Winning The (Domain) Name Game

Written by Paula Morrow


What's in a name? In a word: Everything!

Choosing an appropriate domain name for your web site is one ofrepparttar first and most critical decisions you'll have to make onrepparttar 108305 road to Internet success.

What Makes A Great Domain Name?

Is it punchy, sticks inrepparttar 108306 mind, is short and fits your product/service? Does it begin with a letter closer torepparttar 108307 beginning ofrepparttar 108308 alphabet, instead of towardsrepparttar 108309 end? If so, and it's not taken, you may have a winner!

However, with more than 60,000 new domain names being registered each month, many ofrepparttar 108310 short, memorable, two-word names have already been snapped up. But don't despair: there are other ways to win atrepparttar 108311 domain game.

Expired or 'On-Hold' Domain Names

Every day, domain names come up for renewal. And every day,repparttar 108312 owners let them slip away. Why? Either they've gone out of business, or simply forget to renew. You can use free web sites to monitor these domains, and you may get lucky. As a bonus, your new name may come with built-in traffic!

Just be aware: many people are actively searching for good domain names to buy and sell, at a profit. For example, one domain, http://www.business.com, sold for millions! So be warned: if you see a name you want, don't wait - grab it.

I've successfully used lists posted onrepparttar 108313 following two sites: http://deleteddomains.com and http://www.dailyexpireddomains.com. You'll soon notice that some names are available immediately, while some are 'on hold.'

Technically, once expired, all names are available. However those that have expired withinrepparttar 108314 past 45 to 60 days are in a grace period. Prior owners are givenrepparttar 108315 chance to make good on their debt. If they don't, andrepparttar 108316 grace period expires,repparttar 108317 name is 'deleted' fromrepparttar 108318 master domain registry. It is then available for purchase by others.

How To Protect Your Website From Being Repossessed Or Stolen!

Written by Simon Grabowski


Did you know that you can lose your digital piece of real estate, even without an eviction notice? Imagine losing everything in a single heartbeat: your business, your brand equity, your traffic and your source of income ... Without your knowledge or consent!

That's what happened to many unfortunate online business owners, lately. Specifically, a stunning controversy has emerged, which all Internet marketers and business owners should pay very close attention to. If you own an online business, be extra careful.

VeriSign,repparttar online security company, is now not only a domain name registrar but alsorepparttar 108304 company that runsrepparttar 108305 master domain database (.com's, .net's and .org's). It's a responsibility once held by Network Solutions (since acquired by Verisign) conferred to them by ICANN. Is this monopoly a good thing? Apparently not.

If you neglect to pay your mortgage, for example, you lose your home. But this only happens after you've received several "past due" notices fromrepparttar 108306 bank and still failed to make your payment on time. (That's OK, since your physical address never changes.)

Similarly, most domain name registrars will notify you by email when it's time to renew. But what happens if your email address is wrong? What happens if your postal address has changed? What happens if you're on vacation away from your computer? And what happens if you simply overlookedrepparttar 108307 notification?

If so, you're probably out of luck.

According to Janet Kornblum in a USA TODAY article, you can lose your "digital home" without ever getting an eviction notice. Says Kornblum, "What if you just came home from work, one night, and found new owners sitting inrepparttar 108308 dining room, eating your food?"

That wasrepparttar 108309 case with a few business owners whose domain names, which were registered through VeriSign, expired and were quickly snapped up by other people, puttingrepparttar 108310 original owner right out of business in a blink of an eye! VeriSign is notrepparttar 108311 only one, too. Some registrars fail to even send a single renewal notice!

(One lawyer became aware -- when it was too late -- that his URL for his law practice website lead to a porn site. Not only did he lose all that business and traffic, but he also had to deal with a much bigger loss: his good name, and not justrepparttar 108312 name itself.)

Ifrepparttar 108313 domain name is a registered trademark, chances are greater thatrepparttar 108314 original owner can have it returned -- but that does not take into considerationrepparttar 108315 time and money required forrepparttar 108316 legal process, as well asrepparttar 108317 potential business wasted duringrepparttar 108318 wait along withrepparttar 108319 incalculable damage caused torepparttar 108320 company's brand.

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