Who owns the most domain names

This is a hard thing to find out unless you’re a regular follower of the domain name industry. Unfortunately, one can’t run a WHOIS search based on owner name.

However according to this post on Domain Name Wire, NameMedia (they run buydomains.com) may indeed be the largest owner of domain names.

This post also quotes another source who ranks several other companies. Check the post out and you will find your answers.

How to sell domain names

There is an art to selling anything. The same is true for selling domain names. I personally don’t feel qualified to give you advice in this area, but I can point you to Domain Name Wire’s series “Selling Domains 101″. Currently, this series is made up of five posts that cover various aspects of selling domains. I will be adding to this list if/when more posts by Domain Name Wire are published.

Selling Domains 101 Part One: Terminology

Selling Domains 101 Part Two: Domain Aftermarkets

Selling Domains 101 Part Three: Domain Name Forums

Selling Domains 101 Part Four: Domain Brokers

Selling Domains 101 Part Five: End User Sales

Where do you sell domain names

The domain name market is exploding with places to sell domain names. A lot of registrars are beginning to offer their customers services for selling their domains. If you are interested in selling a domain name here are eight places to consider:

1. Sedo - Sedo has becomes one of the quickest growing domain name marketplaces. Buy or Sell domain names safely and proficiently. Sedo provides an escrow services in order to ensure the safe transfer of fund between buyer and seller. Read more about sedo on my blog and our in the recommended web tools section.
2. Afternic - The grandfather of all secondary market domain resellers, Afternic is also a very highly reputable name in the domain name marketplace.
3. Premium Domains - A relative newcomer, Premium Domains will only allow you to post your domain for sale through their service if it meets certain quality indicators. They provide a free quality calculator that will asses the quality of your domains.
4. NamePros - A domain name forum where it is possible for registered members to list their domains for sale.
5. DN Forum - Domain Name Forum allows members to post domain names for sale. While both DN Forum and NamePros are legitimate places to sell a domain name, the beginner is better off sticking with a place like Sedo or Afternic until they get a feel for the domain name market.
6. Great Domains - A Verisign company setup to handle the buying and selling of domain names.
7. Fabulous Domains - another domain name aftermarket.
8. TDNAM - GoDaddy’s “The Domain Name Aftermarket”. The place to sell your domain if you want it advertised with cute girls and women in bikinis.

Transferring Domain Names

Transferring domain names refers to the process of switching domain name registrars. Transferring domain names has nothing to do with the process of transferring ownership. The transfer of ownership is typically referred to in terms of buying and selling.

Why would you want to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another?
It simply comes down to three things:
1)Where do you like to shop
2)Customer Service
3)Services

You may decide that Registrar X has a better user interface than Registrar Y. Registrar X may have policies that you disagree with or has lousy customer service. Registrar X may have a better price than Registrar Y, but Registrar Y does not make it a hassle to manage your domains. The reasons for switching domain registrars are similar to switching grocery stores. This is a business and domain name registrars need to treat you as a valued customer.

Transferring a domain name is a two step process. First, unlock your domain at the registrar you are transferring from. Second, authorize the transfer at the registrar you are transferring to.

Unlocking A Domain

Unlocking a domain can be a very simple two step process. Some registrars have a “lock” or “unlock” option when the domain name is viewed within their management tool. Choose the unlock option. Second, set the domain password. This password will be used later as an authorization code. The example that follows below is a little more sophisticated. It is similar, but involves a few other steps. Login to your account with the registrar you want to transfer from.

Typically, clicking on the domain name will bring up options for that domain name. In this case, one of the options is Domain Protect:

The option is currently set to “On” (this is the same as “locked”). We now have the option to “Turn off or Request Authorization Code”. We want to turn domain protection off as well as request an authorization code. So checking the appropriate radio buttons and check boxes produces:

Clicking save at this point sets the domain to an unprotected or unlocked status. It also, with this registrar, generates the production of an email with an authorization code. This code will be needed to complete the transfer process at the other registrar.

At this point, all the information needed to begin the process at the new registrar has been gathered.

Completing the Transfer Process

For this portion of the example, Moniker will be used as the new registrar. Remember, this process is similar at most registrars though certain elements may be different. Consult the help pages of your registrar of choice if you get stuck.

Moniker has Transfer Domains as menu item on their navigation bar:

Clicking “Transfer Domains” leads to a page with the following box:

Enter the domain you desire to transfer and click the GO button.

The registrar then determines if this domain is available to be transferred:

If the domain is eligible to be transferred, click the Transfer button:

At this point an authorization screen is displayed:

This screen requires two inputs: an EPP Transfer Code and the Moniker Authorization Code. The latter is generated by Moniker and is sent out via email. Copy and paste this code from the email. This email is usually generated and sent immediately upon arriving at this screen.

The EPP Transfer Code can be one of two things. First, it can be the authorization code sent from the registrar you want to transfer from. Our little demo fits this case. From the email above, the authorization code should be copied and pasted into the EPP Transfer Code line. Second, if the registrar does not send out an authorization code, the password used to protect the domain should be entered here. If no password is set, set one now and then enter that password into this field.

Once the codes are entered, click Transfer again. The user is then taken to the shopping cart to checkout.

Domain Transfers typically cost a little more than a new domain registration or renewal. However, the new registration time is added to the domain. For example, a domain with an expiration of 04-01-2007 is transferred on 10-01-2006. It is transferred to the new registrar with a one year registration. The new expiration date is not 10-01-2007, but rather 04-01-2008.

This post is excerpted from my Domain Name Handbook: Choosing, Registering and Managing Domain Names.

How to register a domain name

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One of my favorite domain registrars is Moniker. Feel free to use your own registrar of choice. I will be using screen shots from Moniker as examples.

On the Moniker website, I enter my desired domain name in their Advanced Domain Search window.

Clicking “search now” returns all the possible registrations available for “lasagnaworld”. Each registrar will behave a little differently at this point. Moniker automatically checks all the available names. Also, before checking or unchecking any of the domain names, make sure the service has finished searching all available names. Once the seraching is complete, THEN move forward with selecting/deselecting. )I didn’t wait once and while I deselected a bunch of TLD’s, a bunch of others still showed up on my Shopping Cart.) For my “lasagnaworld” name I unchecked all the other suffixes and left the .COM version checked.

Once all the desired domains have been selected, click add to cart

Moniker brings up another page of options. Most registrars do this in some form. They are either trying to sell other services (like web hosting) or addon features to your domain name. The only option worth considering is Domain Privacy. Moniker’s price of $4 for a private domain registration is relatively inexpensive compared to other registrars.

Choose Domain Privacy by checking the check box. Clicking Add Cart will lead you to a screen with more services. Click the continue button until you get to the final shopping cart screen which will look like this:

From here the process is like a normal ecommerce transaction. Once complete you will have your own domain name!

This post is excerpted from my Domain Name Handbook: Choosing, Registering and Managing Domain Names.

Using Brand Based Domains

Brand based domains are domain names chosen based on a particular name by which that website or product will be known or marketed. These kinds of names are typically not keyword rich. Keep in mind that even keyword based domain names are “branded.”

Almost all current retail brick and mortar stores use their retail name as their domain name. Target, Walmart, etc. are using their “brand” to also promote their website.

It should be noted that no matter the domain name used, all domains are brand based. Every single website is “branded” by its domain name. It is how it is known and referenced. However, some domain name names are chosen simply because of the “brand” and not because of any particular keyword. For example, I could have named my website gigglesnort.com. No one would know what the website was about by simply looking at the name. The key task with such a website is to market the brand. If done successfully, gigglesnort.com could be readily associated with web tools in my market’s mind.

Think of some domains that are chosen simply to become a brand. Here is a short list:

-Google
-Yahoo
-del.ico.us
-technorati
-flickr
-Amazon

The purpose of these websites is not readily apparent by their name alone. However, all of us have become familiar with the brand over time and can readily communicate the purpose of each of these websites.

So should you choose a strictly brand based domain name?

If you already have a brand in place with your brick and mortar business, than the answer is yes.

If you are a beginner and looking to develop your first website, I would strongly recommend a keyword based domain. Very few beginners have the marketing skill necessary to truly create a “brand”. Start simple and develop those skills while ensuring some search engine love with a keyword based domain.

This post is excerpted from my Domain Name Handbook: Choosing, Registering and Managing Domain Names.

Keywords and Domain Names

Domains based on keywords are the most common since they typically use words that are typically used in the English (or native) language. My website, Recommended Web Tools is an example of a domain name based on keywords.

What are keywords?
Keywords are the actual words and phrases used by people searching the search engines. While keyword analysis is beyond the scope of this post, finding high traffic keywords (or parts thereof) and using them in you domain name is key. Also, it is important to consider using one term in your domain name that actually describes what your website is about. Keep this one little tidbit in mind: search engines do consider the domain name when figuring out the relevancy of a website. So if your website is solely about “hammers” and your domain name is ThingsRUs.com then you are missing out on some good search engine relevancy. HammersRUs.com would be a much better name.

To further develop the name for a hammer website, HammerStore.com would be an even better choice. It uses a second “real” word and avoids using an abbreviation (the “r”) and does not use any common or meaningless words (the “us”).

So when using keywords in you domain name keep in mind the following:

1. use at least ONE term that relates to the actual content of your website
2. if possible, use a potentially high traffic term(s). This is not always possible, but ideal.

This post is excerpted from my Domain Name Handbook: Choosing, Registering and Managing Domain Names.

Choosing Quality Domain Names

So what makes up a quality domain name?

• use real words found in any standard dictionary
• preferably use generic words not esoteric words
• no more than 4 words used in the domain. If 4 words are used, these words should be fairly short (see character length below). Ideally 1-3 words make a better domain name.
• these words should be meaningful in context. For example, fishbirddogcat.com doesn’t make much sense. However, petfoodstore.com does.
• abbreviations or three or four letter names (gytr.com or itx.com) should be avoided unless they are indeed meaningful or relate to the name of an actual business
• use typical word sequence. petfoodstore.com not storefoodpet.com
• 21 characters or less in length
• no numeric characters (0-9). Generally avoid www.store4u.com
• no hyphens. Avoid www.store-for-you.com
• no typographical errors (www.stor.com)
• does not infringe upon another company’s trademarks or other intellectual property rights.
• use a .COM extension

Of course there are exceptions to almost all of these rules. You can strongly brand a nonsensical word and gain lots of traffic. However, this is a task for someone with experience and not for the beginner. Such advanced topics are not covered here. Remember, domain names are an investment even if you think you are just going to goof around on the web.

Other extensions (.NET, .ORG, etc.) can have quality domains as well. However, the equivalent .COM name will ALWAYS be seen as higher quality and thus more valuable.

How potentially valuable is that domain name?

From Domain Name Wire:

Keep in mind that all of these domains were expiring. The owners of these domains let these valuable assets expire.

Jasmin.com $310,250
MovieRentals.com $100,249
FreePicks.com $91,250
Looks.com $86,650
Favorite.com $75,805
Scrooge.com $75,250
CityCenter.com $72,250
Yonkers.com $70,750

These amounts represent what the domains actually sold for at an expiring domain name auction. Amounts the previous owners let slip through their fingers.

This post is excerpted from my Domain Name Handbook: Choosing, Registering and Managing Domain Names.

How to use a Bulk Class C IP Checker

Ok, what the heck is a Bulk Class C IP Checker?

First, we must ask the question what is a Class C IP Address:

From How Stuff Works:

Class C - Class C addresses are commonly used for small to mid-size businesses. IP addresses with a first octet from 192 to 223 are part of this class. Class C addresses also include the second and third octets as part of the Net identifier. The last octet is used to identify each host. This means that there are 2,097,152 (221) Class C networks each with 254 (28 -2) possible hosts for a total of 536,870,912 (229) unique IP addresses. Class C networks make up an eighth of the total available IP addresses. Class C networks have a first bit value of 1, second bit value of 1 and a third bit value of 0 in the first octet.

So a Class C Ip address is an IP address for small to mid-size websites. The domain names you and I would purchase fall into this category.

A bulk Class C IP Checker checks multiple domain names at once and displays whether they are hosted on the same server or not. Why would this be helpful?

If you were to purchase multiple text link ads for your advertising campaign, you want each link to be hosted on a different server. Search engines can tell where that link resides. Even though your links may appear on multiple websites, all those websites may reside on the same server. Search engines have a tendency to disqualify the extraneous links if they see they all come from the same IP address. So to ensure you get the most link-bang for your buck, you want each link to reside on a different server. Thats were the bulk checker comes in.

Bulk ip checkers are a dime a dozen, most webmaster websites have one. I will point you to Bulk C Class IP Checker at Authority Domains for two reasons.
First, the screen output is formatted nicely. They break out the domains by unique ips, duplicate class c blocks, duplicate ips, failed to resolve domain names and all domains/ips. Second, the tool will let you download the results in a cvs file, a function which a lot of ip checkers dont have.

Once you begin to develop you text link ad campaign, make sure you run the websites through the ip checker first. It would be a waste of money if you weren’t getting your dollar’s worth from the search engines for each of your links.

Domain Name Terms and Definitions

Internet - The collective whole of networked computers across the globe. This includes the World Wide Web, email, FTP and other protocols.

World Wide Web - a portion of the Internet where websites reside. It is graphically capable and is supported by such languages as HTML and CSS.

URL - Universal/Uniform Resource locator - this is the complete unique address of a website on the World Wide Web. It is made up of three components: the protocol, the host name and the domain name. HTTP:// is the protocol. WWW is the host name. example.com is the domain name. Put them together to get: http://www.example.com

HTTP - HyperText transfer protocol. The protocol of the World Wide Web.

Domain Name - The registered domain name with the attached protocol: www.example.com

Top Level Domains (TLD) - term referring to all the suffixes on the end of the domain name proper: .COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, .US, etc.

gTLD - generic top level domain names - those TLD’s that are non-country specific.

aero - gTLD that is reserved for members of the members of the aviation industy and is sponsored by Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA).

.biz - gTLD that is restricted to businesses. The domain must be used for business or commerical purpose. This gTLD is operated by NeuLevel, Inc.

.cat - gTLD that is reserved for the Catalan linguistic and cultural community and is sponsored by Fundació puntCat

.com - gTLD that is open to all individuals and businesses. It is the most popular TLD available. It is operated by VeriSign Global Registry Services.

.coop - gTLD that is reserved for various kinds of cooperative associations and is sponsored by Dot Cooperation LLC.

.edu - gTLD that is reserved for postsecondary institutions accredited by an agency on the U.S. Department of Education’s list of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies and is registered only through Educause.

.gov - gTLD that is reserved exclusively for the United States Government. It is operated by the US General Services Administration.

.info - gTLD that is open to all individuals and businesses. It is operated by Afilias Limited.

.int - gTLD that is used only for registering organizations established by
international treaties between governments. It is operated by the IANA .int Domain Registry.

.jobs - gTLD that is reserved for human resource companies and human resource personnel. It is sponsored by Employ Media LLC.

.mil - gTLD that is reserved exclusively for the United States Military.
It is operated by the US DoD Network
Information Center.

.mobi - gTLD that that is reserved for consumers and providers of mobile products and services and is sponsored by mTLD Top Level Domain,
Ltd.

.museum - gTLD that is is reserved for museums and those in the museum profession. It is sponsored by the Museum Domain Management Association.

.name - gTLD that is reserved for personal, individual usage and is operated by Global Name Registry. .name email addresses are listed as firstname@lastname.name or lastname@firstname.name, while Web sites are listed as www.firstname.lastname.name

.net - gTLD that is operated by VeriSign Global Registry Services. Anyone can register a .NET domain.

.org - gTLD that is operated by Public Interest
Registry. while its purpose is to serve the non-profit community, all are eligible to register with .org.

.pro - gTLKD that is restricted to credentialed professionals (doctors, lawyers, accountants) and related entities and is operated by RegistryPro.

.travel - gTLD that is reserved for the travel industry and is sponsored by Tralliance Corporation.

Second level domains - the name portion of a domain. In example.com, .com is the top level domain and “example” is the second level domain.

Subdomains - These could be called third level domain names. They are attached as prefixes to the second level domain. In news.example.com, “news” is the subdomain.

Registered Domain Name - the second level and top level domain put together: example.com

Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) - A fully-qualified domain name includes all parts of a domain: the hostname or subdomain, the domain name, and the top-level domain. They are often seen in the URLs for Web sites (e.g.”http://www.example.com”).

ccTLD - < a href="http://www.iana.org/root-whois/index.html">country code Top Level Domain Names Examples: .us, .de, .es.

Domain Registrar - a company that registers domain names for individual users.

ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. This regulatory organization manages the DNS.

DNS - Domain Name System - The system by which domain names are translated into IP Addresses.

IP Address - a number representing the “address” of a particular computer or server. IP addresses are comprised of four numbers between 0 and 255, separated by periods (e.g. 216.168.224.69).

Propagation - The process where domain names are updated/added/deleted from the DNS. Once a domain name is registered it usually takes 2-3 days for it to be available on the Internet.

WHOIS - A central database which tracks all domain name/IP registrations. Each domain name registrar typically maintains its own version of a WHOIS database.

Domain Name Appraisal - The process of evaluating a domain name’s worth and market value.

Escrow - A third party service that will essentially hold on to the buyer’s payment when selling a domain name, thereby protecting both the buyer and seller.

Domain Name Parking - Domain registration services offer the ability to temporarily place a newly purchased name on their servers until a hosting plan is purchased. This is known as parking. Other services offer the capability of monetizing domain parking pages.

Registrant - The individual or organization that registers a specific domain name.

Administrative Contact - When a domain is registered an administrative contact is named. Typically, this is the individual who is purchasing the domain. However, in a company setting, this could be a named employee.

Billing Contact - When a domain is registered a billing contact is named. A billing contact is the person designated to receive the invoice for domain name registration and renewal fees. The billing contact should be in a position to ensure prompt payment of fees.

Technical Contact - The person responsible for handling the technical aspects of a domain. If a corporation is the registrar of the domain, this person might be an employee within the companies IT department.

The history of the Internet

Forget about the future. Interested in knowing how we got to this point of our Internet-driven world?

Check out these sites about the history of the Internet:

A Brief History of the Internet - Robert X. Cringely’s guide to the history of the Internet.

Timeline of Internet History - Robert Hobbes Zakon’s history of the Internet in easy to read timeline form.

A Short History of the Internet - the W3’s short history of the Internet.

Did you know that by starting a website you are adding to the history of the Internet? While you may not be the next YouTube, your website makes and changes the digital landscape.

The future of the Internet

Interested in the future of the Internet?

Check out the following resources:

Internet Society - organization which sets Internet standards

Internet 2 - Organization which leads the construction of a high speed network which currently connects connects two-thirds of college campuses and one-third of U.S. high schools.

Abilene - information on the network backbone that runs the Internet2. Checkout the weathermap which displays the main nodes of the network and the usages between those nodes. Note that the nodes between New York and Chicago are more highly used than the nodes between Seattle and Silicon Valley. Interesting.

IPv6 - the new internet protocol.

Is your domain name registrar a licensed registrar?

When choosing a domain name registrar you want to make sure they are a legitimate business and authorized to register domain names.

ICANN publishes a list of all their accredited domain name registrars. ICANN accredits these registrars to register names with the following Top Level Domains: .aero, .biz, .cat, .com, .coop, .info, .jobs, .mobi, .museum, .name, .net, .org, .pro, .travel.

If you have never heard of a domain name registrar before, it pays to visit this list to make sure they are accredited. If they are not, then do not register your name with them. Non-accredited companies are either a scam or are naively thinking they are registering domains when they cannot.

A lot of domain name registrars typically have DBA (Doing Business As) names. If you can’t find your registrar on the list under there common name, try to find out the name of their parent company. Typically it is the name of this parent company that is listed.

Who Controls Domain Names

There are several layers involved in the control and ownership of domain names.

The topmost level is ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

From their own site:

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers. These include domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .UK), as well as the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols. Computers use these identifiers to reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet’s operation, so ICANN’s global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet’s ongoing security and stability.

ICANN is essentially responsible for the DNS (Domain Name System). The Domain Name System’s job is to resolve domain names to IP addresses. For more information how the DNS works visit How the DNS Runs.

While they do not have any control over domain name registration, the ISOC (Internet Society) is the organization that oversees the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This task force oversees Internet standards. Any work in the future to further develop the Internet and its protocols will have an affect on domain names as well. So if you want to really pay attention to efforts in this area, you should pay attention to all three organizations.

For more information on the practicalities of choosing, registering and managing domain names, download my Domain Name Handbook.

What are domain names and how they work

It almost seems silly to me to answer the question “What are domain names?”. It is almost akin to someone who has been driving for years asking “What is a street address?”

I have watched beginners and followed various reports and keyword lists to determine the following:

- average World Wide Web users tend to refer to domain names as “website names.” It seems to be fairly common practice. However, the name of a website often is not totally reflected in the the domain name. Domain names and websites are intertwined in users minds. Of course there is a very tight relationship between the two, however most don’t recognize the inherent value in a domain name which is totally separate from its connection to website content.

- many people do not use the address bar of their web browser to type in a web address. I am amazed when I look at keyword lists and find that people are typing in “google” and “yahoo”. What does this mean? It means people use their default home page in their browser (usually provided by their ISP) to search for these websites. They could have just as easily set the Home function of their browser or typed in the URL directly. I know, it seems weird to search for “google”.

It seems to me that many may not know what a domain name is after all.

Take the following URL: http://www.example.com

It has three main parts:

1. The protocol: http://
2. The Host Name: www
3. The domain name: example.com

The domain name itself can be broken into two parts:

1. The Top Level Domain (TLD): .com (.org, .net are other examples of TLDs)
2. the second level domain: example

Third level domains exist as well and are known as subdomains. Example: subdomain.example.com

It is best to think of domains like addresses on a house. Websites are the houses or buildings and domain names are the addresses.
However, domain are probably more like the land upon which the house is built. A domain has value (just like land), whether or not their is website content associated with it.

There are several resources that are helpful in further understanding the Internet and Domain Names.

• How the Internet Runs - A audio slide show that explains the history of the Internet, the structure of the internet and the agencies involved in maintaining various aspects of the Internet. It runs 35 mins. You need to use IE in order to view it. There is a section at the end which introduces domain names.
• How the DNS Works - Picks up where the above leaves off. Explains the Domain Naming System. Runs 25 mins.

These two resources are excellent for beginners. There is the occasional slip-up by the presenter, but overall the content is good.

For more information about choosing quality domain names, download my Domain Name Handbook. Written for beginners, The Domain Name Handbook takes a simple look at choosing, registering and managing domain names.

The Domain Name Handbook Now Available

Introducing the first ebook from Recommended Web Tools and Flyer Computer Resources LLC:

The Domain Name Handbook

The Domain Name Handbook is written with the beginner in mind. It provides several step by step instructions to choosing, registering, and managing domain names.

The goal of the ebook is to help beginners get started. Version 1.0 covers the basics of choosing, registering, transferring, and parking domain names. Future versions will include sections on buying and selling domain names as well a glossary of domain industry terms.

The ebook is provided in PDF format and comes in two versions: Non-Printable and Printable.

The Non-Printable version is free. However, you won’t be able to print the PDF document.

The Printable version costs $1 USD. (yes, thats one buck!).

I will explain my reason for the non-printable and printable versions in a later post. It has more to do with my philosophy of ebooks that is not worth going into detail here.

The content of each version is the same.

If you have ANY problem downloading either version please me me know. Leave a comment on this post or use my contact form.

Happy Reading!

Finding recommended domain name registrars

Looking for a good domain name registrar?

Every year Name Intelligence (they are the company behind the Domain Tools website) produces a series of awards. These awards are focused on the Domain Name industry and are aptly named “The Name Intelligence Awards“. They hand out these awards during the spring (so, yes, this post can be consider very late or very early). The list of rewards for 2006 provides an excellent list of resources. Not only are there lists of registrars but other domain name resources. So if you are looking for a new domain name registrar browse their list.

If you want my own opinion on the matter, view my domain name registrar page.

Domain Name Notebook

I am starting 2007 with a series on domain names. Look for several domain related posts in the next weeks. I will also be publishing an ebook on domain names. I hope to do this by weeks end (if not, then next week.) This ebook will focus on beginners and will be available for free. More details will follow.

Why write about domain names?

First, it is the very first item to begin to understand to get oneself up and running on the web.

Second, a lot is misunderstand about domain names.

Third, my focus is on helping beginners, thus why not start at the beginning.

Personalized, Short and Memorable Domain Names at URLDoctor

Do you have one of those long unwieldly URL’s from Flickr, MySpace, YouTube or other personal web sites? Ever tried to share that URL with a friend?

You can’t dictate it, it is too long and too complicated. You can send it in an email, but long URL’s sometimes get broken when the email is sent. Most URL shortening services provide a possible solution, but the URL is still random and not memorable.

Solution: URLDoctor.com

URLDoctor takes those long URL’s and changes them to something short and memorable.

For example, your Flickr photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myphotostuff
It is isn’t horribly unwiedly, but communicating that to others still isnt easy. (Note the URL’s in this example are madeup for demonstration purposes.)

At URLDoctor, you get to choose a personal URL. First, choose your name. It can be your name, a nickname, a pseudonym, whatever. For this example, I choose “Paul”. Second, choose one of 2500 options. I can choose “DoesPhotography.com”. So my personal URL becomes paul.doesphotography.com. I associate my flickr URL to this new URL. Now, I have something short and MEMORABLE I can give to people to find my photo site. It is easy to email and to dictate. Another advantage is the ability to switch the associated URL at any time. Say you tire of Flickr and have uploaded your photos to another site. Simply switch the associated URL. People can still find you at paul.doesphotography.com, they are just redirected to the new site.

URLDoctor is a great idea for anyone who maintains a personal website with an unwieldly URL. Too bad something like this didn’t exist back in the geocities heyday.

[tags]urldoctor, domains, domain+names, flickr, myspace, youtube[/tags]

Domain Name Wire Blog Review

Domain Name Wire is THE place to learn about the ins and outs of the domain name industry.

Andrew (the author) provides helpful reviews of domain name tools and websites as well as commentary on the latest domain name news. He also allows readers to peek into his domain world by providing statistics on his domain names, etc.

While it is always interesting to see how much certain domain names sold for, the greatest value of the blog is reading his commentary. A lot can be learned from even the most indirect comments, especially if one becomes a long term reader.

I have had Domain Name Wire in my RSS reader for a long time, but only over the last few months have I read it more regularly. I became an avid reader when I became convinced about the need to have a diverse portfolio of domain property. Before jumping in and buying domain names willy nilly I would recommend reading through several past months of posts and then reading the next few future months. Remember that the domain name industry is a business, not a slot machine.

[tags]domains, blogs, domain+names[/tags]

Definition of Cybersquatting

iREIT President Marc Ostrofsky defines cybersquatting:

Let me defining cyber-squatting, since I’ve been called a cyber-squatter. A cyber-squatter is someone who owns a name that is trademarked, copywritten or otherwise [intellectual property]-protected by another firm. But as an industry, we typically only buy generic names like “cars,” “shoes,” or “mutualfunds.” I wouldn’t ever own “Fidelitymutualfunds.com.”

via Domain Name Wire

[tags]domains, cybersquatting[/tags]

Purchase Expiring Domain Names with SnapNames

Every day thousands of domain names expire. Snapnames is a great resource to find and purchase those expiring domain names.

What is an expired domain name?

When a domain name is registered (purchased and submitted to the correct registration authorities), it has a certain life. Typically, a registration period is one year. Sometimes owners may purchase a two year registration or more. When that registration period ends, the domain name becomes expired UNLESS the owner has renewed the registration. Think of it like a drivers license. Though in this case, we are talking about online property. To better understand the process, look at this chart which describes the expiration process.

Snapnames has partnered with several domain registrars to list their expiring domain names. Users can see upcoming expirations and place a bid on those names.

How it Works:

• Find a domain name
• Place A bid on that name. Minimum bid is $60. All bids are contractually binding.
• IF the name does expire (sometime the owners renew at the last minute), SnapNames seeks to acquire the domain name.
• If the domain name is acquired by SnapNames, the domain name is placed on auction to all initial bidders. Think of it like Ebay for domain names.
• If no one else bid on the name, then the name is yours for $60.
• If others have bid, a three day auction takes place.
• Name goes to the highest bidder.

Before one gets involved in the domain name property business, watch the next few posts for resources on learning more.

Sedo - Buy and Sell Domain Names

Sedo is the place to go to buy or sell a registered non-expired domain name. In contrast, places like Snapnames focus on soon-to-expire domain names or something like Domaintools locates actually expired domain names.

Sedo claims to have 3 million domain names for sale. It is hard to verify that number, but from doing a few basic searches it is easy to tell that the catalog is indeed quite large. Keep in mind that a lot of domain names are fallow. They do not have any kind of traffic or worth. The goal is to find domain that have been somewhat cultivated (or easily) cultivated and bought at a reasonable price. The advanced search tools provided by Sedo enables a user to do just that.

The search capabilty allows user to search by keyword, extension, category, price, date and length. Results can be sorted alphabetically, quality, bids, price, and traffic. With the sheer amount of domain to wade through, this kind of advanced searching is helpful.

Sedo acts like the middle man in the transaction between buyer and seller. Buyers place bids and sellers respond to bids via the account center. Financial transactions between buyer and seller and mediated by Sedo as well.

Why bother with buying and selling domains? Think of domains as online real estate. But instead of the mantra: “Location, Location, Location” think “Name and Traffic, Name and Traffic, Name and Traffic”.

[tags]domains, domain+name[/tags]

DomainTools.com - All the basic domain tools

Formerly whois.sc, Domaintools.com is “a place for every type of diagnostic widget related to domain names.”

While I have not explored the complete website, the tools I have used have been not only useful, but viewer friendly (nice font, nice layout, etc.). The latter is a huge plus over other domain tool sites.

The Whois search is very readable and does not require multiple page clicks to get to the information. From the Whois results, users can perform pings, dns lookups and traceroutes.

Domaintools can also be used to located your own IP address.

Two powerful tools are the Domain Search and Domain Auction.

Domain Search searches the entire universe of domain names. Use it to locate if a particularly domain name is being used OR to find expired domain names who name is available for purchase.
Domain Auction works similarly but pulls its data from Snapnames.com. I have found I like the interface for searching provided by DomainTools over that at Snapnames.

Overall, Domaintools is a great site for a variety of domain related tools. The basic tools are free or require a free membership. More advanced tools are available with higher membership levels.

Thoughts on the GoDaddy IPO

Domain Name Wire has a recent post about GoDaddy’s Initial Public Offering.

Three things stood out to me:

1. GoDaddy’s growth over the last five years has indeed been incredible. Amazing even.
2. GoDaddy does not make a profit. I always scratch my head when unprofitable businesses want to go public. Will going public make them profitable all of a sudden? I also scratch my head when people are willing to invest in unprofitable companies. What evidence do they have that this company will all of a sudden make a profit?
3. Domain Name Wire writes:

   Last month I wrote about how I believe GoDaddy is violating ICANN’s domain transfer policy by making it difficult to transfer domains away from GoDaddy to its competitors.

   For a variety of reasons, I decided to leave GoDaddy as my registrar last year. It DID take forever to get the domains transferred. It really was eye opening. It also confirmed my decision to leave them. Domain Name Wire is correct on this point.

[tags]domains, godaddy[/tags]