Archive for the ‘Domain Names’ Category

One of the greatest strengths of the Web is that it gives everyone with a connection the ability to publish content, period. Anyone can register domain names and build attendant webpages, often for what amounts to a pittance. Some domains cost as little as ten dollars to register, or less if the buyer wishes to bundle the purchase of several names at once. Naturally, this flexibility has attracted the attention of people with less than honest motives for their efforts.

Like it or not, there are individuals online who aren’t content to promote their brand through their own efforts and hard work, but would prefer to profit by the work of others. They accomplish this through a number of unfortunate methods. They domain-squat on names they expect to become famous, use similar names and domains to get attention, and in general rely on the good name of brands they have nothing to do with to draw in business.

As part of the effort to build up a brand into something to be proud of, it’s important to focus on brand protection. It may sound silly on the surface; after all, who could be confused by Makdonolds as opposed to McDonalds? However the issue isn’t always quite so ridiculously clear, and can lead to a number of hassles a brand just doesn’t need. Here we share three common hazards and their solutions for safeguarding your brand.

Hazard 1 – Cybersquatting

In short, cybersquatting is a series of methods for registering and maintaining a domain name solely with the intent to profit from another agency that desires it.

The first method revolves around predicting the need for the domain name itself. As in the above example, suppose in the early days of the Internet someone outside McDonald’s had registered all the relevant domain names. When McDonald’s finally goes to establish a Web presence, they find the names they need are all taken, and thus have to bargain with this individual for terms under which he’ll sell them back, obviously at a profit to himself.

Other methods involve registering similar domain names to existent ones. Suppose again that McDonald’s had possession of McDonald’s.com, but not McDonald’s.net. The squatter picks up the .net domain, knowing that at least some people will come to the page out of curiosity or by accident. Once again, they can bargain with McDonald’s over ownership, or they can provide a link to McDonald’s own webpage, and thus get click-through traffic that can be monetized with ad revenue.

Solutions to Cybersquatting

Due to the fight over free speech and free market rights pertaining to the Web, cybersquatting is not easy to define as illegal. It is certainly unethical, but given the myriad of international laws governing the use of these domain names there is not always a clear recourse in overcoming these activities.

There are always methods that can be used, however. First, there is the legal recourse of going through ICANN for arbitration. However courts can and often have overturned ICANN’s rulings upon further review. The legal fees associated with this process may exceed the cost of simply buying the domain outright from the squatters.

Another option is to be creative with your domain names. Google, Yahoo, icanhascheezburger, and similar domain names share a certain nonsense quality. They aren’t commonly used words, and are less likely to get snapped up by squatters. If your business isn’t tied strongly to a real world word already, consider coming up with something outside the box to prevent yourself from getting squatted. Purchase several of the more common variations on your domain name as well, to prevent the parallel name style of squatting.

Hazard 2 – Typo Squatting

Typo squatting relies on common typing errors or shortcuts to redirect users to a site other than the one they intended to visit. For example, information.com could be typed as iformation.com or info.com, and lead to the squatting site instead of the intended location. While this may seem like a variant on cybersquatting, it ends up being rather different in practice.

As with parallel naming, the intent here is to use a similar name to draw in users looking for one site. However the intent is very rarely to sell the url to the parent company. More frequently, these sites direct to ‘gripe’ pages, spambots, malware propagators and other malicious activities.

Solutions to Typo Squatting

Once again, legal action can be taken to protect a brand (particularly if the squatters are profiting from the venture), but can quickly become expensive. A more cost-effective route for a smaller brand just getting started would be to post information to your Social Media News Room and webpage about any such sites you come across, with warnings and information on how to circumvent them. Taking responsibility for your brand is the best way to protect it and cement its value in your audience’s mind.

Hazard 3 – Complacency

It’s tempting to register a domain name and trademark, and think that’s all you need to do. However, neither of these confers automatic protection. Yes, they allow for recourse to the law in the event a case goes to court, but the Internet is a place where information moves quickly. By the time you fight things out in a court case that you may or may not actually win, people already have associated your brand with the spambot they accidentally got directed to.

Solutions to Complacency

Be proactive. Education is your best defense on the Web. Learn about common cybersquatting and typosquatting tactics. Check your domain and see if others are using these tricks to hurt your brand (consciously or inadvertently). Be aware, be informed, and take every step you can. The Internet is a dynamic place, and it falls to you to make sure that benefits you, rather than blemishes your brand.

About the Author

Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to http://www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at http://www.iBrandCasting.com/

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It’s best to think about your domain name before you get started but, even if you have already established a domain name, it’s possible to either change it or establish a second, more effective name that links to your primary site.

Domain name 101

A domain name is the address that is used to access your website. Your actual address is an IP or Internet Protocol address, a string of identifying numbers; the domain name is an easier way to remember an address. The entire area of domain names and IPs is governed by a body called ICANN. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

Every domain name is accompanied by an extension, .com for commercial sites, .org for not-for-profit sites, .gov for government sites, .edu for educational sites, .co.uk for UK commercial sites, .org.uk for not-for-profit UK sites and so on. There are other extensions for commercial enterprises such as .biz and .net which are often used if a .com domain name has already been claimed.

Domain names can be top level (TLD) or secondary level (2LD). A top level domain name sits at the top of the domain naming hierarchy with a name and extension such as .com. A secondary domain name is represented by a second extension such as .co.uk , for example representing a company as a commercial enterprise in the UK.

Some domain names are actually subdomains, names that are attached to already existing domains. Subdomains are typically established by the domain owner to represent a separate function or content area. Or, they are created by a hosting service that adds websites as subdomains.

A domain name must be registered by one of the on-line businesses that keep track of domain names. Please note you don’t have to host your website with the company from which you purchased the domain name. You can register your domain with one hosting company (eg the one offering the cheapest domain name prices), but host your actual website with a different company. This can be easily setup by changing the DNS settings of your domain name to your hosting package DNS settings (ask your hosting company for assistance on this matter if required).

Domain trademark infringement

A number of countries including the UK and USA have passed laws to prevent ‘cyber squatting’, that is, infringing on a trademarked name by including that name as part of a domain name.

Domain name selection

When choosing a domain name, you should make every effort to be sure that your domain’s name is descriptive of your product or service. Even if your company’s name is Toby Jones and Sons, Ltd, you may not want to name your site as your company name, because that name does not help product seekers to know that you sell fly fishing equipment. It makes more sense to select a domain name that search engines will identify easily as a sports equipment site.

Using Toby and Sons as an example, you may want to think about words such as sports, equipment, fly fishing, reels and tackle. It is of course, reasonable to add Toby to the name list, especially if your company’s name already has recognition.

The best way to select a domain name is to enter your wordlist into a domain generating tool such as Makewords, Bustaname or Instantdomainname. These tools will generate alternative domain names for you as well as identifying which names are available to register.

A word of caution here. These tools often generate hyphenated domain names in order to include as many keywords as possible. However, you need to strike a good balance between name relevance and ease of use. Many people simply don’t remember hyphens and you can end up driving a would-be user to a competitor site if the only difference in domain name is your use of a hyphen. In addition, while domain name counts as a search engine tool, it is only one of many factors so don’t make the mistake of overcomplicating your domain name to attract more traffic; this strategy can easily backfire.

Name purchase and registration

Once you find a name you want to use for your website, you must purchase and register that domain name. There are plenty of registrars, many that also offer a variety of other services including web hosting, website design services and so on. You can find a complete list of registrars that have been approved by ICANN at their website.

Bottom Line

Your domain name is your first introduction to users; name it well.

About the Author

eSources is the Internet’s largest wholesale directory of verified wholesalers, distributors, dropshippers, manufacturers and importers. Browse by country: Wholesale China, USA Wholesale & American Wholesalers, Italy Wholesale & Italian wholesalers.

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Expired domain name trading is not that easy as you think it to be! This is true especially when you have a domain that is not commercially feasible and viable. In general, the most common perception among people is that one buys an expired domain just to capitalize on the previous sites page rank as well as traffic.

However, this seems to be the conventional way of thinking! Times are changing and they will change in the future as well! The current buzz words are domain flipping, which means converting an expired domain into a viable entity capable of producing decent income for the owner. In general sense, an expired domain looses all its page rank and accumulated traffic, as soon as it drops and become defunct. It means that most of the expired domains in the registry are as good as dead and useless. Thus, expired domain industry is an intricate business, when you may need to try very hard to sell a pack of domain names.

You are indeed very lucky, if you are able to sell a domain name for a good asking price. However, it may not be the case every time you sell a domain name. Some of the domain names may fetch you a very small profit, while others may provide you an ample opportunity to earn lots of profit. Thus, you will need to find a suitable strategy to make your domain more viable and strong.

SEO is possibly the best known and well proven technique to assist your expired domain based web site to achieve that elusive commercial success. You will need to know the benefits and disadvantages of using this technology before choosing to apply its techniques. Major search engines never recognize expired domains and their backlinks and traffic. Thus, you may need to buy a domain before it actually expires and becomes defunct.

SEO technology works very well with your expired domains based web sites, just because you are starting afresh with new web site and a new identity. You will need to make sure that your web site is perfect with excellent content, as well as cleverly inserted Meta tags, to help your domain find its way to the top of the search pages.

On the alternative, it is still possible for you to find an expired domain name that boasts of traffic and incoming links. There are one or two minor issues here:

A) Domain flipping is a process of converting your expired domain into an entity like an active web site. If the expired domain name that you purchase does not relate to your business concept, then it may not be really wise to buy that domain, even if it has good traffic. However, you can still change and migrate over to the business concept related to the expired domain in question. Under such a scenario, you can always use the technique of SEO to make your site productive.

B) Ensure that the domain that you purchase has a clean record; some sites may have links to black hat systems and paid link web sites.

If these methods fail you, you may have to go for an expired domain that is capable of domain flipping and subsequent SEO promotion. SEO techniques ensure top placement in famous search engines, better page rank, plenty traffic and incoming links. Expired domains that are SEO enabled could bring you better income and sizeable profits.

About the Author

John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is the owner of the web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.

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Selling expired domain names forms an important aspect of domain trading, and a domain trader who excels in this activity can accumulate internet riches within a short time. A domain trader who is also a seasoned web master will have an edge over an inexperienced trader. An expired domain name that displays a considerable amount of traffic tend to have a lot of commercial value and it may sell for a very high price. There are a few numbers of domain-trading entrepreneurs, who are earning thousands of dollars every year. With little bit of basic knowledge and trading skills, even you can buy and sell domains to make a handsome amount of profits.

Here is some basic information and details that will help you conduct your domain trading business:

Step# 1: The first right step in domain trading business is finding a good and relevant keyword attached with the domain. Ensure that you are choosing a keyword not used frequently by people. A good keyword analyzer will help you evaluate and assess the commercial viability of a particular keyword. You can find a number of free keyword search tools in the market. But, they may not offer the best of features required to conduct a research. As far as possible, buy a good keyword tool that offers additional utilities to make your research better and complete. Paid keyword trackers also offer you additional details on a selected keyword like density, search probability and keyword demand placed by people. A carefully chosen keyword will assist you choosing the most suitable expired domain name.

Step# 2: Monetizing an expired domain name means adding value and empowering it to earn more money for your efforts. Monetization is an economic activity of entailing an expired domain with an opportunity to earn meaningful income. Hence, you may wish to buy a web hosting package and design a good web site. You may ask why you need a web hosting package and a dedicated web site. You can use the designed web site to drive traffic from that site to the purchased expired domain. Your overall focus should be to ensure enough traffic to the domain.

Step# 3: Selecting a good themed web site works wonder for your site visitors. You can even design a web site with a page or two to attract your visitors. If you wish you can add and incorporate relevant content to your web site.

Step# 4: You will also need to help and assistance of other service providers to monetize the expired domain name. Possible ways of monetizing your expired domain are enrolling your web portal with a good affiliate program or other commercial programs like Adsense. These lucrative programs provide you an opportunity to earn income by the way of click-through commission.

Step# 5: Traffic building is perhaps the best known monetization technique. If you are confident, you can even buy traffic from a commercial seller; ensure that you are buying a good pack of organic and generic traffic and not incentive ones. A good traffic pack will enable you to increase the overall traffic to your site by other portals. To enhance the viability of your traffic, you can register and upload the domain with major search engines and online directories. The ultimate secret to your expired domain trading business is to build links over a period, so that the domain becomes commercially ready to reap a rich harvest.

Finally, when you feel that your expired domain is ready for auction with a rich deposit of traffic, you can initiate the process by subscribing to major auction sites. If the expired domain based site is good, you can expect to sell it for a premium price.

About the Author

John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Your domain name is important to attract potential buyers, increase visibility, convey a professional image, and inspire trust. The following article will clarify the domain name registration process.

Having your own domain name is a must for a business web site. Your domain name or web address is a unique name identifying a specific web site.

You can register your domain name with .com or other extensions, including .net,.org,.info, and .us. Always register the .com name since most people are familiar with it. In addition, consider registering your domain name with .net to prevent competitors or speculators from registering a similar name.

Follow these tips when selecting a domain name.

* Choose a descriptive domain name that conveys professionalism and is easy to remember and type.

* Consider a domain name that represents your business name, product name, or indicates your type of business.

* Consider variations of your domain name like making it plural, adding dashes, or underscores.

* Include relevant keywords in your domain to boost your search-engine ranking. For example, web-design-resource-center, webdesignresourcecenter, or webdesignresources.

More tips about domain names

* A domain name can include up to 67 characters, including the .com, .net, .org, .edu, or other extensions.

* Domains cannot contain spaces.

* Domain names are NOT case sensitive, so you can spell your domain in uppercase, lower case, or a combination of both, e.g. MyDomain or mydomain.

* You can use numbers, letters, and hyphens (dashes) in your domain name, but the web address cannot start or end with a hyphen.

* Special characters such as exclamation point, question mark, dollar sign, percentage sign and others are not permitted in web addresses.

* Avoid confusing characters like 0 (zero), l (one), 2, s, and z to minimize the risk of typos. The number zero (0) can be confused with the letter O, and the number “1″ with the letter “l.”

* If you register a domain containing hyphens, also register the same name without the hyphens, for example, my-domain-name and mydomainname.

You can check the availability of a domain name at godaddy, networksolutions or any of the registrars listed by internic.

Registering a domain name

You can register your domain name yourself through domain name registration services, known as registrars. Internic provides a list of ICANN-accredited registrars (the organization governing domain names). When submitting a registration or transfer, the registrar will ask for the name of two domain name servers that contain your IP address. Your host will give you that information. Once your domain name has been registered or transferred, it takes approximately 72 hours before it becomes active.

Fees for domain name registration

Each registrar sets its own price for registering domain names. The fees to register a domain name for one year range from $3 to $35 a year. The typical price today is around $10. It’s a small price to pay to gain your prospects’ trust. You can register a domain name for one or several years. At the end of the registration term, you must pay a renewal fee to keep your domain name. If you don’t renew, someone else can take your domain name. Some registrars offer free or discounted registration services in connection with other offers, such as web hosting. Make sure they are reliable. Receiving a $10 discount is not worth the delays and hassles you may encounter. Ask your professional web designer to recommend a domain name registrar

Parking a domain name

If you want to reserve a domain name but don’t have a hosting company yet, you may have to pay a fee to a hosting company or registration service to hold or “park” the name. Some registrars charge for domain parking and others offer parking for free. Make sure they are reliable.

Protect your business and product names by registering them as a domain name before someone else does, and renew the registration before it expires.

IMPORTANT TIP: When registering your domain name, make sure you are both the billing contact and administrative contact. If your hosting company lists itself as the billing contact, you won’t have much leverage to keep your domain name if you decide to switch hosts.

When changing hosting companies, you can keep the same domain name and email address connected to that domain name. You simply transfer your domain name to a different hosting company.

Spend some time choosing an effective domain name. Your web designer can assist you with domain name registration.

About the Author

Leva Duell provides web design built on proven marketing strategies. Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ebook.html and get a FREE ebook, Inside Secrets to Developing a Profitable Web Site, providing powerful, non-techie web design and marketing strategies to increase your online profits.

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If you are thinking of investing in domain names it’s important that you understand your market. Top Level Domains or TLDs are growing by the day, some would say that this is a great way for certain bodies to make even more cash and some would say that it opens up the domain name market to people who missed the boat on coms.

Which ever way you look at it the release of new TLDs is going to happen on a regular basis over the coming years and one such TLD that has just released is .me.

One of the newly released TLDs, that is causing a lot of interest is the .me. There are of course several reasons as to why this particular TLD is causing so much interest and we can go through them one by one.

Firstly for all English speaking nations the word “me” is commonly used and understood, this gives the TLD an advantage over certain other TLD domain releases in the sense that it can become part of your domain name or brand, for instance: call me, date me…etc. This makes it easier to remember and in some cased to brand. Secondly, due to the fact that the domain extension has a very broad appeal it naturally lends itself to individual or personal web pages and blogs.

You can see this in action already in the tv extension that is widely being used and accepted by media companies around the world as a good domain name extension for television companies and online tv channels. The explosion in social networking sites and the move to personal connection web sites lends itself perfectly to the .me tld and I’m sure you will see one or two big players in the area within the next couple of years.

Also if you take into account how ISPs and web hosting providers are simplifying the web development process and supplying packages that can have you up and running in no time at all, they are removing the barriers to entry in the market everyday. Another interesting point about the .me extension is that it is totally open and anyone can register a domain name.

Another success story in the domain names area is the European extension eu. It was first released a couple of years ago and has since steadily crawled up the charts of the most popular extensions. At the last count it had reached 3 million registered domain names and is growing at a steady pace.

The two other areas that should be mentioned and I would suggest to study them well is India and China. Although to market for cn has been very closely control by the Chinese government up to now we are finally seeing a little relaxing in the controls. This can be seen in the rapid growth of registrations.

This is also thrue of India and their in CC. They are finally waking up to the value of their national CC. There are 2 billion people in these two markets, alone they dwarf the entire domain and is only a matter of time before most of the people in these countries are online.

Taking all of the above into consideration if you are thinking of starting your own web site, blog or even your own business, don’t overlook the possibilities of the .me extension.

About the Author

Bee Ltd is a domain acquisition and development company with many years experience in the domain name and internet market. You will find many useful articles and advice on all manner of subjects associated with domains names, SEO and web development at our site: Bee.eu

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