosting business too, with a domain name qwertyhosting.com. He even got listed on Yahoo.com and received some solid traffic from them over the years. Unfortunately his business flopped and he didn’t renew his domain name, so it naturally expired.
Despite the fact qwertyhosting.com is available for re-registration, QWERTY Hosting is still in Yahoo! index. By registering qwertyhosting.com and pointing it to your xyzhosting.com, you’ll get a steady flow of qualified visitors from Yahoo!
It’s not just Yahoo.com that you can get residual traffic from. Some of the domain names that have now expired once were thriving online businesses linked from tens (maybe hundreds) other websites. Chances are that many of those links are still active, pointing to the now dead, expired domains. Now, if you can only register such a domain name, you can capture a stream of traffic that would otherwise go into a black hole.
To find such names, you need two things:
a) a list of expired domain names.
b) a link popularity checker to see whether a particular expired domain name has any links pointed to it.
With BizMint.com you get both things at once! After you signed up, you’d simply search for a domain name with a specific criteria and with one more mouse-click you’d instantly learn how many links there are pointed to a particular domain name.
Some people are getting hundreds of visitors every day thanks to these little-known tricks!
About the Author Simon Grabowski is the owner of many online businesses that generate close to a million dollars in annual online sales. His latest is the BizMint.com, a unique, sophisticated tool that helps you to explode your online business by searching and registering from millions of expired and soon-to-expire domain names. See http://www.bizmint.com
My Referrel
Thursday, July 29, 2010
How To Find The Best Domain Names Available
By Simon Grabowski, CEO of GetResponse.com
So in such a highly competitive hi-tech world, how’s it possible for the average guy or gal to register a domain name without already have been beaten to it first? After all, there are over 100,000 of the little beasts being registered daily and the queue for each domain name is probably at least a mile long. What gives?
It’s all about successful domain name branding. There is a big, big lie (a whopper of a lie, in fact) which is causing many dot-com startups to spend ridiculous amounts of money to budding entrepreneurs who got there first. Some guy who registered a great .com name back in 1993 for $100 is probably going to be on the receiving end of a $500,000 or more deal – for such domains like loans.com, taxes.com, bingo.com, and other one word generic domain names. But nowadays, unless you have that kinda cash to throw around, it’s impossible to get hold of them.
But was $500,000 worth it for a company to buy such a name? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It’s definitely very easy to market such a name, which may pay for itself ten times over in the long-run. But for the small or medium sized business, you may as well save your cash.
The lie is simply this: That all of the best branded names have gone.
Wrong! Sure, without the toolkit which enables you to find such names, it’s definitely very hard. But in actual fact, there have been many successes online for projects based on $10 domains – in fact, some companies are earning much more online than the companies who ploughed multi-thousand dollar investments into their name branding!
Here’s how to..
Find the best domains on a shoestring budget
What makes a good domain name? Since we’re left with virtually no generic names to implant our brands into, what we need to do is go for an approach at the other end of the spectrum…
We can either come up with clever phrases, or simple, to the point explanations of what our website is about. Unless your own company name is especially well-branded (like Mcdonalds or Sony), then don’t bother registering your company name as your main venture unless you think you can successfully market it in a way which ties in with your current strategies. i.e. showing your existing off-line clients or established based of contacts your new company website.
Let’s work with an example. Recently, I was wanting to come up with a domain name for a new marketing project I had. I was looking for something which would reflect selling online. Basically, I was wanting to teach others how to sell online and needed to find a good domain name that would become a home to this project.
All of my ideas for names, such as SellingOnline.com or OnlineSales.com or even HowToSellOnline.com had all been taken. Rather than settling for a long, ugly and unconstructive domain name, I plugged in the word “sales” into the BizMint search system and within moments found…
InternetSales101.com
This is a name that was previously registered, but since the previous owner didn’t renew their domain registration, was made available after it’s expiration. I registered it on the spot for around $10.
This names reflects the website perfectly… “Internet” and “Sales” are keyword rich for what I’m trying to portray and “101″ is the number which means “a course for beginners”, and .com is the most favored domain name, especially since I’m writing a course on how to sell online.
Now if I’d have found this name on a domain auction website, I’d have been willing to pay as much as $500 for it because I know the site could earn more than that every single day. But instead with the BizMint system, I was able to find an expired name which has recently be made available as was open for me to register for just $10. Bargain.
How YOU can find the perfect domain name
First of all, what’s your area of business? Write down around 5 or 10 different keywords that relate to your website and plug each of them into the BizMint search system. Make a note of all the domains that are available (or ones that are soon to be available) and see what you can come up with. Write down only the best ones that stand out at you.
After plugging in “cars” and “autos”, here’s what I came up with.
AmericanFamilyCars.com
AmericanLuxuryCars.com
AmericanSportyCars.com
CarSaleLine.com
CarsHut.com
ImportCarStore.com
Cars24hr.com
CarsForTeens.com
AutosMania.com
AutosDirectly.com
AutoSalesGuide.com
AutoSparesFinder.com
Out of the thousands of matches I received, the above are just a few that immediately caught my eye. There are probably more and more expiring daily, and having access to this system enables you to keep a permanent eye on your industry. But these are just a recent few.
Depending on your niche, the above domains would be perfect for the right kind of car website. Sell lower-priced cars especially for the young student driver? CarsForTeens.com says it all. Or perhaps you compile a list of the lowest price cars available in your state? AutoSalesGuide.com is right on the money. Or how about AmericanLuxuryCars.com for the well-to-do business man? These are just a few examples of many.
The next step is to analyze the search results you receive and use them to provide further inspiration for the kind of website you’re looking for. Many times the expired domains churned out at you are good enough to register on their own – but at an absolute minimum, even if you don’t register any, they can provide great inspiration for your own ideas.
For instance… you may not want Cars24hr.com, but instead 24hrCars.com. The list doesn’t show this domain as expired but that doesn’t mean it’s not available. You can use the Whois search on the main BizMint members-only page to find that specific domain and see if it’s available. If it is, you can grab it for registration immediately.
So in such a highly competitive hi-tech world, how’s it possible for the average guy or gal to register a domain name without already have been beaten to it first? After all, there are over 100,000 of the little beasts being registered daily and the queue for each domain name is probably at least a mile long. What gives?
It’s all about successful domain name branding. There is a big, big lie (a whopper of a lie, in fact) which is causing many dot-com startups to spend ridiculous amounts of money to budding entrepreneurs who got there first. Some guy who registered a great .com name back in 1993 for $100 is probably going to be on the receiving end of a $500,000 or more deal – for such domains like loans.com, taxes.com, bingo.com, and other one word generic domain names. But nowadays, unless you have that kinda cash to throw around, it’s impossible to get hold of them.
But was $500,000 worth it for a company to buy such a name? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It’s definitely very easy to market such a name, which may pay for itself ten times over in the long-run. But for the small or medium sized business, you may as well save your cash.
The lie is simply this: That all of the best branded names have gone.
Wrong! Sure, without the toolkit which enables you to find such names, it’s definitely very hard. But in actual fact, there have been many successes online for projects based on $10 domains – in fact, some companies are earning much more online than the companies who ploughed multi-thousand dollar investments into their name branding!
Here’s how to..
Find the best domains on a shoestring budget
What makes a good domain name? Since we’re left with virtually no generic names to implant our brands into, what we need to do is go for an approach at the other end of the spectrum…
We can either come up with clever phrases, or simple, to the point explanations of what our website is about. Unless your own company name is especially well-branded (like Mcdonalds or Sony), then don’t bother registering your company name as your main venture unless you think you can successfully market it in a way which ties in with your current strategies. i.e. showing your existing off-line clients or established based of contacts your new company website.
Let’s work with an example. Recently, I was wanting to come up with a domain name for a new marketing project I had. I was looking for something which would reflect selling online. Basically, I was wanting to teach others how to sell online and needed to find a good domain name that would become a home to this project.
All of my ideas for names, such as SellingOnline.com or OnlineSales.com or even HowToSellOnline.com had all been taken. Rather than settling for a long, ugly and unconstructive domain name, I plugged in the word “sales” into the BizMint search system and within moments found…
InternetSales101.com
This is a name that was previously registered, but since the previous owner didn’t renew their domain registration, was made available after it’s expiration. I registered it on the spot for around $10.
This names reflects the website perfectly… “Internet” and “Sales” are keyword rich for what I’m trying to portray and “101″ is the number which means “a course for beginners”, and .com is the most favored domain name, especially since I’m writing a course on how to sell online.
Now if I’d have found this name on a domain auction website, I’d have been willing to pay as much as $500 for it because I know the site could earn more than that every single day. But instead with the BizMint system, I was able to find an expired name which has recently be made available as was open for me to register for just $10. Bargain.
How YOU can find the perfect domain name
First of all, what’s your area of business? Write down around 5 or 10 different keywords that relate to your website and plug each of them into the BizMint search system. Make a note of all the domains that are available (or ones that are soon to be available) and see what you can come up with. Write down only the best ones that stand out at you.
After plugging in “cars” and “autos”, here’s what I came up with.
AmericanFamilyCars.com
AmericanLuxuryCars.com
AmericanSportyCars.com
CarSaleLine.com
CarsHut.com
ImportCarStore.com
Cars24hr.com
CarsForTeens.com
AutosMania.com
AutosDirectly.com
AutoSalesGuide.com
AutoSparesFinder.com
Out of the thousands of matches I received, the above are just a few that immediately caught my eye. There are probably more and more expiring daily, and having access to this system enables you to keep a permanent eye on your industry. But these are just a recent few.
Depending on your niche, the above domains would be perfect for the right kind of car website. Sell lower-priced cars especially for the young student driver? CarsForTeens.com says it all. Or perhaps you compile a list of the lowest price cars available in your state? AutoSalesGuide.com is right on the money. Or how about AmericanLuxuryCars.com for the well-to-do business man? These are just a few examples of many.
The next step is to analyze the search results you receive and use them to provide further inspiration for the kind of website you’re looking for. Many times the expired domains churned out at you are good enough to register on their own – but at an absolute minimum, even if you don’t register any, they can provide great inspiration for your own ideas.
For instance… you may not want Cars24hr.com, but instead 24hrCars.com. The list doesn’t show this domain as expired but that doesn’t mean it’s not available. You can use the Whois search on the main BizMint members-only page to find that specific domain and see if it’s available. If it is, you can grab it for registration immediately.
How to Profit from Expired Domain Names
How to Uncover The Internet’s ‘Secret’ Goldmine
Great domain names are becoming increasingly scarce. Close to 23 million “.com” names have been registered, and over 22 thousand are being purchased every day. It means that you’re more likely to win the lottery than find a good domain name.
Owning a domain name that helps to successfully “magnetize” a flood of traffic is like gold to any online business. But the increasing scarcity of domain names that are memorable, short and suggestive have turned them into hot commodities. Look at some of the recent acquisitions in domain names:
business.com sold for $7.5 million
– asseenontv.com sold for $5 million
– altavista.com sold for $3.3 million
– loans.com sold for $3 million
– autos.com sold for $2.2 million
– wallstreet.com sold for $1.03 million
– forsalebyowner.com sold for $835,000
– drugs.com sold for $825,000
– cinema.com sold for $700,000
– art.com sold for $450,000
– engineering.org sold for $199,000
– fruits.com sold for $160,000
– perfect.com sold for $94,000
However, while some domains may have been sold for millions, corporate buyers backed by large bank accounts are not alone in the domain name game. Even entrepreneurs and speculators are making a good living in buying and selling domains.
Everyday, domain names are selling for as little as $100 or as much as $1 million on public auction sites. For example, eBay.com recently featured actual bids for as little as $500 for “golegs.com” to as much as $20,000 for “arlington.com” — and thousands more hovering anywhere in between.
Some individuals seem to know where to grab these “nuggets of gold.” In fact, a handful know about an untapped goldmine that lies discreetly tucked away in the dark corners of the Internet. And the awareness of this source has helped these “lucky” individuals generate either outrageous fortunes or outrageous levels of traffic for their website.
The goldmine to which I’m referring is the pool of expired domain names. While only a few people may be privy to its existence, it is nonetheless ballooning with every passing day. As much as tens of thousands of unclaimed, unrenewed and expired domain names become available on a daily basis.
An expired domain is one that was registered previously but wasn’t paid for in time for the renewal date, thus returning it to the pool of available domains. There are many reasons for non-renewal (e.g., the owner forgot, has lost interest in the venture, was no longer in business, was no longer reachable or just didn’t pay for it for whatever reason).
However, you may be asking, “Sure, but I’m never going to find good domain names let alone do so before someone else snatches them up.” For a long time, being “lucky” also meant being alert for the countless domains that become available, and being swift in registering them before anyone else does.
However, new tools are now available, making the process of searching, finding and registering great domain names a lot easier. In fact, some of them also help you to become aware of soon-to-expire domains, granting you an almost psychical edge over your competitors that allows you to snap up names just seconds after they’re actually dropped.
Nevertheless, a compelling domain name can help an online business become more visible, credible and accessible. And it can also help a person make a fortune. While finding one was very prohibitive, with the help of tools that are now at your disposal you can be a part of the gold rush, too.
© 2002 By Simon Grabowski, CEO of GetResponse.com
About the Author –
Simon Grabowski is the owner of many online businesses that generate close to a million dollars in annual online sales. His latest is the BizMint.com, a unique, sophisticated tool that helps you to explode your online business by searching and registering from millions of expired and soon-to-expire domain names. See http://www.bizmint.com/
Great domain names are becoming increasingly scarce. Close to 23 million “.com” names have been registered, and over 22 thousand are being purchased every day. It means that you’re more likely to win the lottery than find a good domain name.
Owning a domain name that helps to successfully “magnetize” a flood of traffic is like gold to any online business. But the increasing scarcity of domain names that are memorable, short and suggestive have turned them into hot commodities. Look at some of the recent acquisitions in domain names:
business.com sold for $7.5 million
– asseenontv.com sold for $5 million
– altavista.com sold for $3.3 million
– loans.com sold for $3 million
– autos.com sold for $2.2 million
– wallstreet.com sold for $1.03 million
– forsalebyowner.com sold for $835,000
– drugs.com sold for $825,000
– cinema.com sold for $700,000
– art.com sold for $450,000
– engineering.org sold for $199,000
– fruits.com sold for $160,000
– perfect.com sold for $94,000
However, while some domains may have been sold for millions, corporate buyers backed by large bank accounts are not alone in the domain name game. Even entrepreneurs and speculators are making a good living in buying and selling domains.
Everyday, domain names are selling for as little as $100 or as much as $1 million on public auction sites. For example, eBay.com recently featured actual bids for as little as $500 for “golegs.com” to as much as $20,000 for “arlington.com” — and thousands more hovering anywhere in between.
Some individuals seem to know where to grab these “nuggets of gold.” In fact, a handful know about an untapped goldmine that lies discreetly tucked away in the dark corners of the Internet. And the awareness of this source has helped these “lucky” individuals generate either outrageous fortunes or outrageous levels of traffic for their website.
The goldmine to which I’m referring is the pool of expired domain names. While only a few people may be privy to its existence, it is nonetheless ballooning with every passing day. As much as tens of thousands of unclaimed, unrenewed and expired domain names become available on a daily basis.
An expired domain is one that was registered previously but wasn’t paid for in time for the renewal date, thus returning it to the pool of available domains. There are many reasons for non-renewal (e.g., the owner forgot, has lost interest in the venture, was no longer in business, was no longer reachable or just didn’t pay for it for whatever reason).
However, you may be asking, “Sure, but I’m never going to find good domain names let alone do so before someone else snatches them up.” For a long time, being “lucky” also meant being alert for the countless domains that become available, and being swift in registering them before anyone else does.
However, new tools are now available, making the process of searching, finding and registering great domain names a lot easier. In fact, some of them also help you to become aware of soon-to-expire domains, granting you an almost psychical edge over your competitors that allows you to snap up names just seconds after they’re actually dropped.
Nevertheless, a compelling domain name can help an online business become more visible, credible and accessible. And it can also help a person make a fortune. While finding one was very prohibitive, with the help of tools that are now at your disposal you can be a part of the gold rush, too.
© 2002 By Simon Grabowski, CEO of GetResponse.com
About the Author –
Simon Grabowski is the owner of many online businesses that generate close to a million dollars in annual online sales. His latest is the BizMint.com, a unique, sophisticated tool that helps you to explode your online business by searching and registering from millions of expired and soon-to-expire domain names. See http://www.bizmint.com/
Beware Trademarked Names In Domains
Simon Grabowski
A warning about registering copyrighted domains
I'll make this section quick and to the point.
One thing you should never be tempted to do is register a domain name that contains a company name which isn't yours, especially when it comes to bigger companies. So don't even think of registering MicrosoftSoftware.com or McdonaldsHamburgers.com, because their legal departments will eat you alive. Literally.
In the early days of the net, there were a lot of "cybersquatters" who registered company domain names in the hope that they could bid them to massive companies and reap millions of dollars for their efforts.
Hundreds of court cases and thousands of dollars in legal expenses later, all that happened was the courts summoned the "little guy" to give up his trademarked name and literally give it away to the big companies.
So the warning is simply this. If you spot a hot domain that you think would bring a major company's purchasing department to its knees, resist the temptation. You'll go through much more hassle than it's worth.
To ensure that there won't be any copyright conflicts on the particular name, use a trademark search on any new domain. I personally use http://www.nameprotect.com.
Tread with caution... because if you launch a multi-million dollar venture on a domain that doesn't belong to you, you may end up giving it away.
A warning about registering copyrighted domains
I'll make this section quick and to the point.
One thing you should never be tempted to do is register a domain name that contains a company name which isn't yours, especially when it comes to bigger companies. So don't even think of registering MicrosoftSoftware.com or McdonaldsHamburgers.com, because their legal departments will eat you alive. Literally.
In the early days of the net, there were a lot of "cybersquatters" who registered company domain names in the hope that they could bid them to massive companies and reap millions of dollars for their efforts.
Hundreds of court cases and thousands of dollars in legal expenses later, all that happened was the courts summoned the "little guy" to give up his trademarked name and literally give it away to the big companies.
So the warning is simply this. If you spot a hot domain that you think would bring a major company's purchasing department to its knees, resist the temptation. You'll go through much more hassle than it's worth.
To ensure that there won't be any copyright conflicts on the particular name, use a trademark search on any new domain. I personally use http://www.nameprotect.com.
Tread with caution... because if you launch a multi-million dollar venture on a domain that doesn't belong to you, you may end up giving it away.
Trademarked Domain Name Disputes
Domain names are becoming "hot" property - as in *theft* for resale. More and more companies are finding they cannot get their trademarked names as a domain name because so few good names are left. But sometimes it's outright extortion as when a Fortune 500 company name is reserved by someone that has no intention of developing a site under the domain, but simply "parks" it somewhere and waits to be contacted by the big boys to purchase the name for astronomical fees.
A more lucrative market for domain names exists in short, memorable generic names like Loans.com or Homes.com which can apply to an entire industry as can be seen in recent news.
One of the lesser known and more frustrating issues is when a small business name or new product domain name is reserved by someone hoping to make a buck or two. Here's a question faced by small business owners getting started online.
"I've trademarked a name, but the domain name is taken, it was reserved by another company right after I registered my trademark. Do I have a legal right to the domain name?"
The following link is to a page titled "Domain Names, A Trademark Owner's Nightmare"
It discusses legal issues and cites two cases that have been taken to court over domain name hijacking.
People who do this may be doing it intentionally or innocently, but generally, you don't have a case unless you've got a long established use of the trademarked name and can prove that the registrant was intending to extort excessive fees from you in the hopes you'd buy the name back from them.
You can take it to court if you like, but it's not likely to do you any good unless you can prove that the registrant had the intent to squat on the name and not use it, hoping that you would be willing to pay excessively to get it back.
Still, the case may cost you more than it's worth.
This is an unresolved battle with more and more companies. Until laws are passed (not likely) there will be no way to protect a domain name other than being the first one to reserve it. You may have a case if they are harming your business in some way by the inappropriate use of that name. But if they are simply using for another purpose, you might consider selling them the trademark instead. ;-)
Contact the registrant of www.your-trademark.com to see who it is, there's a way to find the registered owner by going to this address and typing in the domain name.
If your domain name is already taken, search the WHOIS database to see who owns it!
It will return a registrant name, host name and the name servers. You might consider contacting them and simply explaining your trademark situation, your desire to own the name and then simply ask if they would consider a reasonable solution. Possibly something as simple as a suggestion that you'd like to avoid a court battle and make it worth their time to sell it to you by offering twice what they paid for it.
If they have not spent large sums developing a branding strategy for the name, they may be willing to give it up. If it's only few months old it may be possible that they haven't begun to develop their site or their strategy yet. You may be assuming the worst but then be confronted with a friendly and accomodating person willing to look for an equitable solution!
Good luck with your own names and trademarks!
A more lucrative market for domain names exists in short, memorable generic names like Loans.com or Homes.com which can apply to an entire industry as can be seen in recent news.
One of the lesser known and more frustrating issues is when a small business name or new product domain name is reserved by someone hoping to make a buck or two. Here's a question faced by small business owners getting started online.
"I've trademarked a name, but the domain name is taken, it was reserved by another company right after I registered my trademark. Do I have a legal right to the domain name?"
The following link is to a page titled "Domain Names, A Trademark Owner's Nightmare"
It discusses legal issues and cites two cases that have been taken to court over domain name hijacking.
People who do this may be doing it intentionally or innocently, but generally, you don't have a case unless you've got a long established use of the trademarked name and can prove that the registrant was intending to extort excessive fees from you in the hopes you'd buy the name back from them.
You can take it to court if you like, but it's not likely to do you any good unless you can prove that the registrant had the intent to squat on the name and not use it, hoping that you would be willing to pay excessively to get it back.
Still, the case may cost you more than it's worth.
This is an unresolved battle with more and more companies. Until laws are passed (not likely) there will be no way to protect a domain name other than being the first one to reserve it. You may have a case if they are harming your business in some way by the inappropriate use of that name. But if they are simply using for another purpose, you might consider selling them the trademark instead. ;-)
Contact the registrant of www.your-trademark.com to see who it is, there's a way to find the registered owner by going to this address and typing in the domain name.
If your domain name is already taken, search the WHOIS database to see who owns it!
It will return a registrant name, host name and the name servers. You might consider contacting them and simply explaining your trademark situation, your desire to own the name and then simply ask if they would consider a reasonable solution. Possibly something as simple as a suggestion that you'd like to avoid a court battle and make it worth their time to sell it to you by offering twice what they paid for it.
If they have not spent large sums developing a branding strategy for the name, they may be willing to give it up. If it's only few months old it may be possible that they haven't begun to develop their site or their strategy yet. You may be assuming the worst but then be confronted with a friendly and accomodating person willing to look for an equitable solution!
Good luck with your own names and trademarks!
How to Change Domain Name Registrar How to Transfer a Domain Name
Are you getting the service that you require from your domain registrar? Actually, thinking about it for a minute, it might be a better question to ask, do you even know what services are available? Are you aware that you can shop around and get better prices, more features and far better customer service?
Guess what? All domain registrars are not the same.
Okay, let’s back up a minute. Way back when the internet was young (maybe 5 years ago) all domain names were handled by Network Solutions, Inc. In those dark, evil days you had no choice. It didn’t matter what you thought of the process, it was unimportant that you were not getting service and the price, well, was a standard high fee.
A few years ago the government decided that Network Solutions would no longer be a monopoly. The government wanted to do this to deregulate the industry and encourage competition, and also perhaps to spur a little bit of growth into this thing called the internet.
Okay, so now you do have a choice. In fact, there are well over a hundred different domain registrars at last count. They seem to be springing up all over the place, and the level of support and service, as well as the price, seems to vary greatly.
You may not know it, but you can change domain registrars at any time. It’s actually not very complicated at all.
Here are some of the questions that you may have regarding domain transfers.
How much does it cost?
It depends upon the domain registrar. I have found that many will transfer your domain for no cost to get your business. Others will charge a few dollars ($5 to $20 or more), but will drop the fee if you extend your domain for a couple of years. Shop around and find a good deal.
What are the advantages of transferring?
You may not like the domain registrar you are currently using – perhaps they have poor support or cost too much. You can shop around and find the best solution for your needs.
Remember, though, that if you are like most people, domain registration is something you will not do very often, so perhaps customer support is not all that important.
What are the disadvantages?
Transferring a domain can be confusing. Also, there is no guarantee that the new registrar will be any better than the old one. Again, remember that domain registration is not something that you should need to deal with very often (if you are like most people) so it may not be worth the effort to change.
Can any domain be transferred?
Yes, any domain registered with any registrar may be transferred to any other registrar.
What does a registrar do?
The registrar manages your domain name. They maintain security and the structures that make the domain work.
Does changing registrars have any effect on ownership?
No. When you change registrars you are only changing managers. You still retain ownership.
Are there reasons why a domain may not be transferred?
Yes. Some of these are listed below.
- The domain name is in a legal dispute of some kind.
- The identity of the domain name holder is in dispute or unknown.
- The domain name holder is in bankruptcy.
- The domain has only been with the registrar for 60 days.
- The registrar refuses to transfer for other reasons.
How is a domain transferred?
This varies from registrar to registrar. Some require a notarized form to be delivered to them, others can do it using a web site form. How long does the process take?
The registrar will usually take five to ten days to review and validate the request. Once it has been validated and put into action, it will take a couple of days for the change to filter through the internet.
Will the web site associated with the domain be accessible during the change?
Yes. This normally does not effect access to your web site. The registrar is changed, not the web site address and other information.
Guess what? All domain registrars are not the same.
Okay, let’s back up a minute. Way back when the internet was young (maybe 5 years ago) all domain names were handled by Network Solutions, Inc. In those dark, evil days you had no choice. It didn’t matter what you thought of the process, it was unimportant that you were not getting service and the price, well, was a standard high fee.
A few years ago the government decided that Network Solutions would no longer be a monopoly. The government wanted to do this to deregulate the industry and encourage competition, and also perhaps to spur a little bit of growth into this thing called the internet.
Okay, so now you do have a choice. In fact, there are well over a hundred different domain registrars at last count. They seem to be springing up all over the place, and the level of support and service, as well as the price, seems to vary greatly.
You may not know it, but you can change domain registrars at any time. It’s actually not very complicated at all.
Here are some of the questions that you may have regarding domain transfers.
How much does it cost?
It depends upon the domain registrar. I have found that many will transfer your domain for no cost to get your business. Others will charge a few dollars ($5 to $20 or more), but will drop the fee if you extend your domain for a couple of years. Shop around and find a good deal.
What are the advantages of transferring?
You may not like the domain registrar you are currently using – perhaps they have poor support or cost too much. You can shop around and find the best solution for your needs.
Remember, though, that if you are like most people, domain registration is something you will not do very often, so perhaps customer support is not all that important.
What are the disadvantages?
Transferring a domain can be confusing. Also, there is no guarantee that the new registrar will be any better than the old one. Again, remember that domain registration is not something that you should need to deal with very often (if you are like most people) so it may not be worth the effort to change.
Can any domain be transferred?
Yes, any domain registered with any registrar may be transferred to any other registrar.
What does a registrar do?
The registrar manages your domain name. They maintain security and the structures that make the domain work.
Does changing registrars have any effect on ownership?
No. When you change registrars you are only changing managers. You still retain ownership.
Are there reasons why a domain may not be transferred?
Yes. Some of these are listed below.
- The domain name is in a legal dispute of some kind.
- The identity of the domain name holder is in dispute or unknown.
- The domain name holder is in bankruptcy.
- The domain has only been with the registrar for 60 days.
- The registrar refuses to transfer for other reasons.
How is a domain transferred?
This varies from registrar to registrar. Some require a notarized form to be delivered to them, others can do it using a web site form. How long does the process take?
The registrar will usually take five to ten days to review and validate the request. Once it has been validated and put into action, it will take a couple of days for the change to filter through the internet.
Will the web site associated with the domain be accessible during the change?
Yes. This normally does not effect access to your web site. The registrar is changed, not the web site address and other information.
1-800-Get Rich Can Toll Free Number Domains Pay Off
1-800-Get-Rich Can Toll Free 800 Number Domains Pay Off?
Copyright by Mike Banks Valentine ©
The toll free number 1-800-Get-Rich belongs to the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Perfect vanity number for a casino, right? Well apparently not. Their website shows the actual numbers, 1-800-438-7424 for the marketing department of Resorts Atlantic City. Those NUMBERS are nowhere near as memorable as is the mnemonic device of letters representing those numbers on the telephone keypad. It makes you wonder, did the casino have bad luck (no pun intended) or receive bad publicity for their 800-Get-Rich phone number?
Doing a Google search for 1-800-GET-RICH returns several spoof articles using the toll free number to make light of get rich quick schemes. Seems as well suited to a casino as to satire, since gambling represents the ultimate get rich quick scheme.
But on the web there’s a another element to toll free numbers you must consider. 800 numbers are used as domain names which seem to stick in our memory as a web address just as well as a phone number. Resorts Atlantic City Hotel Casino should buy the domain name www.1800getrich.com and assign that marketing department toll free 800 vanity number to the Casino.
The domain name is for sale as of this writing if you visit that web address. You can be certain that the current domain owner knows that the toll free vanity telephone number is owned by Resorts International Hotels www.resortsac.com which matches the domain www.1800getrich.com. It has to be enticing to think a large corporation may want his domain.
The casino owns the toll free number but isn’t using the mnemonic for it. Makes you wonder about the history of the domain name, since WHOIS records show it was reserved only this past May of 2004, AND the history of the vanity number since it is going unused, at least on the web site. Hmmmm…
There are vanity phone number resellers online that actually specialize in providing 800 numbers with matching domain name for those seeking the consistent branding for their business. Clearly this is simply a marketing ploy by savvy 800 number vendors, as those domains may be full of hyphens and may cost more than they should due to the perception of value-added.
An interesting aspect to toll free numbers as domain names is that of 1-800 copyright and trademarks. Take for example, the well known flower retailer 1-800-FLOWERS.com where they use both the domain name and the toll free number. Both are copy- righted and trademarked names and essential to the business.
Legal precedent allows trademark owners to confiscate domains from “cybersquatters” who buy domain names containing trade- marked or copyrighted words and phrases hoping to sell that domain back to the trademark holder. But it is less clear an issue when it comes to descriptive toll free and vanity phone numbers. How about 1-800-PINDROP.com – which you would think would be registered to Sprint Communications? Curiously, as of October of 2004, this domain was available. What do they use? www.pindrop.com (without the 800) goes to Sprint.com.
It appears there are wide inconsistencies in using toll free 800 phone numbers as domain names but they can be memorable, which is one measure of a good domain name. They also aren’t limiting as to word length. I’ve always felt it’s a bit odd to type in 1800keywordphrase.com as a domain name, but only because there is no hyphen in it. 1800 looks like eighteen hundred and is just as strange as typing 247 for domains as a suggestion they are always open, more often seen as 24/7, but domain names can’t have that slash mark in them.
As a matter of fact, I’ve always disliked numbers of any kind in domain names – especially those using numbers in place of the words “to” (up2me.com)& “for” (good4you.com) But, as owner of http://website101.com I’m at odds with the dislike for numbers in domain names. Still, it works better than 1800website.com or 1-800-website.com, both owned by Verio Web Hosting and both purchased in August of 1996, but neither have web sites configured at those addresses. They must not have been a worthwhile domains, yet they keep them.
If it offers you another option for a memorable web address, 800 number domains may be worth considering.
Mike Valentine operates WebSite101 domain name tutorial http://WebSite101.com/domain_name/ Free domain lookup tool to find out who owns domain names at How to Find your Domain Registrar
Copyright by Mike Banks Valentine ©
The toll free number 1-800-Get-Rich belongs to the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Perfect vanity number for a casino, right? Well apparently not. Their website shows the actual numbers, 1-800-438-7424 for the marketing department of Resorts Atlantic City. Those NUMBERS are nowhere near as memorable as is the mnemonic device of letters representing those numbers on the telephone keypad. It makes you wonder, did the casino have bad luck (no pun intended) or receive bad publicity for their 800-Get-Rich phone number?
Doing a Google search for 1-800-GET-RICH returns several spoof articles using the toll free number to make light of get rich quick schemes. Seems as well suited to a casino as to satire, since gambling represents the ultimate get rich quick scheme.
But on the web there’s a another element to toll free numbers you must consider. 800 numbers are used as domain names which seem to stick in our memory as a web address just as well as a phone number. Resorts Atlantic City Hotel Casino should buy the domain name www.1800getrich.com and assign that marketing department toll free 800 vanity number to the Casino.
The domain name is for sale as of this writing if you visit that web address. You can be certain that the current domain owner knows that the toll free vanity telephone number is owned by Resorts International Hotels www.resortsac.com which matches the domain www.1800getrich.com. It has to be enticing to think a large corporation may want his domain.
The casino owns the toll free number but isn’t using the mnemonic for it. Makes you wonder about the history of the domain name, since WHOIS records show it was reserved only this past May of 2004, AND the history of the vanity number since it is going unused, at least on the web site. Hmmmm…
There are vanity phone number resellers online that actually specialize in providing 800 numbers with matching domain name for those seeking the consistent branding for their business. Clearly this is simply a marketing ploy by savvy 800 number vendors, as those domains may be full of hyphens and may cost more than they should due to the perception of value-added.
An interesting aspect to toll free numbers as domain names is that of 1-800 copyright and trademarks. Take for example, the well known flower retailer 1-800-FLOWERS.com where they use both the domain name and the toll free number. Both are copy- righted and trademarked names and essential to the business.
Legal precedent allows trademark owners to confiscate domains from “cybersquatters” who buy domain names containing trade- marked or copyrighted words and phrases hoping to sell that domain back to the trademark holder. But it is less clear an issue when it comes to descriptive toll free and vanity phone numbers. How about 1-800-PINDROP.com – which you would think would be registered to Sprint Communications? Curiously, as of October of 2004, this domain was available. What do they use? www.pindrop.com (without the 800) goes to Sprint.com.
It appears there are wide inconsistencies in using toll free 800 phone numbers as domain names but they can be memorable, which is one measure of a good domain name. They also aren’t limiting as to word length. I’ve always felt it’s a bit odd to type in 1800keywordphrase.com as a domain name, but only because there is no hyphen in it. 1800 looks like eighteen hundred and is just as strange as typing 247 for domains as a suggestion they are always open, more often seen as 24/7, but domain names can’t have that slash mark in them.
As a matter of fact, I’ve always disliked numbers of any kind in domain names – especially those using numbers in place of the words “to” (up2me.com)& “for” (good4you.com) But, as owner of http://website101.com I’m at odds with the dislike for numbers in domain names. Still, it works better than 1800website.com or 1-800-website.com, both owned by Verio Web Hosting and both purchased in August of 1996, but neither have web sites configured at those addresses. They must not have been a worthwhile domains, yet they keep them.
If it offers you another option for a memorable web address, 800 number domains may be worth considering.
Mike Valentine operates WebSite101 domain name tutorial http://WebSite101.com/domain_name/ Free domain lookup tool to find out who owns domain names at How to Find your Domain Registrar
To Be Or Not To Be, That’s Domain Question
To Be or Not To Be, The Domain Question
adaptation by Mike Banks Valentine
with apologies to Shakespeare
To be, or not to be: that is Domain question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of slow, free hosting,
Or to take arms against a sea of wannabees,
And by opposing, end them. To search: to seek;
No more; and, by anonymity to say we end
The heartache of a million useless search results
That eBiz is heir to, ’tis a relevancy
Devoutly to be earn’d. To look; to seek;
To find? perchance to link! Ay, there’s the URL;
For in search fatigue domain names may come,
When we’ve shuffl’d off this long URL,
Must give us pause. There’s the address
That takes gigabytes for so long a name.
For who would bear the tilde and subdirectory,
The competitor’s URL, the name so catchy
The pangs of taken domains, the listing delay,
The insolence of Yahoo, and the spurns
That patient merit of unworthy MySpace,
When he himself might his IPO make
Without Domain name? Who would Google bear,
To grunt through subdirectories and filenames,
But the dread of something after backslash,
The undiscovered Facebook pagefrom whose URL
No surfer returns, puzzles the will
And make us rather bear those URLs we have
Than buy the others that are already taken?
Thus creativity does make cowards of us all;
And thus rush’d to registration of a name
We worry o’er lowly cost of reserving,
And enterprises of great riches and power
With this regard our clients turn away,
And lose the name of action.com
adaptation by Mike Banks Valentine
with apologies to Shakespeare
To be, or not to be: that is Domain question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of slow, free hosting,
Or to take arms against a sea of wannabees,
And by opposing, end them. To search: to seek;
No more; and, by anonymity to say we end
The heartache of a million useless search results
That eBiz is heir to, ’tis a relevancy
Devoutly to be earn’d. To look; to seek;
To find? perchance to link! Ay, there’s the URL;
For in search fatigue domain names may come,
When we’ve shuffl’d off this long URL,
Must give us pause. There’s the address
That takes gigabytes for so long a name.
For who would bear the tilde and subdirectory,
The competitor’s URL, the name so catchy
The pangs of taken domains, the listing delay,
The insolence of Yahoo, and the spurns
That patient merit of unworthy MySpace,
When he himself might his IPO make
Without Domain name? Who would Google bear,
To grunt through subdirectories and filenames,
But the dread of something after backslash,
The undiscovered Facebook pagefrom whose URL
No surfer returns, puzzles the will
And make us rather bear those URLs we have
Than buy the others that are already taken?
Thus creativity does make cowards of us all;
And thus rush’d to registration of a name
We worry o’er lowly cost of reserving,
And enterprises of great riches and power
With this regard our clients turn away,
And lose the name of action.com
Choosing a Great Domain Name
In my business development consulting practice, I teach others about the tremendous importance of communicating credibility. To a prospect that is receiving your marketing materials for the first time, your company may have little or no believability because you may well be totally unknown to your prospect. Along with the increasing population of new online businesses, the hypercompetitive nature of the Internet will make credibility an even more important issue.
One of John Naisbitt's "Megatrends" in his extraordinary book of the same name is the fact that our society is edging towards the "hi-tech/hi-touch." In other words, the fact that we are advancing technologically and the business process is fast becoming almost entirely automated will parallel the need for a more human approach in the business process.
Today, we see that need being filled more and more through niche marketing, personalized services, customer service, and specialization. And due to the lack of human interaction on the Internet, building relationships with your prospects will, as time goes on, become an element of greater importance in the success of any online business.
IT ALL STARTS WITH IMAGE There are many ways to build credibility, namely through the use of testimonials and guarantees. These may be the final steps in getting many stubborn prospects to commit to your product. But the first step, however, is sometimes the most obvious -- and that's the image you project, for it is the first thing that is perceived by your prospects and the first step in building relationships with them. Although your goal may be to put your business on auto-pilot, you must always remember that you are dealing with real people. There are many fly-by-night businesses and get-rich-quick schemes on the Internet, so anything "new" to today's skeptical prospect will likely be questionable in the very least.
Therefore, your marketing strategy must also include branding your Web site, which is just as important as branding your company or product. When I started online 3 years ago, I began with a free host and a free e-mail account. I didn't see the need to invest in my own domain, having an already profitable offline business at the time. But little did I know, however, that the lack of credibility they projected was to a great extent the reason for many lost sales. Today, as a result of simply branding my site, http://successdoctor.com is generating far more unique visitors and sales per capita.
The reason for this is manifold. In today's world, we are constantly inundated with marketing messages. In his new book The New Positioning, Jack Trout states that a child in the UK will have seen over 140,000 TV commercials by the time he or she reaches 18 years of age -- and the US "is just warming up." The Internet is surely no different. It's literally filled with Web sites that range from sheer advertisements to others that are sponsored by them. Everywhere we turn, it seems, we are faced with some form of online promotional propaganda.
Our job as consumers has therefore become so immensely challenging that choosing a business from which to buy has become a dizzying process. For an online business to survive and thrive in today's hypercompetitive marketplace, it takes more than mere advertising to make a Web site successful (the kind of advertising that says "I'm open for business"). As marketing guru Dan Kennedy once said, "Institutional marketing is high-risk marketing," for the message needs to be repeatedly advertised in order to work -- if it ever does.
BECOME A TRAFFIC MAGNET Although advertising is the lifeblood of any business, today's marketing message must therefore stand out among the commercial quagmire. And it must also do so in such a way that it creates not only traffic but also a need for its products or services. In other words, a company's advertising message must go from being "in" business to being "the" business of choice. Where people used to ask "Why should I buy this product or service?" today, that question has changed to "Why should I buy this product or service FROM YOUR SITE?"
Simply put, today's consumer will choose one company over another because the perceived value in their choice is greater. However, people are given an increasing multitude of choices on the Internet. Moreover, they no longer have the time to sift through all the information that is thrown at them (let alone the time to shop around for the best product from the best company at the best price). So, how can a company communicate that its Web site is "the" site of choice? How can it heigthen the perceived value in what they have to offer and stand above the competition?
Ellis Verdi, the once president of the "National Retail Advertisers Council," coined the term "top-of-mind awareness" as the most effectively provocative form of marketing now available. The idea is to create, within the subconscious minds of prospects, a psychological "anchor" that causes people to choose, when a need presents itself, a company over another instantaneously. The goal, therefore, is to market one's site in specific ways so that it stays at the top of their minds at all times.
In other words, since people no longer have the time to shop around, when they do have a certain need they will go to (or search for) the site that happens to be at the top of their minds at that very moment; the one that sticks out the most, especially from all the marketing messages that are so desperately fighting for their attention. Consequently, top-of-mind awareness on the Internet begins with the most important element of Web site marketing, which is the domain name itself.
ELEMENTS OF A GOOD DOMAIN NAME First, realize that a "good" domain name that sticks in the mind requires more than simply using a fictitious vanity name. However, it is imperative to note at this point that registered names have the ability to stick in the mind more effectively. Jack Trout once wrote that "The mind hates confusion, complexity, and change." Therefore, simplicity is of colossal importance since long or obscure URLs can be easily forgotten.
For example, rather than having a name with too many words, such as http://www.domain.com/subdomain/yourname/~subfolder or http://names-with-too-many-hyphens.com, you should get a very simple http://www.yourname.com. In fact, more and more companies and commercials are dropping the "www" from their URLs. Most Internet addresses can simply use "yourname.com," which is an even better alternative. In essence, the simpler it is, the better.
The importance of having your own domain name goes without explanation. It is the same as branding your business or product. But there are 3 reasons why you need a good, simple, and memorable domain name. First, there is the mnemonic factor. Instead of going through the inconvenience of numerous search engine results to get exactly what they want, most people will attempt to go to your site directly by guessing your domain name and typing a plausible URL in their browsers.
Mnemonics are words (or a combination of words) that are easy to remember. A repeatedly visited Web site is one whose URL, for example, includes the use of mnemonics. If it sticks in the mind, even if the URL is bookmarked, the site can be easily retrieved and will be visited often. "Yahoo!" http://yahoo.com, "HotBot" http://hotbot.com, and Time Magazine's "Time" http://time.com are perfect examples of mnemonics at work.
The second element is the credibility factor. People often associate long URLs with free Web sites or sites of lesser quality. People have a natural tendency to make what I call UPAs (or unconscious paralleled assumptions). In other words, if people notice that your site is hosted by a free or cheap provider, they will unconsciously assume that a parallel exists (i.e., that your product or service is just as cheap). Your domain name is like the headline of an article, and people will likely judge and visit your site according to its domain name.
Always remember that perceived truth is more powerful than truth itself. And a vanity domain name tends to heighten the perception of the Web site's value. As such, the UPA visitors will make with a domain name will often be one in which they conclude that the quality of the Web site will be as good as the name implies.
Finally, the third reason is the the actual positioning process. If your domain name reflects your site's core benefit and instantly communicates how different you are from others, your URL will be positioned above the competition in the minds of your market. Since this element is the most important, let's deal with it a little further.
BENEFIT-BASED DOMAIN NAMES People usually make a buying decision based on the kind of information that instantly communicates a specific benefit; one in which there is an implicit added value in making the purchase. Therefore, does your domain name intrinsically reflect the result or benefit of that which you provide and does so in an instant? It should. I am astounded to see many domain names that are still called by ordinary or blatantly unappealing names, such as with hard-to-spell words, numbers, abbreviations, or acronyms like "www.mgf.com."
Let's take the example of two different Web sites that promote similar products: Investments. One's address is "wealthwise.com" while the other "mgf-investments.com." Now, with all things being equal and when placed side-by-side, which site will be the one more likely to be chosen first? In essence, your domain name must be able to drive traffic to your site on its very own. It must also communicate how different and unique you are when compared to competitor sites, even before your site is ever visited.
As mentioned previously, people would far more want to skip the inconvenience of going through numerous search engine results. But if people do have to resort to an engine, their search will be greatly simplified and vastly more efficient if your domain name intrinsically reflects the core benefit if not the nature of your Web site. Remember that most searches are conducted by major topics or themes and not by names. Therefore, if your site's most popular keyword or benefit is within the domain name itself, that URL has greater chances of being in one of the top search engine results.
Therefore, play a word association game with your Web site. Look for the word or words that would instantly pop up in the minds of people when a need presents itself, a need your site likely fills. For example, http://free-stuff.com, http://allergyrelief.com, http://morebusiness.com, and http://fastcar.com are great benefit-based domain names that effectively create more top-of-mind awareness (and thus more traffic).
DOMAIN NAMES THAT DRIVE TRAFFIC If the name you want is taken, then you can use your company or product's tagline (or part of it) as a domain name. A tagline is that small sentence that follows your business name, such as "You deserve a break today," "Roaches check in but they don't check out," and "It takes a licking but keeps on ticking." Great examples are http://www.alwayscocacola.com (a loyal Coca-Cola® fan site), http://www.cavities.com (Crest® toothpaste), and, of course, "http://start.com" from Microsoft®.
You can also use the site's main theme, feature, or product, even the site's nature or main business activity (i.e., what it does). Ultimately, choose a name that people can remember quickly and effectively so that, when you advertise among a thousand of your competitors, your URL stands out and sticks in the minds of the marketplace.
It is also a good practice to register variations of your name, including different spellings, product names, taglines, and associated words. One of the reasons for this is to ensure that these unused domain names don't end up falling into the hands of competitors. But more important, when people attempt to search for your site and enter a variation of your domain name they will still end up with your site as a result.
It all boils down to the fact that your domain name is a fundamental marketing system in itself. Use it wisely and you'll see your traffic counter soar.
One of John Naisbitt's "Megatrends" in his extraordinary book of the same name is the fact that our society is edging towards the "hi-tech/hi-touch." In other words, the fact that we are advancing technologically and the business process is fast becoming almost entirely automated will parallel the need for a more human approach in the business process.
Today, we see that need being filled more and more through niche marketing, personalized services, customer service, and specialization. And due to the lack of human interaction on the Internet, building relationships with your prospects will, as time goes on, become an element of greater importance in the success of any online business.
IT ALL STARTS WITH IMAGE There are many ways to build credibility, namely through the use of testimonials and guarantees. These may be the final steps in getting many stubborn prospects to commit to your product. But the first step, however, is sometimes the most obvious -- and that's the image you project, for it is the first thing that is perceived by your prospects and the first step in building relationships with them. Although your goal may be to put your business on auto-pilot, you must always remember that you are dealing with real people. There are many fly-by-night businesses and get-rich-quick schemes on the Internet, so anything "new" to today's skeptical prospect will likely be questionable in the very least.
Therefore, your marketing strategy must also include branding your Web site, which is just as important as branding your company or product. When I started online 3 years ago, I began with a free host and a free e-mail account. I didn't see the need to invest in my own domain, having an already profitable offline business at the time. But little did I know, however, that the lack of credibility they projected was to a great extent the reason for many lost sales. Today, as a result of simply branding my site, http://successdoctor.com is generating far more unique visitors and sales per capita.
The reason for this is manifold. In today's world, we are constantly inundated with marketing messages. In his new book The New Positioning, Jack Trout states that a child in the UK will have seen over 140,000 TV commercials by the time he or she reaches 18 years of age -- and the US "is just warming up." The Internet is surely no different. It's literally filled with Web sites that range from sheer advertisements to others that are sponsored by them. Everywhere we turn, it seems, we are faced with some form of online promotional propaganda.
Our job as consumers has therefore become so immensely challenging that choosing a business from which to buy has become a dizzying process. For an online business to survive and thrive in today's hypercompetitive marketplace, it takes more than mere advertising to make a Web site successful (the kind of advertising that says "I'm open for business"). As marketing guru Dan Kennedy once said, "Institutional marketing is high-risk marketing," for the message needs to be repeatedly advertised in order to work -- if it ever does.
BECOME A TRAFFIC MAGNET Although advertising is the lifeblood of any business, today's marketing message must therefore stand out among the commercial quagmire. And it must also do so in such a way that it creates not only traffic but also a need for its products or services. In other words, a company's advertising message must go from being "in" business to being "the" business of choice. Where people used to ask "Why should I buy this product or service?" today, that question has changed to "Why should I buy this product or service FROM YOUR SITE?"
Simply put, today's consumer will choose one company over another because the perceived value in their choice is greater. However, people are given an increasing multitude of choices on the Internet. Moreover, they no longer have the time to sift through all the information that is thrown at them (let alone the time to shop around for the best product from the best company at the best price). So, how can a company communicate that its Web site is "the" site of choice? How can it heigthen the perceived value in what they have to offer and stand above the competition?
Ellis Verdi, the once president of the "National Retail Advertisers Council," coined the term "top-of-mind awareness" as the most effectively provocative form of marketing now available. The idea is to create, within the subconscious minds of prospects, a psychological "anchor" that causes people to choose, when a need presents itself, a company over another instantaneously. The goal, therefore, is to market one's site in specific ways so that it stays at the top of their minds at all times.
In other words, since people no longer have the time to shop around, when they do have a certain need they will go to (or search for) the site that happens to be at the top of their minds at that very moment; the one that sticks out the most, especially from all the marketing messages that are so desperately fighting for their attention. Consequently, top-of-mind awareness on the Internet begins with the most important element of Web site marketing, which is the domain name itself.
ELEMENTS OF A GOOD DOMAIN NAME First, realize that a "good" domain name that sticks in the mind requires more than simply using a fictitious vanity name. However, it is imperative to note at this point that registered names have the ability to stick in the mind more effectively. Jack Trout once wrote that "The mind hates confusion, complexity, and change." Therefore, simplicity is of colossal importance since long or obscure URLs can be easily forgotten.
For example, rather than having a name with too many words, such as http://www.domain.com/subdomain/yourname/~subfolder or http://names-with-too-many-hyphens.com, you should get a very simple http://www.yourname.com. In fact, more and more companies and commercials are dropping the "www" from their URLs. Most Internet addresses can simply use "yourname.com," which is an even better alternative. In essence, the simpler it is, the better.
The importance of having your own domain name goes without explanation. It is the same as branding your business or product. But there are 3 reasons why you need a good, simple, and memorable domain name. First, there is the mnemonic factor. Instead of going through the inconvenience of numerous search engine results to get exactly what they want, most people will attempt to go to your site directly by guessing your domain name and typing a plausible URL in their browsers.
Mnemonics are words (or a combination of words) that are easy to remember. A repeatedly visited Web site is one whose URL, for example, includes the use of mnemonics. If it sticks in the mind, even if the URL is bookmarked, the site can be easily retrieved and will be visited often. "Yahoo!" http://yahoo.com, "HotBot" http://hotbot.com, and Time Magazine's "Time" http://time.com are perfect examples of mnemonics at work.
The second element is the credibility factor. People often associate long URLs with free Web sites or sites of lesser quality. People have a natural tendency to make what I call UPAs (or unconscious paralleled assumptions). In other words, if people notice that your site is hosted by a free or cheap provider, they will unconsciously assume that a parallel exists (i.e., that your product or service is just as cheap). Your domain name is like the headline of an article, and people will likely judge and visit your site according to its domain name.
Always remember that perceived truth is more powerful than truth itself. And a vanity domain name tends to heighten the perception of the Web site's value. As such, the UPA visitors will make with a domain name will often be one in which they conclude that the quality of the Web site will be as good as the name implies.
Finally, the third reason is the the actual positioning process. If your domain name reflects your site's core benefit and instantly communicates how different you are from others, your URL will be positioned above the competition in the minds of your market. Since this element is the most important, let's deal with it a little further.
BENEFIT-BASED DOMAIN NAMES People usually make a buying decision based on the kind of information that instantly communicates a specific benefit; one in which there is an implicit added value in making the purchase. Therefore, does your domain name intrinsically reflect the result or benefit of that which you provide and does so in an instant? It should. I am astounded to see many domain names that are still called by ordinary or blatantly unappealing names, such as with hard-to-spell words, numbers, abbreviations, or acronyms like "www.mgf.com."
Let's take the example of two different Web sites that promote similar products: Investments. One's address is "wealthwise.com" while the other "mgf-investments.com." Now, with all things being equal and when placed side-by-side, which site will be the one more likely to be chosen first? In essence, your domain name must be able to drive traffic to your site on its very own. It must also communicate how different and unique you are when compared to competitor sites, even before your site is ever visited.
As mentioned previously, people would far more want to skip the inconvenience of going through numerous search engine results. But if people do have to resort to an engine, their search will be greatly simplified and vastly more efficient if your domain name intrinsically reflects the core benefit if not the nature of your Web site. Remember that most searches are conducted by major topics or themes and not by names. Therefore, if your site's most popular keyword or benefit is within the domain name itself, that URL has greater chances of being in one of the top search engine results.
Therefore, play a word association game with your Web site. Look for the word or words that would instantly pop up in the minds of people when a need presents itself, a need your site likely fills. For example, http://free-stuff.com, http://allergyrelief.com, http://morebusiness.com, and http://fastcar.com are great benefit-based domain names that effectively create more top-of-mind awareness (and thus more traffic).
DOMAIN NAMES THAT DRIVE TRAFFIC If the name you want is taken, then you can use your company or product's tagline (or part of it) as a domain name. A tagline is that small sentence that follows your business name, such as "You deserve a break today," "Roaches check in but they don't check out," and "It takes a licking but keeps on ticking." Great examples are http://www.alwayscocacola.com (a loyal Coca-Cola® fan site), http://www.cavities.com (Crest® toothpaste), and, of course, "http://start.com" from Microsoft®.
You can also use the site's main theme, feature, or product, even the site's nature or main business activity (i.e., what it does). Ultimately, choose a name that people can remember quickly and effectively so that, when you advertise among a thousand of your competitors, your URL stands out and sticks in the minds of the marketplace.
It is also a good practice to register variations of your name, including different spellings, product names, taglines, and associated words. One of the reasons for this is to ensure that these unused domain names don't end up falling into the hands of competitors. But more important, when people attempt to search for your site and enter a variation of your domain name they will still end up with your site as a result.
It all boils down to the fact that your domain name is a fundamental marketing system in itself. Use it wisely and you'll see your traffic counter soar.
Domain Names Top Search Engines as Traffic Source
Domain Names Top Search Engines as Traffic Source
by Keith Pieper
When it comes to getting people to your web site, you’ve probably relied on search engine optimization as the Holy Grail. No doubt, search engines are the number one way people find web sites. But “guessing a URL” (otherwise known as direct navigation) may be tied as the most popular way people find web sites, according to a recent study by Internet marketing powerhouse DoubleClick and data from WebSideStory’s StatMarket, makers of the popular HitBox tracking service.
Ways Web Sites Are Found StatMarket (2/3/03) DoubleClick (3/03)
Direct Navigation/
Guessed URL 64.43% 28%
Search Engines
35.55% 41%
DoubleClick and Grey Interactive asked “how users find web sites they use to research a purchase”. StatMarket defines “direct navigation” as typing a URL into the address bar or using bookmarks while “search engines” may include finding a site through a search engine, banner ad or other links. According to StatMarket, the trend is towards direct navigation, as this method has grown in popularity from 48.2 percent in 2001 to 64.43 percent in 2003.
In addition, if you’re in the automotive or entertainment business, people find websites through direct navigation or guessing the URL more often than through a search engine or any other method (DoubleClick, 2003).
Compared to Search Engines
A strategically crafted domain name strategy can reward you with a very low cost traffic source. After all, you pay one annual fee for each domain name regardless of how much traffic it generates. Many search engines charge by the click. And with domain names, you have no competition for the top spot, need to optimize listings or even getting listed – you own the name, so all traffic to that name is your captive audience. And if your domain name generates quality traffic that brings in sales or leads, the renewal price of the domain name doesn’t change. Whereas with quality keyword positions in a search engine, prices can go sky high – up to $42 per click in some cases. A good domain name is the gift that keeps on giving.
Crafting a Domain Name Traffic Strategy
Regardless of how the numbers and methodologies pair up, it appears that having a good domain name may no longer enough. Even more, having one domain name may no longer enough.
Aside from your own primary web site domain name, purchase your primary keywords as domain names (if available). Then check your web site referrer stats or logs to find other keywords that people might use to find your site – purchase those keywords as domain names. While most of us have budgets, limit any domain purchases to “.com”, as this is the most common extension users will type into a browser when “guessing a URL.” If your budget permits, there are more opportunities beyond this core of domains.
Identify any industry terms, product terms or names, product categories, or any other keywords that relate to your product that people might use to find your site. Wordtracker is an excellent source for culling through frequently used search terms. Take all of your terms and brainstorm possible misspellings or typos and buy those domains. Some software products like MisspelledDomains can do this for you. Finally, and of least importance, if your budget permits, purchase additional domain extensions. There are hundreds of extensions to choose from, but the most popular non-com extensions are net, org, us, info and biz.
Point, Track & Optimize
To activate your domain name, simply redirect the domain name to a targeted splash page, relevant product page or your home page. Redirecting can usually be configured at the domain name registrar you purchased the names. DirectNIC is my choice, making domain redirects an easy task.
For more advanced marketers, you may want to track your results and optimize the campaign with something like HitBox or HyperTracker (if your current tracking solution does not provide the needed data). Simply configure a unique campaign for each domain name, with the campaign pointing to your splash or home page. Ensure your domain name is redirected at the registrar to the special URL provided by the tracking service. Optionally, you can create unique splash pages for each campaign, perhaps selling a product, then track the success of each domain at converting visitors to buyers.
After everything is set up, wait. Traffic will start to flow. If you are tracking sales or conversions through a special splash page, you can optimize this as soon as you see valid results. Simply create new slash pages or redirect domains to other destinations. After your domain registration period ends (usually a year), review each domain name to determine its overall return relative to your other domains, then decide whether you should renew.
Keith Pieper is moderator of the I-Domain Discussion List and President of http://www.Brandologist.com, a domain name creation, appraisal and brokerage service in Boulder, CO. You can learn more about I-Domain at
http://www.DomainNameDiscussion.com
by Keith Pieper
When it comes to getting people to your web site, you’ve probably relied on search engine optimization as the Holy Grail. No doubt, search engines are the number one way people find web sites. But “guessing a URL” (otherwise known as direct navigation) may be tied as the most popular way people find web sites, according to a recent study by Internet marketing powerhouse DoubleClick and data from WebSideStory’s StatMarket, makers of the popular HitBox tracking service.
Ways Web Sites Are Found StatMarket (2/3/03) DoubleClick (3/03)
Direct Navigation/
Guessed URL 64.43% 28%
Search Engines
35.55% 41%
DoubleClick and Grey Interactive asked “how users find web sites they use to research a purchase”. StatMarket defines “direct navigation” as typing a URL into the address bar or using bookmarks while “search engines” may include finding a site through a search engine, banner ad or other links. According to StatMarket, the trend is towards direct navigation, as this method has grown in popularity from 48.2 percent in 2001 to 64.43 percent in 2003.
In addition, if you’re in the automotive or entertainment business, people find websites through direct navigation or guessing the URL more often than through a search engine or any other method (DoubleClick, 2003).
Compared to Search Engines
A strategically crafted domain name strategy can reward you with a very low cost traffic source. After all, you pay one annual fee for each domain name regardless of how much traffic it generates. Many search engines charge by the click. And with domain names, you have no competition for the top spot, need to optimize listings or even getting listed – you own the name, so all traffic to that name is your captive audience. And if your domain name generates quality traffic that brings in sales or leads, the renewal price of the domain name doesn’t change. Whereas with quality keyword positions in a search engine, prices can go sky high – up to $42 per click in some cases. A good domain name is the gift that keeps on giving.
Crafting a Domain Name Traffic Strategy
Regardless of how the numbers and methodologies pair up, it appears that having a good domain name may no longer enough. Even more, having one domain name may no longer enough.
Aside from your own primary web site domain name, purchase your primary keywords as domain names (if available). Then check your web site referrer stats or logs to find other keywords that people might use to find your site – purchase those keywords as domain names. While most of us have budgets, limit any domain purchases to “.com”, as this is the most common extension users will type into a browser when “guessing a URL.” If your budget permits, there are more opportunities beyond this core of domains.
Identify any industry terms, product terms or names, product categories, or any other keywords that relate to your product that people might use to find your site. Wordtracker is an excellent source for culling through frequently used search terms. Take all of your terms and brainstorm possible misspellings or typos and buy those domains. Some software products like MisspelledDomains can do this for you. Finally, and of least importance, if your budget permits, purchase additional domain extensions. There are hundreds of extensions to choose from, but the most popular non-com extensions are net, org, us, info and biz.
Point, Track & Optimize
To activate your domain name, simply redirect the domain name to a targeted splash page, relevant product page or your home page. Redirecting can usually be configured at the domain name registrar you purchased the names. DirectNIC is my choice, making domain redirects an easy task.
For more advanced marketers, you may want to track your results and optimize the campaign with something like HitBox or HyperTracker (if your current tracking solution does not provide the needed data). Simply configure a unique campaign for each domain name, with the campaign pointing to your splash or home page. Ensure your domain name is redirected at the registrar to the special URL provided by the tracking service. Optionally, you can create unique splash pages for each campaign, perhaps selling a product, then track the success of each domain at converting visitors to buyers.
After everything is set up, wait. Traffic will start to flow. If you are tracking sales or conversions through a special splash page, you can optimize this as soon as you see valid results. Simply create new slash pages or redirect domains to other destinations. After your domain registration period ends (usually a year), review each domain name to determine its overall return relative to your other domains, then decide whether you should renew.
Keith Pieper is moderator of the I-Domain Discussion List and President of http://www.Brandologist.com, a domain name creation, appraisal and brokerage service in Boulder, CO. You can learn more about I-Domain at
http://www.DomainNameDiscussion.com
How to Profit From Parked Domain Names
Let me tell you a true story. A friend of my who likes to collect domain names was describing a few that he had acquired. While he has a wide range of domains in various categories, these particular domains were all related to web hosting.
Some of the domain names were similar to existing web hosting company names (or derivatives of web hosting company names). Others simply had ‘hosting’, ‘host’, or a related term in the domain itself.
So my friend and I were talking and he said something like, “Yeah, it’s a shame –- if only I had the time to develop some content for some of these domains then I might make some money form them”. It turns out that he had no content on any of the domains –- just parked pages, or no content at all. When I investigated the domains, it turned out that there was a small but steady traffic stream that visited these domains. Some simply typed in the domain, others apparently found the domain through a search engine that had categorized the parked page.
So I suggested the following to him –- why not use a service that will take the domain as is –- with no content whatsoever –- and suggest search options that generate revenue for each click? He took my advice, grudgingly I might add, and guess what? He made $50 the first month from just a few of his domains.
He was so excited that he asked what he might do to further increase his revenues from his domain names. I suggested that he use his parking pages (these can be customized with some hosts) to test banners from affiliate programs with the highest paying hosting companies. He placed only three banners at the top of his pages –- with a brief description of the company’’s product offerings taken straight from their web sites. This also proved to be a great success –- and his revenue stream increased.
My friend has since invested some time and energy in monetizing his other domains. He has either pointed the domains to a pay per click search engine, or listed affiliate links on almost every domain. This has turned a lackluster domain speculation business into a profit generating pay per click and affiliate business that requires almost no effort to maintain. Needless to say, my friend has taken my out to lunch a couple of times since then.
If you have parked domains and what to try getting paid for search results on those pages, check out this service offered by Sedo (there are others out there as well):
http://www.sedo.com/services/parking.php3
Good luck in transforming your parked domains into cold, hard cash!
About the Author
Derek Vaughan has been actively marketing on the Internet since 1995. Mr. Vaughan has marketed products at the Walt Disney Company as the online marketing manager of ecommerce for ESPN.com. Mr. Vaughan is also the founder of Cheap Hosting Directory – a web hosting review site, a part of TechPad Agency’s network of web hosting portals.
Some of the domain names were similar to existing web hosting company names (or derivatives of web hosting company names). Others simply had ‘hosting’, ‘host’, or a related term in the domain itself.
So my friend and I were talking and he said something like, “Yeah, it’s a shame –- if only I had the time to develop some content for some of these domains then I might make some money form them”. It turns out that he had no content on any of the domains –- just parked pages, or no content at all. When I investigated the domains, it turned out that there was a small but steady traffic stream that visited these domains. Some simply typed in the domain, others apparently found the domain through a search engine that had categorized the parked page.
So I suggested the following to him –- why not use a service that will take the domain as is –- with no content whatsoever –- and suggest search options that generate revenue for each click? He took my advice, grudgingly I might add, and guess what? He made $50 the first month from just a few of his domains.
He was so excited that he asked what he might do to further increase his revenues from his domain names. I suggested that he use his parking pages (these can be customized with some hosts) to test banners from affiliate programs with the highest paying hosting companies. He placed only three banners at the top of his pages –- with a brief description of the company’’s product offerings taken straight from their web sites. This also proved to be a great success –- and his revenue stream increased.
My friend has since invested some time and energy in monetizing his other domains. He has either pointed the domains to a pay per click search engine, or listed affiliate links on almost every domain. This has turned a lackluster domain speculation business into a profit generating pay per click and affiliate business that requires almost no effort to maintain. Needless to say, my friend has taken my out to lunch a couple of times since then.
If you have parked domains and what to try getting paid for search results on those pages, check out this service offered by Sedo (there are others out there as well):
http://www.sedo.com/services/parking.php3
Good luck in transforming your parked domains into cold, hard cash!
About the Author
Derek Vaughan has been actively marketing on the Internet since 1995. Mr. Vaughan has marketed products at the Walt Disney Company as the online marketing manager of ecommerce for ESPN.com. Mr. Vaughan is also the founder of Cheap Hosting Directory – a web hosting review site, a part of TechPad Agency’s network of web hosting portals.
How To Choosing A Domain, Top Level Domain, TLD, ccTLD
Choosing A Domain
By John Scott
Website: http://www.internet-marketing-research.net
Added: 09-Sep-2003
Description: Seven easy tips for choosing a domain name.
Intro To Domain Names
Each domain name consists of two parts – the Mid Level Domain (MLD), and the Top Level Domain (TLD). The Mid Level Domain is the Ford in Ford.com, the Concrete-Home in Concrete-Home.com. This part of the domain name can consist of up to 63 characters in .com, .net, or .org domains. Only letters, numbers, or hyphens are permitted; no underbars, exclamation marks or periods. The Top Level Domain refers to the .com, .net, or .org part of the web address. There are also country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as .ca for Canada, .fr for France, or .us for the United States. In most cases, you will need to reside in that particular country if you wish to purchase a ccTLD.
Choosing The Right Domain Name
Choosing the right domain name can be critical to the success of a website. Most Internet users remember websites by their domain names; your domain name can also affect the anchor text of inbound links; and your ranking in search engines. Let’s take a few minutes to discuss the issues you must consider when choosing a domain.
Keyword or Branding?
Branding
Many of the most successful sites do not use keyword domains. These online businesses have chosen to go with a completely original domain, and brand it. A few examples are Yahoo!, Google, Amazon, Monster, and eBay. It’s not that these large corporations don’t know about search engine optimization; it’s just that they are putting more emphasis on creating a brand name around their business.
Keyword
A keyword domain is a domain chosen to take advantage of search engine traffic. By choosing a domain that matches a keyword search, we are able to rank higher for targeted keywords and thereby benefit from added traffic and more potential for sales. For example, if you were a Las Vegas realtor, you might want to target the search phrase Las Vegas Realty by choosing the domain Las-Vegas-Realty.com. Looking through the Las Vegas yellow pages, many real estate agents have websites, but most do not target any specific keywords. It appears most realtors are simply naming websites after themselves; e.g., our fictitious friend, John Doe, is a real estate agent with Acme Realty; he chose john-acme.com. I don’t expect he will be benefiting from a lot of free search engine traffic.
Whether you choose a brandable domain or a keyword domain is a choice you must make, and a choice you should make in accordance with your business plan. If you have a large offline advertising budget and the budget necessary to brand your organization, I’d recommend a brandable domain. If, on the other hand, you’re working on a shoe-string budget, choose a keyword domain and let the search engines bring the customers to you. You might want to read up on the benefits of keyword domains in this thread entitled Domain Names – Keyword Or Brandable.
Seven Quick Tips
Don’t include a specific location, unless you serve only that location. Even if you do ship nationwide, you may never get the chance to let the consumer know that; consumers from other areas are not likely to click through from search engines if your domain includes a location.
. Cut to the chase, keep it simple. The shorter the better. It’s easier to remember.
Two minds are better than one. Make a visit to a webmaster forum and ask for suggestions. You’d be surprised by some of the great suggestions that you may find in a webmaster forum.
Buy your domain from 123 Cheap Domains. 123CheapDomains is owned by Jonathan Lee, a great guy whose staff provides great customer service.
Buy the variations. If you go buy BlueFind.com, why not also pick up BlueFind.net and other variation to protect your brand?
Don’t pay the big bucks. Some domains have sold for millions – don’t do it. Those dollars are more effectively spent building up a brand and advertising your products and/or services.
Keep it legit. Try to avoid .ws, .tv, .biz, etc. Most respect is given to .com, .net, or .org domains.
By John Scott
Website: http://www.internet-marketing-research.net
Added: 09-Sep-2003
Description: Seven easy tips for choosing a domain name.
Intro To Domain Names
Each domain name consists of two parts – the Mid Level Domain (MLD), and the Top Level Domain (TLD). The Mid Level Domain is the Ford in Ford.com, the Concrete-Home in Concrete-Home.com. This part of the domain name can consist of up to 63 characters in .com, .net, or .org domains. Only letters, numbers, or hyphens are permitted; no underbars, exclamation marks or periods. The Top Level Domain refers to the .com, .net, or .org part of the web address. There are also country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD’s) such as .ca for Canada, .fr for France, or .us for the United States. In most cases, you will need to reside in that particular country if you wish to purchase a ccTLD.
Choosing The Right Domain Name
Choosing the right domain name can be critical to the success of a website. Most Internet users remember websites by their domain names; your domain name can also affect the anchor text of inbound links; and your ranking in search engines. Let’s take a few minutes to discuss the issues you must consider when choosing a domain.
Keyword or Branding?
Branding
Many of the most successful sites do not use keyword domains. These online businesses have chosen to go with a completely original domain, and brand it. A few examples are Yahoo!, Google, Amazon, Monster, and eBay. It’s not that these large corporations don’t know about search engine optimization; it’s just that they are putting more emphasis on creating a brand name around their business.
Keyword
A keyword domain is a domain chosen to take advantage of search engine traffic. By choosing a domain that matches a keyword search, we are able to rank higher for targeted keywords and thereby benefit from added traffic and more potential for sales. For example, if you were a Las Vegas realtor, you might want to target the search phrase Las Vegas Realty by choosing the domain Las-Vegas-Realty.com. Looking through the Las Vegas yellow pages, many real estate agents have websites, but most do not target any specific keywords. It appears most realtors are simply naming websites after themselves; e.g., our fictitious friend, John Doe, is a real estate agent with Acme Realty; he chose john-acme.com. I don’t expect he will be benefiting from a lot of free search engine traffic.
Whether you choose a brandable domain or a keyword domain is a choice you must make, and a choice you should make in accordance with your business plan. If you have a large offline advertising budget and the budget necessary to brand your organization, I’d recommend a brandable domain. If, on the other hand, you’re working on a shoe-string budget, choose a keyword domain and let the search engines bring the customers to you. You might want to read up on the benefits of keyword domains in this thread entitled Domain Names – Keyword Or Brandable.
Seven Quick Tips
Don’t include a specific location, unless you serve only that location. Even if you do ship nationwide, you may never get the chance to let the consumer know that; consumers from other areas are not likely to click through from search engines if your domain includes a location.
. Cut to the chase, keep it simple. The shorter the better. It’s easier to remember.
Two minds are better than one. Make a visit to a webmaster forum and ask for suggestions. You’d be surprised by some of the great suggestions that you may find in a webmaster forum.
Buy your domain from 123 Cheap Domains. 123CheapDomains is owned by Jonathan Lee, a great guy whose staff provides great customer service.
Buy the variations. If you go buy BlueFind.com, why not also pick up BlueFind.net and other variation to protect your brand?
Don’t pay the big bucks. Some domains have sold for millions – don’t do it. Those dollars are more effectively spent building up a brand and advertising your products and/or services.
Keep it legit. Try to avoid .ws, .tv, .biz, etc. Most respect is given to .com, .net, or .org domains.
How to Choose the Right Small Business Domain Name
Choosing a domain name can be daunting. Research the subject (after all, you’re the type of marketer who researches, right?) and you’ll be hit with a landslide of opinions, most contradictory. There are, however, two points that everyone agrees on:
Pick your domain before you launch your business. This is especially true if your market niche has lots of competition. Research your domain before you commit to a business plan.
Don’t wait too long if you like a domain. While you’re researching, you’ll likely come across a couple of domains that attract you. You might be tempted to wait, since you haven’t finalized or refined your business plan. Don’t. A handful of domains isn’t going to cost you much at an affordable registrar like GoDaddy, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Chances are you can even resell the rejects at cost, if not a profit. Or “develop” them with unique content and point them to your main site for extra traffic.
Now that we have the easy part of the way, let’s wade into murkier waters.
Q. Which TLD (top-level domain) is best?
A. If you’re a juggernaut in the business world with a giant ad budget, the answer is dot-com (.com). If you’re a smalltime business struggling for search engine positioning, the answer is still dot-com. People do disagree on the value of a dot-com TLD. Some assert that dot-coms have no particular value in the search engines, which may be true.
However, the fact is, if you haven’t yet seared your brand on the collective brow of the planet, dot-com makes you easier to remember. If you give up on dot-coms (they’re harder to get), then in some deep dark place inside, people will remember you as “that hard-to-remember URL with the ending that isn’t dot-com.” What’s worse, if you pick an otherwise memorable domain ending in dot-net, -us, or (God forbid) -tv, some of your traffic will end up at that competitor who snagged the dot-com version of your domain.
Okay, that’s settled. Now for the controversial stuff. Which is best: the “keyword” domain, or the “creative-genius, snappy and brandable” domain?
KEYWORD NAME VS. CREATIVE-GENIUS BRANDABLE NAME A Keyword
Name is the boring, workhorse kind of domain. You see them everywhere. They bristle with hyphens: “best-anchovy-pizza-in-siberia.com.” Or “super-labrador-accessories-and-golfballs.biz.” On the face of it, they’re hard to brand. They’re hard to fit on business cards. They’re really hard to explain over the phone to Aunt Martha.
On the other hand, a Creative-Genius Brandable Name is the sexy kind. The successes are sparkling: Yahoo!, Google, Amazon.com. You can shout these URLs across the room and the other guy will probably get it right. But note: the dot-com road is littered with hip, snappy business who failed to brand their product successfully, or get listed high in the search engines. Now their URLs all point to the same page: “server not found …”
The debate rages on, but the first question you must ask yourself is:
How will people find you?
It was recently reported that “direct navigation” web traffic has started to outnumber search engine traffic. In other words, more people visit sites by typing in the URL directly than they do by combing search engines for results. So more gurus are recommending `brandable’ domains.
But think about this. As a small business owner, how will people find you? Word of mouth? Billboards on I-95? “Corporate sponsorships” on hockey arenas? Probably not: they’ll find you through search engines. They’ll type in “cheap purple widgets,” and as a smart marketer, you will offer them a website optimized for the keywords “cheap purple widgets.”
Still, this doesn’t imply you should automatically pick a keyword domain. There are pros and cons to both types.
BRANDABLE: ADVANTAGES > The brandable domain is great for business cards. In fact, it’s nearly compulsory if you’re planning on offline marketing. In other words, if you’re printing up stationary at Kinkos, you want a brandable domain name.
If you’re also a marketing genius, this is a fit challenge for your talents. Finding a memorable, apt domain to brand your business is something no software-driven suggestion tool can do.
Most “hybrid” domains — ones that are really crosses between keywords and brandable names — are long gone. But if you create a unique idea for your brand, you can probably snag the dot-com name for yourself. Now all you have to do is burn that brand onto the world’s collective forehead. If you do, you’ll benefit from type-in traffic. That means that if someone hears about you, they can probably find you just buy typing in your domain.
BRANDABLE: DISADVANTAGES > The brandable name requires solid marketing skill, research and luck. Your name should be so catchy, it’s almost viral. It should also convey your actual business – or you’ll have to work hard (often meaning, spend money) to associate the two.
Your name should be “tested” on coworkers, cousins and dishwasher repairmen to ensure it has no undesirable connotations. Finally, your name should be available as a domain, and not suffer from competitors with similar domains. Sometimes, pulling all this off is difficult.
KEYWORD: ADVANTAGES > By keyword names, we’re not talking about the glorious generic keywords – the one-keyword kings such as drugs.com or business.com. No, we’re talking keyword names you can afford.
This is where you buy the domain name www.cheap-purple-widgets.com in hopes of getting a top search ranking for cheap purple widgets.
Advantages are many. First, more keyword names are available. (They’re ugly, and many people feel an aversion to hyphens.) Also, they do help you place higher in the search engines. It’s true that search engines only give you a little credit for having a keyword in your domain, but “a little credit” counts.
Second, keyword domains leave no doubt in the searcher’s mind about what you’re selling. If you decided to call your widget business “Ableeza,” a searcher might not get at a glance what it is you’re selling, even if your rank is high.
Finally, if you can get people to link to you, those links will be valuable. No matter how Webmaster Joe describes you, the link part will always say, “cheap-purple-widgets.” This is a powerful search engine strategy for moving higher.
KEYWORD: DISADVANTAGES > You won’t get type-in traffic for a keyword name. You can’t really explain it across a phone. It won’t look pretty on a business card, and it’s almost impossible to pair up with a cute logo. But if search engine traffic is going to drive your business, the keyword name is worth a long, hard look.
WRAP-UP TIME > Regardless of which type you choose, don’t play guessing games. If you go with a keyword name, use a search tool (like http://conversion.7search.com/scripts/advertisertoolskeywordsuggestion.aspx) to determine what keyword phrases people are searching on.
If you choose a brandable name instead, test it out on a variety of real people first. Pay attention to their reactions. Reserve your domain early, since brandable domains go fast unless they’re very unique.
In the long run, both types of domains can work for you, especially if offline marketing is an option and you have a knack for branding. Overall, though, the keyword domain is probably the easiest path to success for the small-business owner.
==
Blake Kritzberg is a copywriter, web designer, and proprietor of http://www.buy-the-domain-name.com Visit the website for more information on choosing, buying, selling and registering domain names.
Pick your domain before you launch your business. This is especially true if your market niche has lots of competition. Research your domain before you commit to a business plan.
Don’t wait too long if you like a domain. While you’re researching, you’ll likely come across a couple of domains that attract you. You might be tempted to wait, since you haven’t finalized or refined your business plan. Don’t. A handful of domains isn’t going to cost you much at an affordable registrar like GoDaddy, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Chances are you can even resell the rejects at cost, if not a profit. Or “develop” them with unique content and point them to your main site for extra traffic.
Now that we have the easy part of the way, let’s wade into murkier waters.
Q. Which TLD (top-level domain) is best?
A. If you’re a juggernaut in the business world with a giant ad budget, the answer is dot-com (.com). If you’re a smalltime business struggling for search engine positioning, the answer is still dot-com. People do disagree on the value of a dot-com TLD. Some assert that dot-coms have no particular value in the search engines, which may be true.
However, the fact is, if you haven’t yet seared your brand on the collective brow of the planet, dot-com makes you easier to remember. If you give up on dot-coms (they’re harder to get), then in some deep dark place inside, people will remember you as “that hard-to-remember URL with the ending that isn’t dot-com.” What’s worse, if you pick an otherwise memorable domain ending in dot-net, -us, or (God forbid) -tv, some of your traffic will end up at that competitor who snagged the dot-com version of your domain.
Okay, that’s settled. Now for the controversial stuff. Which is best: the “keyword” domain, or the “creative-genius, snappy and brandable” domain?
KEYWORD NAME VS. CREATIVE-GENIUS BRANDABLE NAME A Keyword
Name is the boring, workhorse kind of domain. You see them everywhere. They bristle with hyphens: “best-anchovy-pizza-in-siberia.com.” Or “super-labrador-accessories-and-golfballs.biz.” On the face of it, they’re hard to brand. They’re hard to fit on business cards. They’re really hard to explain over the phone to Aunt Martha.
On the other hand, a Creative-Genius Brandable Name is the sexy kind. The successes are sparkling: Yahoo!, Google, Amazon.com. You can shout these URLs across the room and the other guy will probably get it right. But note: the dot-com road is littered with hip, snappy business who failed to brand their product successfully, or get listed high in the search engines. Now their URLs all point to the same page: “server not found …”
The debate rages on, but the first question you must ask yourself is:
How will people find you?
It was recently reported that “direct navigation” web traffic has started to outnumber search engine traffic. In other words, more people visit sites by typing in the URL directly than they do by combing search engines for results. So more gurus are recommending `brandable’ domains.
But think about this. As a small business owner, how will people find you? Word of mouth? Billboards on I-95? “Corporate sponsorships” on hockey arenas? Probably not: they’ll find you through search engines. They’ll type in “cheap purple widgets,” and as a smart marketer, you will offer them a website optimized for the keywords “cheap purple widgets.”
Still, this doesn’t imply you should automatically pick a keyword domain. There are pros and cons to both types.
BRANDABLE: ADVANTAGES > The brandable domain is great for business cards. In fact, it’s nearly compulsory if you’re planning on offline marketing. In other words, if you’re printing up stationary at Kinkos, you want a brandable domain name.
If you’re also a marketing genius, this is a fit challenge for your talents. Finding a memorable, apt domain to brand your business is something no software-driven suggestion tool can do.
Most “hybrid” domains — ones that are really crosses between keywords and brandable names — are long gone. But if you create a unique idea for your brand, you can probably snag the dot-com name for yourself. Now all you have to do is burn that brand onto the world’s collective forehead. If you do, you’ll benefit from type-in traffic. That means that if someone hears about you, they can probably find you just buy typing in your domain.
BRANDABLE: DISADVANTAGES > The brandable name requires solid marketing skill, research and luck. Your name should be so catchy, it’s almost viral. It should also convey your actual business – or you’ll have to work hard (often meaning, spend money) to associate the two.
Your name should be “tested” on coworkers, cousins and dishwasher repairmen to ensure it has no undesirable connotations. Finally, your name should be available as a domain, and not suffer from competitors with similar domains. Sometimes, pulling all this off is difficult.
KEYWORD: ADVANTAGES > By keyword names, we’re not talking about the glorious generic keywords – the one-keyword kings such as drugs.com or business.com. No, we’re talking keyword names you can afford.
This is where you buy the domain name www.cheap-purple-widgets.com in hopes of getting a top search ranking for cheap purple widgets.
Advantages are many. First, more keyword names are available. (They’re ugly, and many people feel an aversion to hyphens.) Also, they do help you place higher in the search engines. It’s true that search engines only give you a little credit for having a keyword in your domain, but “a little credit” counts.
Second, keyword domains leave no doubt in the searcher’s mind about what you’re selling. If you decided to call your widget business “Ableeza,” a searcher might not get at a glance what it is you’re selling, even if your rank is high.
Finally, if you can get people to link to you, those links will be valuable. No matter how Webmaster Joe describes you, the link part will always say, “cheap-purple-widgets.” This is a powerful search engine strategy for moving higher.
KEYWORD: DISADVANTAGES > You won’t get type-in traffic for a keyword name. You can’t really explain it across a phone. It won’t look pretty on a business card, and it’s almost impossible to pair up with a cute logo. But if search engine traffic is going to drive your business, the keyword name is worth a long, hard look.
WRAP-UP TIME > Regardless of which type you choose, don’t play guessing games. If you go with a keyword name, use a search tool (like http://conversion.7search.com/scripts/advertisertoolskeywordsuggestion.aspx) to determine what keyword phrases people are searching on.
If you choose a brandable name instead, test it out on a variety of real people first. Pay attention to their reactions. Reserve your domain early, since brandable domains go fast unless they’re very unique.
In the long run, both types of domains can work for you, especially if offline marketing is an option and you have a knack for branding. Overall, though, the keyword domain is probably the easiest path to success for the small-business owner.
==
Blake Kritzberg is a copywriter, web designer, and proprietor of http://www.buy-the-domain-name.com Visit the website for more information on choosing, buying, selling and registering domain names.
Domain Names 101: Marketing Your Web Site
Any new website venture online will include a domain name. Sometimes the domain is purchased from a domain broker – someone who specializes in reselling domain names. The majority of the time, however, it will be registered through a domain registrar. No matter how it is purchased, in all cases, the domain name (or names) for a website should be carefully considered. The basis of the marketing for the website will be the domain name chosen.
Having been a domain name appraiser for a few years now, I can tell you that the choice of names for your site is critical to marketing. When I appraise a domain for value (in both dollars and marketability), I use basic criteria for my judgement of the domain. The most important of those criteria is length and readability. If the domain is too long or too hard to read (for a human), its value is very low. If it cannot be spoken and typed correctly (most of the time), it’s also of low value. A well-thought-out domain name is the first step in a successful marketing campaign.
When choosing and registering a domain name for a new website, there are three basic steps to follow to ensure a marketable name for your site. Follow them every time and you’ll have successful domains every time.
Step 1: The Name
Choosing a name may be as easy as “your business name dot com” or it may be more difficult (especially if you have a common name for your business). In all cases, your business’ name should be your number one pick for your domain name. If your business name is difficult to spell easily, try to register misspellings of it as well.
Read more: http://website101.com/domain-name/101-marketing-your-web-site/#ixzz0v6E7NYa8
Having been a domain name appraiser for a few years now, I can tell you that the choice of names for your site is critical to marketing. When I appraise a domain for value (in both dollars and marketability), I use basic criteria for my judgement of the domain. The most important of those criteria is length and readability. If the domain is too long or too hard to read (for a human), its value is very low. If it cannot be spoken and typed correctly (most of the time), it’s also of low value. A well-thought-out domain name is the first step in a successful marketing campaign.
When choosing and registering a domain name for a new website, there are three basic steps to follow to ensure a marketable name for your site. Follow them every time and you’ll have successful domains every time.
Step 1: The Name
Choosing a name may be as easy as “your business name dot com” or it may be more difficult (especially if you have a common name for your business). In all cases, your business’ name should be your number one pick for your domain name. If your business name is difficult to spell easily, try to register misspellings of it as well.
Read more: http://website101.com/domain-name/101-marketing-your-web-site/#ixzz0v6E7NYa8
Monday, July 26, 2010
Introduction to Web Hosting
If you are reading this article you have probably already registered your domain name and you are facing the next step in getting your site on the World Wide Web. The next step is Web Hosting.
Nowadays, with so many tools available, building a website can be so easy that anybody can do it. Once you have the site, you need a way to publish it on the internet. This is where web hosting services come in.
A web hosting company rents you disk space and provides all the services necessary for others to see your website on the Internet. Barring technical problems, a web host operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that anybody in the world can access your website at any time.
There are many web hosting companies to choose from so choosing the right host can be a time consuming and uneasy task. The prices range from free to tens or even hundreds of dollars per month. Usually a web hosting company can offer a multitude of services that can be confusing to a newcomer. In this article and the next few articles about web hosting I will try to help you with the basic information and give you more confidence in choosing the right web hosting company.
Free Web Hosting?
There is really a lot of web hosting companies providing free hosting services, so why bother paying for it? The old saying "You get what you pay for" is just as valid in the internet age as it was 100 years ago. In web hosting, when you get the services for free you sometimes get poor customer support, frequent service outages or slow overloaded servers.
Many free web hosting companies offer limited services. Even though they are not charging you to host your website, they still need to make money. They often do this by placing advertising on your website. You probably won't have any control over what kinds of ads are displayed on your site. In addition, free hosts may restrict the content you place on your site.
Finally, your web site could simply disappear overnight. New hosting companies offering free hosting pop up almost everyday, but they also vanish with astonishing regularity. When your web hosting company vanishes, your website goes with it.
Paid web hosting?
If you are serious about having a website you need to use a reliable web hosting company. Prices differ considerably – some companies offer their services for $2 a month while others charge $60 or more. Be careful, though. High rates don't always translate as high quality hosting service. Some of the lower priced hosts offer reliable, stable environments that allow your website to be accessed day in day out for years.
Generally speaking the more you pay the more you get. Higher rates should bring you more storage space, more bandwidth to handle Internet traffic, and more services such as databases, email accounts, more freedom in server configuration etc. Higher rates can also mean better customer support in case you have problems with your website.
Better knowledge of web hosting will make it easier for you to select the right one.
Whichever hosting company you choose, it helps to understand some of the technical details about their service. I have just barely touched the very basics of web hosting services here. If you would like to get more information follow to our next articles where I will introduce you to different types of web hosting services and web hosting companies.
Nowadays, with so many tools available, building a website can be so easy that anybody can do it. Once you have the site, you need a way to publish it on the internet. This is where web hosting services come in.
A web hosting company rents you disk space and provides all the services necessary for others to see your website on the Internet. Barring technical problems, a web host operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that anybody in the world can access your website at any time.
There are many web hosting companies to choose from so choosing the right host can be a time consuming and uneasy task. The prices range from free to tens or even hundreds of dollars per month. Usually a web hosting company can offer a multitude of services that can be confusing to a newcomer. In this article and the next few articles about web hosting I will try to help you with the basic information and give you more confidence in choosing the right web hosting company.
Free Web Hosting?
There is really a lot of web hosting companies providing free hosting services, so why bother paying for it? The old saying "You get what you pay for" is just as valid in the internet age as it was 100 years ago. In web hosting, when you get the services for free you sometimes get poor customer support, frequent service outages or slow overloaded servers.
Many free web hosting companies offer limited services. Even though they are not charging you to host your website, they still need to make money. They often do this by placing advertising on your website. You probably won't have any control over what kinds of ads are displayed on your site. In addition, free hosts may restrict the content you place on your site.
Finally, your web site could simply disappear overnight. New hosting companies offering free hosting pop up almost everyday, but they also vanish with astonishing regularity. When your web hosting company vanishes, your website goes with it.
Paid web hosting?
If you are serious about having a website you need to use a reliable web hosting company. Prices differ considerably – some companies offer their services for $2 a month while others charge $60 or more. Be careful, though. High rates don't always translate as high quality hosting service. Some of the lower priced hosts offer reliable, stable environments that allow your website to be accessed day in day out for years.
Generally speaking the more you pay the more you get. Higher rates should bring you more storage space, more bandwidth to handle Internet traffic, and more services such as databases, email accounts, more freedom in server configuration etc. Higher rates can also mean better customer support in case you have problems with your website.
Better knowledge of web hosting will make it easier for you to select the right one.
Whichever hosting company you choose, it helps to understand some of the technical details about their service. I have just barely touched the very basics of web hosting services here. If you would like to get more information follow to our next articles where I will introduce you to different types of web hosting services and web hosting companies.
Dedicated Web Hosting versus Shared Web Hosting
Dedicated hosting or shared hosting? This is probably one of the first decisions you must make before you get web hosting for your site. Many of you may not understand the differences between these two hosting services. That's why in this article I will analyze what the terms represent and how to pick the best suitable hosting server for your website.
Let's start with Dedicated Web Hosting?
Dedicated web hosting is where you lease an entire server. With dedicated server all the resources are yours to use. You can use it for hosting of only one site or multiple sites. You get to use all the bandwidth of the server, and you can use as much disk space as the server hardware allows you. Businesses with large complex sites that get a lot of traffic are better off with dedicated web hosting. Sites that use dedicated web hosting are also free to run any kind of script they desire. This may be as well ideal for those who are developing new scripts and need to test them without affecting other websites.
A website that uses dedicated hosting has the server all to itself. This means that all the resources of the server as well as the IP address (IP stands for Internet Protocol) are unique to that web site. Shared web hosting, on the other hand, places many websites on the same server and they all share resources and the same IP address.
How about Shared Web Hosting?
Shared web hosting is notably cheaper than dedicated web hosting. This is simply because the cost of operating the server is distributed between several customers. Shared web hosting is available already for as little as $2 a month opposed to a dedicated web hosting which can cost you about $100 a month or even much more depending on the server configuration.
As we mentioned above, websites that share a single server are sharing all the server's resources. This includes disk space and bandwidth as well as the IP address. In order to present adequate service to all sites on a server, your host will restrict each site to a limited amount of disk space as well as the transfer volume per month. Sites that exceed these limits may have to pay a substantial penalty.
Considering each server has a limited amount of bandwidth, the amount of traffic your neighbors receive can influence how quickly your web site is displayed. Each inquiry coming in to the server is dealt with in the order it was received, so if there is a large queue, there will be a longer wait.
The number of sites that are sharing a particular server is not as important as the amount of traffic each site receives. A server hosting 200 low traffic sites will operate much faster than one which has 50 sites that are receiving a lot of visitors.
There are some risks associated with shared hosting. If one of your neighbors runs a badly programmed script that runs amok the entire server could be affected. In extreme cases this could make your site to be inaccessible for a time. Another threat is that if one of your neighbors is banned from search engines ( for spamming practice, for example ) it could affect everyone sharing that same IP address. Check with your web hosting company to see their policy about third - party scripts and inappropriate activities.
Which one is better for my website?
Small websites are in many cases better off with shared web hosting. It is more affordable – especially for small companies and individuals. A reputable host will be careful not to allow activities that could jeopardize your site. Large complicated sites that receive more than 1000 visitors a day are better off with dedicated web hosting. It is also a good choice for developers who wish to experiment with new Internet technologies.
Let's start with Dedicated Web Hosting?
Dedicated web hosting is where you lease an entire server. With dedicated server all the resources are yours to use. You can use it for hosting of only one site or multiple sites. You get to use all the bandwidth of the server, and you can use as much disk space as the server hardware allows you. Businesses with large complex sites that get a lot of traffic are better off with dedicated web hosting. Sites that use dedicated web hosting are also free to run any kind of script they desire. This may be as well ideal for those who are developing new scripts and need to test them without affecting other websites.
A website that uses dedicated hosting has the server all to itself. This means that all the resources of the server as well as the IP address (IP stands for Internet Protocol) are unique to that web site. Shared web hosting, on the other hand, places many websites on the same server and they all share resources and the same IP address.
How about Shared Web Hosting?
Shared web hosting is notably cheaper than dedicated web hosting. This is simply because the cost of operating the server is distributed between several customers. Shared web hosting is available already for as little as $2 a month opposed to a dedicated web hosting which can cost you about $100 a month or even much more depending on the server configuration.
As we mentioned above, websites that share a single server are sharing all the server's resources. This includes disk space and bandwidth as well as the IP address. In order to present adequate service to all sites on a server, your host will restrict each site to a limited amount of disk space as well as the transfer volume per month. Sites that exceed these limits may have to pay a substantial penalty.
Considering each server has a limited amount of bandwidth, the amount of traffic your neighbors receive can influence how quickly your web site is displayed. Each inquiry coming in to the server is dealt with in the order it was received, so if there is a large queue, there will be a longer wait.
The number of sites that are sharing a particular server is not as important as the amount of traffic each site receives. A server hosting 200 low traffic sites will operate much faster than one which has 50 sites that are receiving a lot of visitors.
There are some risks associated with shared hosting. If one of your neighbors runs a badly programmed script that runs amok the entire server could be affected. In extreme cases this could make your site to be inaccessible for a time. Another threat is that if one of your neighbors is banned from search engines ( for spamming practice, for example ) it could affect everyone sharing that same IP address. Check with your web hosting company to see their policy about third - party scripts and inappropriate activities.
Which one is better for my website?
Small websites are in many cases better off with shared web hosting. It is more affordable – especially for small companies and individuals. A reputable host will be careful not to allow activities that could jeopardize your site. Large complicated sites that receive more than 1000 visitors a day are better off with dedicated web hosting. It is also a good choice for developers who wish to experiment with new Internet technologies.
Benefit of Expired Domains
When you are creating a business or new website on the internet, as you probably know you will need a domain name. This of course is the obvious for any internet business, without a domain name you will not have a website, end of story. Now if you are new to the internet business world (where have you been?) you may not realize the importance of SEO tactics. SEO tactics, if done correctly, are designed to give you an advantage within the search engine ranks. Of course, you may be sitting there wondering, "What in the world are you talking about".
Well, this all leads to the title of the article and will answer the question what is the "Benefit of Expired Domains". You see when an domain has been in use by another person and this person allows the domain to expire without renewing, the domain name is placed back into the pool of "domains for sale". This is where the benefits begin to show, just like a new domain name, the expired domain name is available to anyone who wishes to purchase it. What is the difference between a new and expired domain name? Simple, the expired domain name has already been in use. This means that the previous own has likely invested a great deal of effort and time, not to mention money into the promotion of that domain name.
Furthermore, this means that the expired domain is likely all over the internet, with a multitude of back links. Think about it, taking possession of an expired domain name means less work for you and more time for other, more important issues. You will have the opportunity to take advantage of the work that someone else has already performed. The expired domain could already be listed with many search engines, forums, directories, and a wide variety of other websites that have this link already on them.
What does this mean? Because the previous owner already did most of the legwork, it leaves less for you to do. The traffic specific to that expired domain now becomes your traffic, which leads to your sales, and ultimately your revenue. All of this because someone else was kind enough to do the work for you already and let the domain name expire.
Now surely you would know by now, that if you were to purchase a brand new domain name, you would have to do all the advertising, promotion, SEO work, submission to search engines, forums, and directories yourself. That is a lot of time, effort, and money spent on your part and trust when we say it takes a lot of all of the above to make a new domain work. It makes sense to take advantage of an expired domain does it not? We think so, you should find the expired domain of your choice today and begin taking full advantage of the legwork that has already been done for you and use it for your website.
Well, this all leads to the title of the article and will answer the question what is the "Benefit of Expired Domains". You see when an domain has been in use by another person and this person allows the domain to expire without renewing, the domain name is placed back into the pool of "domains for sale". This is where the benefits begin to show, just like a new domain name, the expired domain name is available to anyone who wishes to purchase it. What is the difference between a new and expired domain name? Simple, the expired domain name has already been in use. This means that the previous own has likely invested a great deal of effort and time, not to mention money into the promotion of that domain name.
Furthermore, this means that the expired domain is likely all over the internet, with a multitude of back links. Think about it, taking possession of an expired domain name means less work for you and more time for other, more important issues. You will have the opportunity to take advantage of the work that someone else has already performed. The expired domain could already be listed with many search engines, forums, directories, and a wide variety of other websites that have this link already on them.
What does this mean? Because the previous owner already did most of the legwork, it leaves less for you to do. The traffic specific to that expired domain now becomes your traffic, which leads to your sales, and ultimately your revenue. All of this because someone else was kind enough to do the work for you already and let the domain name expire.
Now surely you would know by now, that if you were to purchase a brand new domain name, you would have to do all the advertising, promotion, SEO work, submission to search engines, forums, and directories yourself. That is a lot of time, effort, and money spent on your part and trust when we say it takes a lot of all of the above to make a new domain work. It makes sense to take advantage of an expired domain does it not? We think so, you should find the expired domain of your choice today and begin taking full advantage of the legwork that has already been done for you and use it for your website.
From a Domain Name Registration To Getting Your Site Online (Part One)
This is the first of 3 articles that will take you from the first step of a domain name registration to the final step of getting your website on the Internet.
It all starts with Domain Name Registration
Before you can get your website on the web you need to have a domain name. Domain names are the familiar web addresses (domain-name-registration-info.com) that web browsers use to locate a particular website. Domain names, in fact, are pointers to a particular IP address (IP = Internet Protocol) and we use them because they are easier to remember than a series of numbers.
All websites have an IP address in the form 123.456.78.9. The domain name system translates these numbers into names such as example.com. All domain names are registered in a central domain name registry maintained by InterNIC, a subsidiary of ICANN - the organization which certifies domain name registrars. Domain names are filtered through Domain Name Servers (DNS) which link IP addresses with domain names. Each website usually has a primary and a secondary DNS - duplicates that increase reliability.
The first and also not very easy step in domain name registration is to select the right one. The name could be almost anything you want, although if possible, it should reflect the theme of your website as close as possible for better results. Let's say, if you are selling jewelry, it is better to have a domain name that has some reference to jewelry like buyjewelry.com. It is also recommended to use your primarily targeted keyword in your domain name which could increase the ranking of your website in the major search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Domain name rules
There are strict but simple rules for domain names - only letters, numbers and hyphens are allowed. Another rule is that domain name can contain only up to 63 characters, but it is recommended to keep it as short as possible. You are free to use UPPER as well as lower case characters in a Domain name - case is ignored by DNS but you can use a combination to make the name easier to read. MyExample.com is easier to read than myexample.com, but both are same to the Domain Name Server.
Top-level domain names
There are many top-level domains (top-level domain or TLD is the last part of an internet domain name) available. The most widely known is .com - it has even been included to common vocabulary as a way to express Internet activity - (I started a dot com business). Other top-level domains include .biz, .org, .net, .name, .info and many others. There are also top-level domains with more specialized uses such as .museum, .aero, .mil and .coop which are used exclusively by certain type of organizations. In addition to the TLDs listed above, there are many country code TLDs (ccTLD) such as .us (United States), .cn (People's Republic of China), uk (United Kingdom) or jp (Japan). The rules for registering country code top-level domains vary, so we recommend to check with your registrar about the availability of a given country code TLD for your use.
Domain names can usually be registered for a minimum of one year with the ability to register for up to 10 years. All domain names must be registered through an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) certified registrar. You can choose to register your domain with one of the hundreds of currently certified domain name registrars and the list keeps growing every day. Although registrars are strictly regulated, they are allowed to offer their services through third parties, so many web hosts offer a domain name registration services even if they are not a domain name registrar.
It all starts with Domain Name Registration
Before you can get your website on the web you need to have a domain name. Domain names are the familiar web addresses (domain-name-registration-info.com) that web browsers use to locate a particular website. Domain names, in fact, are pointers to a particular IP address (IP = Internet Protocol) and we use them because they are easier to remember than a series of numbers.
All websites have an IP address in the form 123.456.78.9. The domain name system translates these numbers into names such as example.com. All domain names are registered in a central domain name registry maintained by InterNIC, a subsidiary of ICANN - the organization which certifies domain name registrars. Domain names are filtered through Domain Name Servers (DNS) which link IP addresses with domain names. Each website usually has a primary and a secondary DNS - duplicates that increase reliability.
The first and also not very easy step in domain name registration is to select the right one. The name could be almost anything you want, although if possible, it should reflect the theme of your website as close as possible for better results. Let's say, if you are selling jewelry, it is better to have a domain name that has some reference to jewelry like buyjewelry.com. It is also recommended to use your primarily targeted keyword in your domain name which could increase the ranking of your website in the major search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Domain name rules
There are strict but simple rules for domain names - only letters, numbers and hyphens are allowed. Another rule is that domain name can contain only up to 63 characters, but it is recommended to keep it as short as possible. You are free to use UPPER as well as lower case characters in a Domain name - case is ignored by DNS but you can use a combination to make the name easier to read. MyExample.com is easier to read than myexample.com, but both are same to the Domain Name Server.
Top-level domain names
There are many top-level domains (top-level domain or TLD is the last part of an internet domain name) available. The most widely known is .com - it has even been included to common vocabulary as a way to express Internet activity - (I started a dot com business). Other top-level domains include .biz, .org, .net, .name, .info and many others. There are also top-level domains with more specialized uses such as .museum, .aero, .mil and .coop which are used exclusively by certain type of organizations. In addition to the TLDs listed above, there are many country code TLDs (ccTLD) such as .us (United States), .cn (People's Republic of China), uk (United Kingdom) or jp (Japan). The rules for registering country code top-level domains vary, so we recommend to check with your registrar about the availability of a given country code TLD for your use.
Domain names can usually be registered for a minimum of one year with the ability to register for up to 10 years. All domain names must be registered through an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) certified registrar. You can choose to register your domain with one of the hundreds of currently certified domain name registrars and the list keeps growing every day. Although registrars are strictly regulated, they are allowed to offer their services through third parties, so many web hosts offer a domain name registration services even if they are not a domain name registrar.
From a Domain Name Registration To Getting Your Site Online (Part Two)
Here is the second of 3 articles that will take you from the first step of a domain name registration to the final step of getting your website online.
Now that you have registered your domain name
you need to find a place where your web site will be hosted, unless the registrar already provides you with some kind of web hosting. (For more information about hosting you can visit our article section dedicated to web hosting)
What's next? Your hosting company should give you details about how to get your site up and running. This information includes your website administration username, passwords, FTP information, paths to directories where your files should be uploaded, and most importantly, what your domain name servers (DNS) are.
Domain name servers (DNS) provide the link between your domain name (yoursite.com) and your IP address (Internet Protocol address). The IP address is a series of numbers like this: 123.456.78.9. Every web server has a unique IP address which, in the case of dedicated servers hosting a single domain, is equivalent to the domain name. A site hosted on a dedicated server will respond to either 123.456.78.9 or mywebsite.com by serving the requested webpage.
It is common that websites are hosted on shared servers. This type of hosting, also called Shared Web Hosting, means that one server is hosts many different websites. All sites on shared server use the same IP address. If you type an IP address to access a website on shared server you will get an error page, access denied page or will be redirected to the web hosting company's web site. So domain names are the only way to request these websites - they cannot be accessed by IP address.
Domain Name Server Configuration
As you first register a domain name, it will be registered on the DNS of the registrar. Until you sign up for a web host, the registrar will usually redirect all requests for your domain name to an 'Under Construction' or similar page. Note that there is no time limit between registering a domain name and finding a host. There is a group of people who register domain names without ever planning to build a website. Most people, though, register a domain name with the intention of using for their web site. Now you need to point your domain name to your web host server. How do you do that? It's quite simple. All you need to do is to change the DNS configuration in your domain name administration page.
Once you get to the configuration page you will already see some name server entries which will most likely be the servers of your registrar.
An example of DNS configuration:
Primary Name Server: NS1.SOMESERVER.COM (205.50.14.2)
Secondary Name Server: NS2.SOMESERVER.COM (205.50.22.2)
Now all you should to do is to replace the original entries with the name servers provided by your web host. This information is available either in their informational package that they email to you, on their online setup guides, or on their FAQ section. If you can't find the DNS it's best to contact your web host and ask for it. If you have registered your domain name from the hosting company, they will usually make the necessary changes for you when they set up your account.
DNS changes should take effect within the next 24 hours. Once this process is completed, your site becomes accessible from everywhere in the world through the World Wide Web.
In the next article I will focus on the basic of getting your site published on the internet.
Now that you have registered your domain name
you need to find a place where your web site will be hosted, unless the registrar already provides you with some kind of web hosting. (For more information about hosting you can visit our article section dedicated to web hosting)
What's next? Your hosting company should give you details about how to get your site up and running. This information includes your website administration username, passwords, FTP information, paths to directories where your files should be uploaded, and most importantly, what your domain name servers (DNS) are.
Domain name servers (DNS) provide the link between your domain name (yoursite.com) and your IP address (Internet Protocol address). The IP address is a series of numbers like this: 123.456.78.9. Every web server has a unique IP address which, in the case of dedicated servers hosting a single domain, is equivalent to the domain name. A site hosted on a dedicated server will respond to either 123.456.78.9 or mywebsite.com by serving the requested webpage.
It is common that websites are hosted on shared servers. This type of hosting, also called Shared Web Hosting, means that one server is hosts many different websites. All sites on shared server use the same IP address. If you type an IP address to access a website on shared server you will get an error page, access denied page or will be redirected to the web hosting company's web site. So domain names are the only way to request these websites - they cannot be accessed by IP address.
Domain Name Server Configuration
As you first register a domain name, it will be registered on the DNS of the registrar. Until you sign up for a web host, the registrar will usually redirect all requests for your domain name to an 'Under Construction' or similar page. Note that there is no time limit between registering a domain name and finding a host. There is a group of people who register domain names without ever planning to build a website. Most people, though, register a domain name with the intention of using for their web site. Now you need to point your domain name to your web host server. How do you do that? It's quite simple. All you need to do is to change the DNS configuration in your domain name administration page.
Once you get to the configuration page you will already see some name server entries which will most likely be the servers of your registrar.
An example of DNS configuration:
Primary Name Server: NS1.SOMESERVER.COM (205.50.14.2)
Secondary Name Server: NS2.SOMESERVER.COM (205.50.22.2)
Now all you should to do is to replace the original entries with the name servers provided by your web host. This information is available either in their informational package that they email to you, on their online setup guides, or on their FAQ section. If you can't find the DNS it's best to contact your web host and ask for it. If you have registered your domain name from the hosting company, they will usually make the necessary changes for you when they set up your account.
DNS changes should take effect within the next 24 hours. Once this process is completed, your site becomes accessible from everywhere in the world through the World Wide Web.
In the next article I will focus on the basic of getting your site published on the internet.
Web hosting Services and Domain names
Choosing an appropriate domain name is very important. First and foremost, when it comes to domain names, try to stay away from the silly, stupid, ridiculous or clever. Keep your domain name simple and make it something your customers can remember if they lose the link to your business website.
Take note that, while your domain name on Geocities or AOL may seem like the least expensive way to go, it may also get you dropped from certain search engines. Some search engines ignore domain addresses that reside on these ‘free servers’ or on the ‘cheap’ servers.
Even if your site is recognized and considered by search engines, a professional domain name that uses your primary company name or associated words is likely to get more attention and be considered as a stable business by your prospective customers.
Purchasing domain names are not that expensive which cost about $100 and there are many companies that can register the name for you, provided it is available and has not already been used by another company.
Using one of your keywords in your domain name can increase your score on some search engines. For example, solderingirons.com could be more effective as Electric-soldering-irons.com, if that domain name was available.
You might also choose to establish more than one domain name using keywords and then link your ‘doorway’ domain sites to your primary site. But you will have to pay for each of the domain name and also the monthly hosting fees. It all depends on the type and size of your business and your competition.
Keep in mind that some search engines disregard ‘doorway’ sites. So put at least a page of content on the doorway site with some useful information and then link it to your primary site. But don’t design it as an empty page. The other reason being, you can have one, three, five, or even more email addresses that all contain your business name, and give your business a professional feel. When customers get emails from dominicstone@solderingirons.com they feel as if they are dealing with a stable, professional business operation.
No need for customers to understand how you manage all your email boxes on your domain. They just need to feel your business is dependable and reputable.
Take note that, while your domain name on Geocities or AOL may seem like the least expensive way to go, it may also get you dropped from certain search engines. Some search engines ignore domain addresses that reside on these ‘free servers’ or on the ‘cheap’ servers.
Even if your site is recognized and considered by search engines, a professional domain name that uses your primary company name or associated words is likely to get more attention and be considered as a stable business by your prospective customers.
Purchasing domain names are not that expensive which cost about $100 and there are many companies that can register the name for you, provided it is available and has not already been used by another company.
Using one of your keywords in your domain name can increase your score on some search engines. For example, solderingirons.com could be more effective as Electric-soldering-irons.com, if that domain name was available.
You might also choose to establish more than one domain name using keywords and then link your ‘doorway’ domain sites to your primary site. But you will have to pay for each of the domain name and also the monthly hosting fees. It all depends on the type and size of your business and your competition.
Keep in mind that some search engines disregard ‘doorway’ sites. So put at least a page of content on the doorway site with some useful information and then link it to your primary site. But don’t design it as an empty page. The other reason being, you can have one, three, five, or even more email addresses that all contain your business name, and give your business a professional feel. When customers get emails from dominicstone@solderingirons.com they feel as if they are dealing with a stable, professional business operation.
No need for customers to understand how you manage all your email boxes on your domain. They just need to feel your business is dependable and reputable.
New redesigned site is launched
For the past several months I was working hard on completely redesigning this website from the ground up and finally I am thrilled to announce the new look of Domain-Name-Registration-Info.com is here.
Now you can enjoy easier to use navigation more free content, new sections and espesically my new advanced domain name search tools. Since the tools are still in a testing phase I am giving you the oportunity to try it yourself complete free of charge. All you have to do is to create your free account using this simple registration form . This is just a limited time offer. As soon as I am finished with the testing I will close the door and only paying members will be able to use it. Ttake advantage of this opportunity while you can.
Now you can enjoy easier to use navigation more free content, new sections and espesically my new advanced domain name search tools. Since the tools are still in a testing phase I am giving you the oportunity to try it yourself complete free of charge. All you have to do is to create your free account using this simple registration form . This is just a limited time offer. As soon as I am finished with the testing I will close the door and only paying members will be able to use it. Ttake advantage of this opportunity while you can.
Improvements Continue
Transformation of this website continues to make it easy for you to find what you are looking for. Our advanced tool area continues to get new members everyday. You can still take advantage of this limited time free registration.
Even though I have launched the new design just about 2 months ago the transformation of this website is not completed. More radical changes are still to com in the next few days and your experience here will get even better. One of the biggest changes involves the transfer of this whole website to a new domain name I have registered just a few days ago. I was on the hunt for this domain name for quite some time and as this domain name industry is quite competitive it wasn't an easy task. With the tools offered here I was able to get a domain name I like and paid only $5.99 for it rather than spending thousands of dollars.
The new advanced domain name search tools seem to be successful. New members are registering every day to take advantage my limited time free membership offer. If you haven't registered yet you still have some time before I start charging for this service.
Even though I have launched the new design just about 2 months ago the transformation of this website is not completed. More radical changes are still to com in the next few days and your experience here will get even better. One of the biggest changes involves the transfer of this whole website to a new domain name I have registered just a few days ago. I was on the hunt for this domain name for quite some time and as this domain name industry is quite competitive it wasn't an easy task. With the tools offered here I was able to get a domain name I like and paid only $5.99 for it rather than spending thousands of dollars.
The new advanced domain name search tools seem to be successful. New members are registering every day to take advantage my limited time free membership offer. If you haven't registered yet you still have some time before I start charging for this service.
Welcome to "Domain Name Registration Info"
I know how frustrating and time consuming it may be to search for the right domain name. That's why I will try to give you as much information and tools for your domain name registration needs as possible so you can find the perfect domain name and build a strong foundation for your online presence.
Available domain extensions
Traditional Domains: .com .net .org
These domains still comprise the majority of domains in use and being registered on a daily basis. .com is still the most sought after domain however new entries are proving attractive as the pool of excellent .com domains continues to shrink.
New Domain Extensions: .biz .info .name .pro
The first of many new domain extensions planned, these extensions offer many new choices for those looking for the ideal name. .biz is intended for businesses, .info for sites offering information, .name for individuals and .pro for professionals such as doctors and lawyers.
Dual Meaning Country Extensions: .ws .tv .cc .fm .to
These domains are available for anyone to register and are special because in addition to being the official country codes for various countries they have meaning beyond this. For example, the small island of Tuvulu’s extension of .tv is interpreted by most as .tv for television. Or the .ws of Samoa is being promoted as .ws for web site. .fm for fm radio stations and .cc for carbon copy or cc.
Unrestricted Country Specific Extensions:
These country specific domains are available for anyone to register, even those from outside the country in question. .ca .de .jp .ro .be .lt .tv .co.za .co.nz .ph .co.il .dk .st .ac .com.ro
.gs .vu .vg .sh .kz .tc .org.uk .ms .as .com.ph .org.il
Country Specific Domain Extensions:
These country specific domains are available for registration only to those people and organizations from within the specific country or have other special requirements.
AD Andorra AE United Arab Emirates AF Afghanistan AG Antigua and Barbuda AI Anguilla AL Albania AM Armenia AN Netherlands Antilles AO Angola AQ Antarctica AR Argentina AS American Samoa AT Austria AU Australia AW Aruba AZ Azerbaijan BA Bosnia and Herzegovina BB Barbados BD Bangladesh BE Belgium BF Burkina Faso BG Bulgaria BH Bahrain BI Burundi BJ Benin BM Bermuda BN Brunei Darussalam BO Bolivia BR Brazil BS Bahamas BT Bhutan BV Bouvet Island BW Botswana BY Belarus BZ Belize CA Canada CC Cocos (Keeling) Islands CF Central African Republic CG Congo CH Switzerland CI Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) CK Cook Islands CL Chile CM Cameroon CN China CO Colombia CR Costa Rica CS Czechoslovakia (former) CU Cuba CV Cape Verde CX Christmas Island CY Cyprus CZ Czech Republic DE Germany DJ Djibouti DK Denmark DM Dominica DO Dominican Republic DZ Algeria EC Ecuador EE Estonia EG Egypt EH Western Sahara ER Eritrea ES Spain ET Ethiopia FI Finland FJ Fiji FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FM Micronesia FO Faroe Islands FR France FX France, Metropolitan GA Gabon GB Great Britain (UK) GD Grenada GE Georgia GF French Guiana GH Ghana GI Gibraltar GL Greenland GM Gambia GN Guinea GP Guadeloupe GQ Equatorial Guinea GR Greece GS S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Isls. GT Guatemala GU Guam GW Guinea-Bissau GY Guyana HK Hong Kong HM Heard and McDonald Islands HN Honduras HR Croatia (Hrvatska) HT Haiti HU Hungary ID Indonesia IE Ireland IL Israel IN India IO British Indian Ocean Territory IQ Iraq IR Iran IS Iceland IT Italy JM Jamaica JO Jordan JP Japan KE Kenya KG Kyrgyzstan KH Cambodia KI Kiribati KM Comoros KN Saint Kitts and Nevis KP Korea (North) KR Korea (South) KW Kuwait KY Cayman Islands KZ Kazakhstan LA Laos LB Lebanon LC Saint Lucia LI Liechtenstein LK Sri Lanka LR Liberia LS Lesotho LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg LV Latvia LY Libya MA Morocco MC Monaco MD Moldova MG Madagascar MH Marshall Islands MK Macedonia ML Mali MM Myanmar MN Mongolia MO Macau MP Northern Mariana Islands MQ Martinique MR Mauritania MS Montserrat MT Malta MU Mauritius MV Maldives MW Malawi MX Mexico MY Malaysia MZ Mozambique NA Namibia NC New Caledonia NE Niger NF Norfolk Island NG Nigeria NI Nicaragua NL Netherlands NO Norway NP Nepal NR Nauru NT Neutral Zone NU Niue NZ New Zealand (Aotearoa) OM Oman PA Panama PE Peru PF French Polynesia PG Papua New Guinea PH Philippines PK Pakistan PL Poland PM St. Pierre and Miquelon PN Pitcairn PR Puerto Rico PT Portugal PW Palau PY Paraguay QA Qatar RE Reunion RO Romania RU Russian Federation RW Rwanda SA Saudi Arabia Sb Solomon Islands SC Seychelles SD Sudan SE Sweden SG Singapore SH St. Helena SI Slovenia SJ Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands SK Slovak Republic SL Sierra Leone SM San Marino SN Senegal SO Somalia SR Suriname ST Sao Tome and Principe SU USSR (former) SV El Salvador SY Syria SZ Swaziland TC Turks and Caicos Islands TD Chad TF French Southern Territories TG Togo TH Thailand TJ Tajikistan TK Tokelau TM Turkmenistan TN Tunisia TO Tonga TP East Timor TR Turkey TT Trinidad and Tobago TV Tuvalu TW Taiwan TZ Tanzania UA Ukraine UG Uganda UK United Kingdom UM US Minor Outlying Islands US United States UY Uruguay UZ Uzbekistan VA Vatican City State (Holy See) VC Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VE Venezuela VG Virgin Islands (British) VI Virgin Islands (U.S.) VN Viet Nam VU Vanuatu WF Wallis and Futuna Islands WS Samoa YE Yemen YT Mayotte YU Yugoslavia ZA South Africa ZM Zambia ZR Zaire ZW Zimbabwe COM US Commercial EDU US Educational GOV US Government INT International MIL US Military NET Network ORG Non-Profit Organization ARPA Old style Arpanet NATO Nato field
These domains still comprise the majority of domains in use and being registered on a daily basis. .com is still the most sought after domain however new entries are proving attractive as the pool of excellent .com domains continues to shrink.
New Domain Extensions: .biz .info .name .pro
The first of many new domain extensions planned, these extensions offer many new choices for those looking for the ideal name. .biz is intended for businesses, .info for sites offering information, .name for individuals and .pro for professionals such as doctors and lawyers.
Dual Meaning Country Extensions: .ws .tv .cc .fm .to
These domains are available for anyone to register and are special because in addition to being the official country codes for various countries they have meaning beyond this. For example, the small island of Tuvulu’s extension of .tv is interpreted by most as .tv for television. Or the .ws of Samoa is being promoted as .ws for web site. .fm for fm radio stations and .cc for carbon copy or cc.
Unrestricted Country Specific Extensions:
These country specific domains are available for anyone to register, even those from outside the country in question. .ca .de .jp .ro .be .lt .tv .co.za .co.nz .ph .co.il .dk .st .ac .com.ro
.gs .vu .vg .sh .kz .tc .org.uk .ms .as .com.ph .org.il
Country Specific Domain Extensions:
These country specific domains are available for registration only to those people and organizations from within the specific country or have other special requirements.
AD Andorra AE United Arab Emirates AF Afghanistan AG Antigua and Barbuda AI Anguilla AL Albania AM Armenia AN Netherlands Antilles AO Angola AQ Antarctica AR Argentina AS American Samoa AT Austria AU Australia AW Aruba AZ Azerbaijan BA Bosnia and Herzegovina BB Barbados BD Bangladesh BE Belgium BF Burkina Faso BG Bulgaria BH Bahrain BI Burundi BJ Benin BM Bermuda BN Brunei Darussalam BO Bolivia BR Brazil BS Bahamas BT Bhutan BV Bouvet Island BW Botswana BY Belarus BZ Belize CA Canada CC Cocos (Keeling) Islands CF Central African Republic CG Congo CH Switzerland CI Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) CK Cook Islands CL Chile CM Cameroon CN China CO Colombia CR Costa Rica CS Czechoslovakia (former) CU Cuba CV Cape Verde CX Christmas Island CY Cyprus CZ Czech Republic DE Germany DJ Djibouti DK Denmark DM Dominica DO Dominican Republic DZ Algeria EC Ecuador EE Estonia EG Egypt EH Western Sahara ER Eritrea ES Spain ET Ethiopia FI Finland FJ Fiji FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FM Micronesia FO Faroe Islands FR France FX France, Metropolitan GA Gabon GB Great Britain (UK) GD Grenada GE Georgia GF French Guiana GH Ghana GI Gibraltar GL Greenland GM Gambia GN Guinea GP Guadeloupe GQ Equatorial Guinea GR Greece GS S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Isls. GT Guatemala GU Guam GW Guinea-Bissau GY Guyana HK Hong Kong HM Heard and McDonald Islands HN Honduras HR Croatia (Hrvatska) HT Haiti HU Hungary ID Indonesia IE Ireland IL Israel IN India IO British Indian Ocean Territory IQ Iraq IR Iran IS Iceland IT Italy JM Jamaica JO Jordan JP Japan KE Kenya KG Kyrgyzstan KH Cambodia KI Kiribati KM Comoros KN Saint Kitts and Nevis KP Korea (North) KR Korea (South) KW Kuwait KY Cayman Islands KZ Kazakhstan LA Laos LB Lebanon LC Saint Lucia LI Liechtenstein LK Sri Lanka LR Liberia LS Lesotho LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg LV Latvia LY Libya MA Morocco MC Monaco MD Moldova MG Madagascar MH Marshall Islands MK Macedonia ML Mali MM Myanmar MN Mongolia MO Macau MP Northern Mariana Islands MQ Martinique MR Mauritania MS Montserrat MT Malta MU Mauritius MV Maldives MW Malawi MX Mexico MY Malaysia MZ Mozambique NA Namibia NC New Caledonia NE Niger NF Norfolk Island NG Nigeria NI Nicaragua NL Netherlands NO Norway NP Nepal NR Nauru NT Neutral Zone NU Niue NZ New Zealand (Aotearoa) OM Oman PA Panama PE Peru PF French Polynesia PG Papua New Guinea PH Philippines PK Pakistan PL Poland PM St. Pierre and Miquelon PN Pitcairn PR Puerto Rico PT Portugal PW Palau PY Paraguay QA Qatar RE Reunion RO Romania RU Russian Federation RW Rwanda SA Saudi Arabia Sb Solomon Islands SC Seychelles SD Sudan SE Sweden SG Singapore SH St. Helena SI Slovenia SJ Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands SK Slovak Republic SL Sierra Leone SM San Marino SN Senegal SO Somalia SR Suriname ST Sao Tome and Principe SU USSR (former) SV El Salvador SY Syria SZ Swaziland TC Turks and Caicos Islands TD Chad TF French Southern Territories TG Togo TH Thailand TJ Tajikistan TK Tokelau TM Turkmenistan TN Tunisia TO Tonga TP East Timor TR Turkey TT Trinidad and Tobago TV Tuvalu TW Taiwan TZ Tanzania UA Ukraine UG Uganda UK United Kingdom UM US Minor Outlying Islands US United States UY Uruguay UZ Uzbekistan VA Vatican City State (Holy See) VC Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VE Venezuela VG Virgin Islands (British) VI Virgin Islands (U.S.) VN Viet Nam VU Vanuatu WF Wallis and Futuna Islands WS Samoa YE Yemen YT Mayotte YU Yugoslavia ZA South Africa ZM Zambia ZR Zaire ZW Zimbabwe COM US Commercial EDU US Educational GOV US Government INT International MIL US Military NET Network ORG Non-Profit Organization ARPA Old style Arpanet NATO Nato field
Selecting a Registrar
Overview:
In the past there was only one major registrar, network solutions. They were given a contract from the US government to manage the root servers for the most popular internet domains (.com, .net and .org). Today with open competition there are hundreds of registrars many offers significant value in terms of features and price.
Making a choice:
A number of people have emailed asking which registrar they should use. There are many choices, your best bet is to compare yourself and choose a registrar that provides the services you need at a price you can afford.
Price:
For many customers, price is the most important consideration. Domains are a commodity item and for the most part you receive the exact same registration regardless of which company you choose.
Features:
Since the registrations are identical registrars try and differentiate themselves based on features. If you are just looking for straight domain name registration then working with any registrar will give you what you want however if you want to use your domain the extra features may be useful.
Management:
Most registrars provide a web interface were you can manage your domain. This allows you to update your contact and billing details and configure your domain settings without the delay of having to contact someone.
Parking:
Your domain must be setup with 2 nameservers at the time of registration. If you are just securing your domain and don’t with to use it right away most registrars provide free domain parking. This means that they will provide you with 2 default nameservers for free and your site will resolve to a tempory page until you are ready to use it.
Email:
Registering a domain secures it for your use but does nothing on its own. Some registrars offer add on services such as email at your domain. This allows you to send and receive email like you@yourdomain.com rather than you@your_isp.com. Even if your registrar offers such services you are always free to use your own ISP or another company for email services.
Hosting:
Without domain hosting people will not see anything when they try and reach your site using a web browser (perhaps they will see a temporary page if you have free parking setup for your domain). If you are not securing a domain for a future use then you will likely want hosting services to allow a web site to be setup for your domain. With web hosting you can add a web site to you domain and bring it to life.
In the past there was only one major registrar, network solutions. They were given a contract from the US government to manage the root servers for the most popular internet domains (.com, .net and .org). Today with open competition there are hundreds of registrars many offers significant value in terms of features and price.
Making a choice:
A number of people have emailed asking which registrar they should use. There are many choices, your best bet is to compare yourself and choose a registrar that provides the services you need at a price you can afford.
Price:
For many customers, price is the most important consideration. Domains are a commodity item and for the most part you receive the exact same registration regardless of which company you choose.
Features:
Since the registrations are identical registrars try and differentiate themselves based on features. If you are just looking for straight domain name registration then working with any registrar will give you what you want however if you want to use your domain the extra features may be useful.
Management:
Most registrars provide a web interface were you can manage your domain. This allows you to update your contact and billing details and configure your domain settings without the delay of having to contact someone.
Parking:
Your domain must be setup with 2 nameservers at the time of registration. If you are just securing your domain and don’t with to use it right away most registrars provide free domain parking. This means that they will provide you with 2 default nameservers for free and your site will resolve to a tempory page until you are ready to use it.
Email:
Registering a domain secures it for your use but does nothing on its own. Some registrars offer add on services such as email at your domain. This allows you to send and receive email like you@yourdomain.com rather than you@your_isp.com. Even if your registrar offers such services you are always free to use your own ISP or another company for email services.
Hosting:
Without domain hosting people will not see anything when they try and reach your site using a web browser (perhaps they will see a temporary page if you have free parking setup for your domain). If you are not securing a domain for a future use then you will likely want hosting services to allow a web site to be setup for your domain. With web hosting you can add a web site to you domain and bring it to life.
Choosing your domain
Overview:
Choosing a domain is a major step for any individual or organization. While domains are being registered at a record pace new domain extensions and creative thinking still provides thousands of excellent choices.
Purpose:
When selecting a name it is important to consider the purpose of a domain name, which is to provide people an easy way to reach your web site. The best domains have the following characteristics:
Short - People don’t like to type, the shorter your domain the easier it is to reach and the less chance the user will make a typographical error while entering it.
Meaningful - A short domain is nothing without meaning, 34i4nh69.com is only 8 characters long but would not be easy to enter or remember. Select a domain that relates to your site in a way that people will understand.
Clear - Clarity is important when selecting a domain name. You should avoid selecting a name that is difficult to spell or pronounce. Also, pay close attention to how your domain sounds and how effectively it can be communicated over the phone.
Exposure:
Just like premium real-estate on the ground that gets the most exposure, names that are short and easy to remember are an asset. In addition to humans viewing your domain, you should consider search engines.
Search engines index your site and rank it for relevant against terms people search for online. In order to maximum your sites exposure consider including a relevant search term in your domain. Of course, this should only be considered if it still maintains a short, clear and meaningful domain
Choosing a domain is a major step for any individual or organization. While domains are being registered at a record pace new domain extensions and creative thinking still provides thousands of excellent choices.
Purpose:
When selecting a name it is important to consider the purpose of a domain name, which is to provide people an easy way to reach your web site. The best domains have the following characteristics:
Short - People don’t like to type, the shorter your domain the easier it is to reach and the less chance the user will make a typographical error while entering it.
Meaningful - A short domain is nothing without meaning, 34i4nh69.com is only 8 characters long but would not be easy to enter or remember. Select a domain that relates to your site in a way that people will understand.
Clear - Clarity is important when selecting a domain name. You should avoid selecting a name that is difficult to spell or pronounce. Also, pay close attention to how your domain sounds and how effectively it can be communicated over the phone.
Exposure:
Just like premium real-estate on the ground that gets the most exposure, names that are short and easy to remember are an asset. In addition to humans viewing your domain, you should consider search engines.
Search engines index your site and rank it for relevant against terms people search for online. In order to maximum your sites exposure consider including a relevant search term in your domain. Of course, this should only be considered if it still maintains a short, clear and meaningful domain
Welcome to 1st Domain Name Registration Information
Your source for information on how to select, register, and purchase domains names. Get the best, and the latest, information first!
Detailed information is provided on various topics relating to domain name registration including choosing your domain name, selecting a registrar, available domain extensions, a registration glossary, questions and answers, and the latest domain name news.
This site continues to be updated as the industry changes and new questions are asked.
I hope that you are able to put this information to good use.
© 2001 - 2004. Content may not be reproduced without permission.
Detailed information is provided on various topics relating to domain name registration including choosing your domain name, selecting a registrar, available domain extensions, a registration glossary, questions and answers, and the latest domain name news.
This site continues to be updated as the industry changes and new questions are asked.
I hope that you are able to put this information to good use.
© 2001 - 2004. Content may not be reproduced without permission.
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