Domain Names

Archive for June, 2010

The domain names are always composed of two parts separated between them by a point (DOT); the TLD (top level domain), located after the dot, is the domain extension and has different forms such as com, net, org, info, us, asia, me, mobile…, and SLD (second level domain) which is the name of the domain itself.

When we choose the SLD, the best is to be as short as possible, easy to remember, to represent a suggestive name regards particular job domain or the category of goods and services provide; also an SLD may represent the name of the owner for personal sites.

The election of an extension should not be random,and you must to not forget some considerations as follows:

The extension.COM is the most suitable for commercial sites, and is the best to be completed by the same SLD accompanied by extension.NET.

If you want to build a non-profit site is preferable to choose.ORG and for personal sites is very suitable the extension.ME. The.BIZ is also suitable for business but not far has the popularity of extension.COM. For informative sites I recommend choosing the extension.INFO.

There are more other extensions which might suggest some connection with certain countries or geographical areas by type .US, .ASIA…. Other examples of association of TLD names with specific market segments,are: .WS an all-domain and Web hosting purpose and .MOBI that gives customers on-the-go access to your site. Of course all these extensions may have some impact on Internet users.

All domain names must be registered,in order to be available on Web.

About the importance in terms of buying a domain I want to point out one single aspect, namely that the subdomains are not listed in search engines, so if you have a website and want it to have traffic from search engines, is imperative that it “be built on an domain“. So you do not make search engines optimization for subdomains because is not useful at all.

If you are seeking domain names for your online establishments, there are several tips on how you can register your domain name properly that you want to follow. Domain names are valuable investments you must try your best to protect, and registering them properly is the first step you can take to fully protect domain names for your online businesses.

A classic domain name registrations mistake is to ask your web designer or IT consultant to register the domain for you. Domain names are considered as intellectual property, and assigning the registration process to web designer or IT consultant handling your site development can cause some serious troubles in the future. Say you ask your web designer to register.ca domain that is actually perfect for your business; if your contract with the designer is over, and the domain name is registered using his or her name, you will have trouble renewing your designated domain name for sure. I’m sure your website is designed to be long lasting while your engagement with web designer or IT consultant developing your site may not last as long.

Always give the right personal and business information to your domain name registrar. Customers may try to check information on your domain name before making their purchase, and seeing the right personal and business information may be that last push needed for them to close the deal. It is also best to purchase alternate variations of the domain name you pick for your business; set each alternate domain names to redirect to the main site so that customers wrongfully typing your domain will still be able to reach your site.

Last but not least, register the domain for as long as possible if you have the financial ability. Most established businesses renew their domain names every ten years or so; this is actually the best practice to safeguard your investments and avoid unnecessary trouble of having to repurchase your domains just because you forget to renew them. You are reducing the risks of having your domain names acquired by other parties by opting for longer domain registration term.

One of the domain names that you want to reserve before you competitor does is FuneralCosts[YourTown].com. You see that that was a very popular search and it someone searches that and they see a domain name in it. That really speaks to them and they are more than likely going to click on that. Also with Twitter and [YourTown]Obits.com, reserve that domain name.

Why is this Important?

Obits:
Newspapers are tanking, they are having a tough time. It is happening almost daily that these are falling by the way side. What is going to happen in your town when the daily newspaper becomes a twice a week newspaper or all of a sudden goes away? Be proactive and start educating your families that they can come to your website to get the latest information on obituaries or follow you on Twitter etc. Take these domain names before anyone else does be it the newspaper or your competitor. They are going to start to try to make money online too. It is time for you to be in the seat of control and power while they are still scrambling around.
Don’t be at the whim of newspapers to get out the information – it’s in your handsCosts:

No one else is doing it (or not many) but lots of people are searchingThis is what You have to do…

Reserve:
FuneralCosts[YourTown].com
[YourTown]Obits.com / [YourTown]Obituaries.com

What should you do with them?

Obits: Use for your Twitter Obits account URL and point it to your obituary page of your site
Costs: Point to YouTube channel (funeral costs account) or create a basic site to post reviews and collection of prices if advantageous to youExample: http://Twitter.com/victoriaobits/. They have VictoriaObits.com. When you click on this it takes you to the obituaries on their website and doesn’t just drop you on the homepage. This is how you can use the domain names.

Have you heard about domain names that sold for over a

million dollars? Inspired by this, you imagine registering

a great domain name, hanging onto it for a while, and then

selling it off to become the next multi-millionaire. It

could happen, but don`t count on it!

First of all, many of the truly great domain names are

already taken. Second, the dot com bust took some of the

wind out of inflated domain name prices. (If you sell your

domain name for millions of dollars worth of stock in a

publicly traded dot com flop, what is the name really

worth?)

The cybersquatter buys domain names totally on speculation.

Sometimes he will register names of famous brands,

companies, or individuals. Time and again, these domain

name speculators learn the hard way that they must respect

intellectual property rights. They hope that some large

corporation will pay big bucks to them for the use of the

company`s own (already trademarked) name. Instead, they

end up with threatening letters from a law firm for their

attempts at extortion.

However, you can still make money from domain names if

you are sensible in your approach. Here are some

suggestions on ways to profit.

1. Affiliate Programs: Use your domain name to promote an

appropriate affiliate program. Either redirect to the

affiliate site or write a review that links to them.

2. Informational Sites: Create content and then profit

from it by earning advertising revenue through Google

AdSense or a similar program.

3. Redirect to Your Own Site: Some reasons you might want

to do this include preventing competitors from using a

particular domain name and benefiting from searches some

users perform by domain name. (For example, if they wanted

to order flowers, they might just type “flowers.com” in

their web browser. You could get some traffic and sales

this way.)

4. Product Sites: Create your own or sell someone else`s

product appropriate to your domain name.

5. Park Your Domain Names: You might feel that your name

has real potential for resale value. There are companies

that will allow you to park your domain on their servers,

advertise that your name is for sale, and split advertising

revenue with you.

The trick is to generate traffic for your domain name. That

traffic in turn will create revenue. Then, when you go to sell

your domain name, you will have a few things going for you.

First, you will have a fully developed website. A fully

constructed building on a piece of land increases

the value of the real estate property. Similarly, the

value of your domain name is enhanced by a complete and

operating website.

Second, you have traffic. Just as a shopping mall with no

traffic results in no sales, so a website must have traffic

to generate income.

Third, you have income. An income property, such as an

apartment building, can be appraised on the basis of its

income (as well as other factors). Similarly, the gross

income, net profits and cashflow of a website have value.

For example, if someone offered you $1,000 for your

domain name and website when it was generating $10,000 per

day in profits, you would likely laugh at him.

You really can profit from your domain name investments

by adding value and properly developing your web

properties.

For further information about profiting from domain names,

visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/domain-names.html

Many website owners regret the domain name they registered for their online business because they didn’t put much thought into it. Every time someone types it into their browser you want them to easily remember it.

Benefits of choosing a good domain name

Branding

If you think of Nike or Google you immediately understand how using your business name in your domain helps brand your business. Your domain name can even be your business name if you’re lucky enough to still find a.com business name.

Professional web address

Sometimes online business owners try to save money by using a free service for their online business such as getting a free blog at WordPress or Blogger. If the company disappears so will your web address and all its content. Registering a real domain name shows visitors you’re serious about running a professional online business and are not doing it for the short term. Even if you change web hosting companies you can still keep your own domain name.

Professional email addresses

Using a gmail, AOL, or Yahoo email address for your online business doesn’t project a professional image. Many of these addresses are automatically blocked or not accepted by online professionals because they are often used for sending spam emails that can’t be tracked.

If you register a real domain name you can include it in your email address. This makes it easy for your visitors to identify where it it coming from and which business it belongs to.

How to choose a good domain name

A good domain name is one that clearly reflects your business, is easy to spell and remember.

1. Business name

My web design business is named iSiteBuild dot com so I registered that domain name to brand it. Try to do the same for your own online business. If the name is not available try keywords associated with your business.

2. Keywords related to your business

Search for a domain name that identifies your business keywords. For example if you’re selling red widgets, register redwidgets dot com. If the obvious keywords are already taken research other keywords related to your business and use them instead.

3. Domain extensions

Most.com names may already be taken so you’ll have to get creative e.g. use dashes between the words (red-widgets), numbers (1redwidget), adding extra words (theredwidget) or try different suffixes (.net,.org,.info,.us,.biz)

4. Easy to remember

Has someone ever given you a domain name that was impossible to remember? It may have been too long or had several dashes or numbers in it. Get a domain name that can easily be passed on to others. It will stick in their minds without having to write it down on paper.

5. Keep it short

The shorter the name the easier it is to spell and remember. It will also be easier to fit on business cards and other off line stationary.

6. Hyphenated domain names

If you can’t find a domain name that matches your business, register one that has a hyphen e.g. I registered ihost-websites dot com because ihostwebsites dot com was already taken. It will contribute to your search engine rankings because every time someone links to your website the main keywords will be included in your domain name.

7. Purchase an already registered domain name

There are people whose business is buying and selling domain names. For example the person who first registered business dot com could now sell it now for thousands of dollars. If you are willing to pay for a domain name you’ve set your heart on, check if it’s for sale and how much it costs. Sometimes they are not very expensive.

8. Expired domain names

Sometimes people purchase domain names but never do anything with them because they haven’t had time to develop them or lost interest. First check if it’s available, then check who it’s registered to at whois.com. Contact the owner and ask if they are willing to sell it..you may get lucky.

China has been the focus for technological developments in the cyberspace, within the great firewall of China. Today, the social and political impact on the internet in Chinese censorship has lead to a convergence of different types of information technologies with a much broader perspective.

This can be marked with the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) working on creating a personal domain registration system for individual web hosts in China. It has also been projected that the authenticity of the domain name owners would create a platform for various individuals applying for domain name registrations under the Chinese censorship.

Today, the CNNIC caters to the personal applicant, which is in high contrast to the earlier times when China’s domain name “.CN” required the organization to be legally registered with the government of China and would be held liable in case of any discrepancies. It was very difficult for the individuals looking for web hosting in China as they would have to register only through an agency which was a very tedious task. According to the assistant director of CNNIC, the Chinese government has opened doors for the personal applicants, as they can create their own website and also apply filing.

This change in the domain name registration system has been the result of a long strife between analysts and the government, stating that the rigidity in the registration system was driving individuals and resources to foreign countries and even though they did apply for a domain name in China, they were resorting to fraudulent practices, by faking agency papers in order to attain registration of domain names within the great firewall of Chinese censorship.

Thus on December 11, in the year 2009, the CNNIC had supported this decision by stating that the government would work towards creating allocations for personal registration of domain names, as it would protect the legal rights of the Chinese internet users, real name system and administration.

Behind the scenes, one cannot ignore the fact that china’s political leaders are trying to create an illusion of freedom in web hosting while they are trying to make a digital leap forward on the back of technological advancements by easing the Chinese censorship.

The consequent achievements have been remarkable, with the CNNIC issuing notice that it would state that the government would verify the authenticity of the applicants and domain names that have authenticity, and precise information would be protected by the government; but the CNNIC failed to comment on the prospect of individual applicants applying for the.CN domain name.

According to statistical reports, it has been found that among the 16.81 million domains available in cyber China, only 80% end with the.CN domain name pertaining to Chinese censorship.

I don’t know anything about you, but I will tell you something about my ignorance on how domain names work. But promise that you won’t laugh at my ignorance before I go into details.

I was really excited when I discovered how domain names work. Before that I used to type a word on my internet web browser bar and press an enter key on my keyboard without a second thought where this word was directed to. I really didn’t know anything about an IP address or about the dot com, dot net, or dot org suffixes. I did not know that names can be bought? I laughed, imagining how one can spend his precious time under the sun just selling names.

Things become even more sophisticated when I came across domain name parking. How can one park a domain name? Do they pay this people who park domain names? Eventually knowledge is power and through its application in a clear and concise way, it wiped all my ignorance. After absorbing enough knowledge about how domain names work, then here I am ready to wipe your ignorance too.

A bad choice of your site concept name will greatly hurt your website. Once you register it, there will be no option of editing or changing it. You will live with it. Do you know what domain names are? Ha…Ha! Let me stop teasing you. I will break it down for you.

A domain name is an IP address which stands for ‘Internet Protocol.’ In fact call a domain name An IP address. An IP address is a unique string of numbers usually shown in groups separated by periods that identifies a computer connected to the internet. It helps to find a specific website that surfers are searching for. It fetches website data from the server. They are human friendly to use.

How friendly IP addresses are? Well… you see they don’t use numbers like phones do. Instead of many long numbers, they decided to use words. Words that human can simply remember. I mean these words are more human friendly than numbers.

For instance you don’t imagine remembering numbers but you can easily recall words. One thing that enrages me is that some surfers confuse a domain name with a URL which stands for ‘Uniform Resource Locator.’ To be clear, a domain name does not have the http:// as a URL.

The URL has Three Parts:

The first part is the protocol. This is the stuff before the: // that is http: Which stands for hyper text transfer protocol meaning a standard system to send information. The second part is the domain which is an IP address and the third part is the request file.

The big question is who regulates or rather assigns and controls these domain names? ICANN which stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is the one which is ultimately responsible with the task of controlling domain names.