Domain Names

Archive for May, 2011

We all know how important it is to have the right domain name. It should be one of the most important things you do. Take your time and look around. It is your business name and if the title is the same as your “address” then you will be easier to find. There are many places that you can get ideas for domain names and also places that you can go and buy domain names that someone else has. You can try auctions or companies that there only job is to sell domains that they have gathered over time.

They will have a website that will have lists of these domain names and all you have to do is chose the one you want and submit your money. The prices are set so you do not have to think about it.

Of course it should be important to get a domain name that you know the value of. It is valued by age, traffic, money in, potential and popularity of the topic to name a few.

Age: The older the domain name the more it has value

Traffic: In order to make money or to show people what is on your site, you must be getting traffic from somewhere. Quality traffic is important.

Money in: It is not simply about numbers, but in quality traffic. Would you rather get 1000 visitors but only make $10.00 or would you rather get 10 visitors and make $1000.00 dollars?

Potential: When you go to Google and do a search on the top and right hand side you will see ads. These are paid ads and the more that are there the better the chance of making money as they surely are making money on their keywords for that topic or they would not be advertising.

Popularity: Just because the topic is the apple of your eye, does not mean others will think it too. Also a topic may get lots of traffic, but you add a word to it and it drops off significantly so make sure that you do some good keyword research. For instance the keyword “cell phone” gets 13,600,000 searches a month, but “awesome cell phone” gets only 1000 per month. Big difference right?

Now you have an idea of what you are looking for in terms of the value of a website. There are many places that you can go to see what other websites are selling for or have sold for, just Google it.

If you plan on spending a great deal of money on the domain name then it would behoove you to research it thoroughly or get someone to do it for you. There are many places that you can pay to assess a possible domain for you. Some sites will also have a do it yourself wizard where you plug in numbers and it comes back with a worth. But in all honesty the site will only be worth as much as you are willing to spend on it.

It’s been two years since John started his online business. He is very much satisfied with his current web host whose services he acquired one year ago. Today John is relaxing in his chair and thinking about the initial days when he spent many hours on the Internet collecting information related to web hosting. Like him there are many John’s out there who are in search of information everyday, visiting this and that website hoping to find the most illuminating advice. The problem is that common topics of interest can be found on most of the websites whereas other relevant issues are not dealt with everywhere. This article is going to touch on one of those areas: various concerns related with domain names.

What is multiple domain hosting?

Many times you will see that a web host offers multiple domain hosting. In simpler words it means that on buying an account you will have the ability to get multiple websites. For instance, if the plan provides you with five domain names, you can use one domain for your website and you will still have four domain names leftover to use. The advantage of this scenario is that you can resell these four domain names to your clients.

What is Domain Parking?

If you are planning to build up a website and have decided on a name for it you then must purchase that domain name from a domain registrar: i.e. your domain name gets placed on a name server so that you can use it later on. This is known as domain parking. Even if your website content is not ready, it’s better to park your desired domain name. Otherwise, it might be possible that in future somebody else acquires that particular domain name.

What are sub domains?

Sub domains are ‘third level’ domains in the sense that they are used solely to organize your website content. They are simply folders under your root directory, but to access them a special URL is used.

For instance, http://www.m6.net is a regular URL without a sub domain.

http://features.m6.net is an URL with the sub domain name: “features”.

Here the:

.net: is the first level domain,

m6: is the second level domain,

features: is the third level domain

For how long does a domain name belong to you?

Generally when you register a domain name it is registered for a minimum of one year. However, you can register it for more years, as there is no hard and fast rule as such.

What is Domain Renewal?

After one year you need to renew your domain name so that your website doesn’t get lost. Generally when your domain is about to expire your domain registrar will send you a reminder mail regarding the domain renewal.

What happens when your domain name expires?

When your domain name expires you can renew it within one month. If you don’t renew it in this period it goes into a redemption phase. It stays in this redemption phase for 15 to 30 days before it is then available for purchase again at a normal price. Getting a domain name out of redemption phase is like buying fifty domains as it can cost around $200!

How to find out the owner of a domain name?

To find out the owner of a domain name, use the WhoIs search tool on the Internet .For E.g. Go to http://centralops.net/co/ and type the domain name under Domain Dossier. It will show you the name of the registrant/domain’s owner/web host.

What is WhoIs record?

WhoIS record is a domain name search engine/Internet program where users can enter an Internet entity (e.g. a domain, a network, some hosts) and it will give detailed information on the domain registrar, the owner of the domain, and respective DNS records.