Domain Names | My Hosting Compare Blog

Archive for the ‘Domain Names’ Category

September 8

by Smitha

Make the Most of Your Domain Name

It is not enough just to have purchased a good domain name, and a hosting package to go with it. Using the domain effectively is the key to the success of your business. Keep in mind the following points to make the most of your domain name.

Registration Period: Register your domain name for an extended period of time to avoid it falling into redemption. It is safer to go for reliable registrars who charge reasonably rather than cheap registrars who offer you the earth. There is only so much that a cheap registrar can offer. You also earn the trust of your visitors when you register for a long period with a reliable registrar.

Website: Kick start your online presence by setting up a website. Find a (more…)

Tags: create website, DNS, domain name, registration period, reliable hosting provider
Posted in Domain Names | No Comments »

August 27

by Smitha

The First Ever Registered Domain Name Changes Hands

Since its original registration on March 15, 1985, Symbolics.com, the first ever registered domain name, has been purchased by the Missouri-based XF.com Investments, changing hands for the very first time. The historic domain name was purchased from Symbolics for an undisclosed price. The Symbolics company is still in operation, nearly 25 years after making history. XF.com Investments, a real estate and domain investment company, considers this purchase a special milestone worth celebrating.

Tags: first-ever domain name, Symbolics
Posted in Domain Names | No Comments »

August 17

by Smitha

Check the Domain’s Background Before Buying an Expired Domain

It’s true that some expired domain names give you the added advantage of a good page rank, and “link popularity”. However, you will need to do some serious research to ensure you buy a domain name without a history of problems. After all, the chosen domain name should not pose a risk to your online business’ future. A carefully chosen domain can help you capitalize on what the previous site has accomplished, save your business the trouble of clawing all the way up from the bottom of the search results page, and give it the much-needed jumpstart for your online success.

There are several key indicators with which you can check an expired domain name:

Check Google cache

Google blocks domain names that break their stringent regulations. Check if an expired domain name has breached any of Google’s guidelines by associating itself with serial spamming or reciprocal linking infraction. If it has, then getting a Google ranking would be difficult. Type “cache:domainname.com” in the Google search box for a snapshot of the version of the site that was last used for indexing. If no cached version exists, it signals a problem.

The date the domain name was originally created

Search the WHOIS database to find out the date of creation and expiry of the domain name. If the domain has been in existence for long, there is better chance of Google ranking it higher because of the “stability” associated with it. Check also how frequently the site has changed its hosting provider, which speaks a lot in terms of “stability”.

Nature of content
(more…)

Tags: choosing expired domain names, domain's background, search WHOIS, site's backlinks
Posted in Domain Names | 1 Comment »

August 12

by Smitha

Benefit From Expired Domain Names

Thousands of developed and thriving domains expire everyday. When a domain name expires, it becomes available to the public until someone else registers it. These expired domains would be continuing to receive endless traffic from search engines and also from a number of valuable links spread out across various locations in the Internet. Imagine launching a new website that already has a web presence with established traffic, the website having been promoted by its previous owner. This would be every marketer’s dream! Buying an expired domain name would be a good opportunity for you to cash in on.

Why Do Domains Expire?
There are many reasons for a domain name to have expired. The owner could just have forgotten to renew the domain name (maybe he was on a trip!), not paid the renewal fee, or just lost interest in the project.

How Do Domains Expire?
When a domain reaches its expiry date, the registry no longer delegates the DNS servers to its owner. All services will terminate and the domain goes into “expired” status. Termination does not mean the domain has been deleted. Some registries provide a grace period after deactivation following which the domain gets deleted. Grace periods may vary depending on registrars and TLDs. During the grace period, the current holder can still renew the domain for a standard renewal fee. However, achieving this status is a good indicator that the domain may not be renewed.

After the grace period, the domain moves into the “redemption period” during which time all WHOIS information is erased, and it will now cost the current holder an additional fee to reactivate and renew the domain registration. Back orders can be placed with the registrar at anytime during this process to guarantee you are first to be eligible when the domain registration becomes available.

The Benefits of a Pre-Owned Web Address

A domain registered with major site listings is better than a “blank slate” domain that nobody knows about. (more…)

Tags: expired domain names, pre-owned web address, website traffic
Posted in Domain Names | 4 Comments »

August 6

by Smitha

Value of ‘Country Specific’ Domain Name Extensions

A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) or country specific domain name is a TLD generally used or reserved for a country. They are now gaining in popularity given that the usual extensions like .com and .net are fast being snatched up by so many websites.

Each country has its own extension. For example, Britain uses .co.uk, India uses .co.in and Germany uses .de. Country-specific domain extensions are generally targeted at a particular country. Most countries prefer their ccTLD over a TLD. It is not necessary for a website to be physically located within the country of the extension. However each country has its own set of guidelines, like a .ca (Canadian) domain extension is available only for Canadian companies, while some countries have opened up their registration for anyone. It is always advisable to research country codes before they are bought.

Benefits of Using Country Specific TLDs

Identifies itself to a certain geographical location. For e.g. people in the USA need not have to waste their time trying to purchase a service from ‘drycleaning.co.uk.’
Country specific domain names are given a ranking boost by local search engines (Google.co.uk, Google.cn, Google.co.in, Google.com.au).
Increases your click-through rates, i.e. if you are targeting a U.K. audience, and your display URL in your Google Adwords account shows a .co.uk domain name, you instantly gain credibility.
You can customize and optimize the content to suit your market. For e.g. British consumers are more conservative and careful to market messages posted on websites. (more…)

Tags: boosts google ranking, ccTLD benefits, country specific domain names, targeted traffic, why ccTLD
Posted in Domain Names | No Comments »

June 18

by Smitha

Domain Name Transfer - The Process

The process of domain transfer varies with Top Level Domains (TLD’s) - .com/.net/.org/.us/.biz/.info, etc.

Broadly speaking, the transfer process comprises of the following steps:

Any domain lock that has been placed on the registration is removed.
User contacts the new registrar with the desire to transfer the domain name to their service.
Authentication code is provided by the user.
The new registrar contacts the old registrar with this information.
The old registrar confirms the authenticity of this request by contacting the user. A request to proceed with the transfer would have already been conveyed by the user in the online account held with the registrar.
The old registrar releases authorization to the new registrar.
Transfer is accomplished and the user is informed of the same by the new registrar.
All information on the website would be automatically copied over. So everything will continue to work as before.
The new registrar is now the designated registrar of this domain name.

The whole process takes about 5 days to complete. On successful completion of the transfer, the domain name cannot be transferred again for 60 days except to the old registrar.

Tags: .COM, Domain Registrar, Domain Transfer Process, TLD, Transfer Domain
Posted in Domain Names | 1 Comment »

June 17

by Smitha

Domain Names – Hyphenated or Unhyphenated?

Planning on registering a domain name and wondering if it should be hyphenated or unhyphenated?

There are many reasons why people use hyphen(s) in their domain names. Someone else could have already taken a keyword-rich domain name without the hyphen. Another reason could be because they think search engines can read with ease domain names that are separated by hyphens, take the examples of difficulttoreadme.com and easy-to-read-me.com. But this doesn’t mean hyphenated domains will benefit in terms of search engine rankings. Try searching Google using a keyword, and you will notice that sites with top rankings are usually unhyphenated. So ‘website ranking’ is altogether a different matter.

A hyphenated domain name can be difficult if you happen to be dictating it to someone else, say for example, over the phone. You can expect a lot of confusion over the “dash” and “hyphen” as in my-hyphenated-domain-name.com. Then, there is the probability of the person forgetting the hyphen altogether, and ending up in your competitor’s website. You can also not eliminate the possibility of an error occurring while typing his-rather-long-website-name.com. Generally, people find a hyphenated domain name rather awkward to use. (more…)

Tags: domain hijacking, domain hyphens, hyphenated domain names, registering a domain, search engines, unhyphenated domain names
Posted in Domain Names | No Comments »

June 15

by Smitha

Before You Choose a Domain Name

Are you stumped on what domain name you ought to give your website? The key to establishing a web presence is your website name. So selecting the apt domain name is of utmost importance, and oftentimes the most difficult. Here are some valuable tips you should think about before you go on to select that ‘perfect’ domain name for your niche website.

Domain Name – Your Online Identity
A domain name is the name that you give to your website. Consider that you have a website called ‘My Name’. People are probably going to look you up by this name. If your domain is different from your website name, they will probably end up visiting your competitor’s site, resulting in you losing a potential customer. Think and choose a domain name that fits in with your own identity. The world will know you by this name.

Keep It Short and Simple
The shorter a domain name, the easier it is to remember and type it in a browser. A domain name that has between 5 and 20 characters can be easily remembered, increasing its recall value in the process, and bringing more visitors to your website. If you get a short domain name, ensure it is a meaningful combination of characters and not an obscure set of unrelated letters. It is advisable not to use numbers in your domain name as this could lead to people typing in the word rather than the number. For example, flowers4u.com could be interpreted as flowersforyou.com and lead a potential customer to a competitor’s website. Dashes, underscores and other character could also cause confusion.

.COM is More Valuable
Every domain name has two parts – the actual domain name, then a dot (period), followed by the TLD (Top Level Domain) or ‘extension’. The TLD indicates the nature and type of your business (commercial, local, international, gov, etc). About 75% of TLD’s registered today are .COM’s. A .COM extension is the most common and valuable for a commercial business, but by far the most difficult to get.

Check out a complete list of TLD’s at http://ftp.ics.uci.edu/pub/websoft/wwwstat/country-codes.txt

Is Your Domain Name Already Taken?
If your desired domain name is already taken, there are three alternatives for you to selecting another, keeping in mind that you still have to maintain your identity. (more…)

Tags: .COM, Choose a Domain Name, Domain Name Registration, Online Identity, Select Domain Name, Valuable Tips, Website Name
Posted in Domain Names | 4 Comments »

June 11

by Smitha

How to Pick Your Domain Registrar

Are you concerned about the security of your domain names? Is the domain registrar that you have chosen a reputable one? Can this registrar meet your other online needs like website hosting, website design, e-mail and online marketing? And most important of all, will it ensure that your domain name is under your control, and not theirs?

Picking the right domain registrar is critical and can be the key to conducting a profitable business online.

Here are some pointers to help you answer the above questions, and avoid making choices that could be fatal to your business.

Domain Security: Hijackers and slammers effectively use phishing techniques to steal domain names all the time. Domain names can be swapped or transferred without the owner’s consent. Losing your domain name can ruin your business. Ensure that you choose a registrar that has features to protect your domain from unauthorized transfers. You should be able to annul and assign passwords, set your registration services to auto renew and resolve cyber-squatting disputes online.

Company’s Stability: If you are running mission critical, then beware of fly-by-night registrars offering services at unbelievably low rates. Remember you get only what you pay for. Do some research, ask around and choose reputable providers who have been in service for long. Reputability does not necessarily mean popularity. A popular company could turn out to be notorious for poor customer services. (more…)

Tags: Choose Domain Registrar, Customer Service, Domain Name Registration, Domain Security, Protect Domain, Register a Domain
Posted in Domain Names | 2 Comments »

Archive for the ‘Domain Names’ Category

Archives