By Trevor John
Buying parked domains is a bit of a black art. It’s often also a test of your detective skills. Plus you will need a dose of patience and some good negotiation skills. When you are buying a parked domain name, luck also plays its part.
So, how to buy parked domains?
Firstly you’ve got to find a parked domain before you can think of buying one. That’s fairly easy. Go to a service like NameBoy.com and type in a couple of your preferred keywords. This will bring up a list of all sorts of vaguely related domain names. NameBoy is good at thinking outside the box and will often come up with variants on a name that you’d never have considered before. I’ll leave it up to you as to whether this is a good or a bad thing but when I’m looking to buy a parked domain name, I find it a good place to start.
Then you need to start copying and pasting the domain names into your browser.
Some will come up as live domains, some will be clearly identified as parked domains and yet more will fall into a no-mans land. Kind of the scrap heap of the internet.
If the domain has a clear “for sale” sign on it then that’s good. Chances are there will be a link that allows you to contact the domain’s owner without falling foul of spam filters and you can open up negotiations. Start low and work upwards is a good technique. You may also find that it’s useful to ask what traffic the domain has had in the past and what sort of figure they would be looking at to sell.
A useful tool is archive.org. This allows you to go back in time and see what has (or more often, hasn’t) been done with the domain in the past.
Another useful site is domaintools.com which allows you to see the domain’s history. Things like previous owners, changes of name servers, etc.
All of these will give you clues that will help you to buy parked domains.
If the domain is clearly parked but doesn’t have a For Sale sign on it, you may need to do some detective work. A WhoIs service may tell you who the owner is. If it does, don’t be afraid to get on the phone and call the owner. Whilst phoning is old fashioned, you’ll know your enquiry got through and it may well be quicker and more reliable than email. If there isn’t a working phone number, try writing.
Why not just email the owner of the parked domain? Well, for starters, email is getting less reliable nowadays. Secondly, lots of newer domains have domain name guards to stop spammers so the WhoIs details may not have contactable details. Emails sent to info@ or webmaster@ may or may not get through. They’re worth a try, but don’t hold your breath. At the end of the day, unless the parked domain is one that you absolutely must have, remember that there are often a number of choices that you can go through when you are looking to buy a parked domain. The domain name is only part of the equation. It’s what you do with the parked domain once you’ve bought it that really counts!
For up to date information on how to buy parked domains and what to do with your parked domains while you're waiting to develop them, check out my blog at http://trevsreviews.com
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Cheap Domain Parking - Where To Park Your Domain
By Trevor John
Domain parking is the technical term for what you do between buying your domain name and getting round to doing something with that domain.
Chances are, you’ve got a number of domains that are parked, waiting for you to bring them to life.
There are various cheap domain parking services around. Some of these cheap domain parking services will help you to get some income out of your domain. Others will just help it to sit there, gathering virtual dust.
The cheapest domain parking service is your domain name registrar. In fact, if you didn’t complete any name server details when you purchased your domain, chances are that you are advertising your domain name registrar for free.
The next cheapest domain parking service is your web host. If all you’ve done is set up the domain with your web host and pointed the name servers at the host, chances are that you will get a page that says something really interesting like “This domain is reserved for one of our customers”. Gee!
If neither of those appeal, there are professional domain parking services like Sedo.com. They’re cheap to join – all it takes is a few minutes of your time – but in my experience the promised revenue turns into very little indeed. Maybe if you’ve got a domain with a high level of type in traffic then your mileage may vary. But for us mere mortals, I personally don’t rate sedo.com for parking domains.
Finally, there are some paid-for services that will actually do something with your parked domain. You can search your favorite search engine for these. Some of the ones I’ve found, like seguinhost.com, charge a monthly fee. Which is OK if you make a decent amount of money from the domains. The sites created won’t be exactly the best in the world – the samples I’ve looked definitely wouldn’t win a web beauty contest. But, that said, if all you’re looking for is cheap domain parking where you stand a chance of earning some money until you get round to doing something real with your domain name, then they’re well worth checking out.
Domain parking is the technical term for what you do between buying your domain name and getting round to doing something with that domain.
Chances are, you’ve got a number of domains that are parked, waiting for you to bring them to life.
There are various cheap domain parking services around. Some of these cheap domain parking services will help you to get some income out of your domain. Others will just help it to sit there, gathering virtual dust.
The cheapest domain parking service is your domain name registrar. In fact, if you didn’t complete any name server details when you purchased your domain, chances are that you are advertising your domain name registrar for free.
The next cheapest domain parking service is your web host. If all you’ve done is set up the domain with your web host and pointed the name servers at the host, chances are that you will get a page that says something really interesting like “This domain is reserved for one of our customers”. Gee!
If neither of those appeal, there are professional domain parking services like Sedo.com. They’re cheap to join – all it takes is a few minutes of your time – but in my experience the promised revenue turns into very little indeed. Maybe if you’ve got a domain with a high level of type in traffic then your mileage may vary. But for us mere mortals, I personally don’t rate sedo.com for parking domains.
Finally, there are some paid-for services that will actually do something with your parked domain. You can search your favorite search engine for these. Some of the ones I’ve found, like seguinhost.com, charge a monthly fee. Which is OK if you make a decent amount of money from the domains. The sites created won’t be exactly the best in the world – the samples I’ve looked definitely wouldn’t win a web beauty contest. But, that said, if all you’re looking for is cheap domain parking where you stand a chance of earning some money until you get round to doing something real with your domain name, then they’re well worth checking out.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Register Your Domain Name - What Name? Not Sure? No Need To Rush
By Mal Huddleston
There are many places you can search for a domain name. But choosing the right domain name is the real task. If you can include your best keyword, the one you build your Home Page around, and explain your business at the same time, you are way ahead of the game.
Some web site building companies suggest you register your name first, choose your template, and then start to build. But build what? It is important to well understand your site direction and content before you register your domain name. Spend time on brain storming your web site ideas, and choosing relevant and optimum keywords and you can use this information to find a name that suits your business well, but also helps you gain a better place in the search engine listings. If you have several words, like Ecommerce Site Builder, think about using hyphens to make it more readable, ex; ecommerce-site-builder.com.
Building traffic from the search engines is one of the most important components of site construction and design. Many would say THE most important. Having a domain name that includes a core component of your main site keyword helps the search engines clarify your site. You might also consider registering similar names and re-directing them to your site. An example might be e-commerce-site-builder.com. This just means that people finding your secondary names will be automatically directed to the main site. This covers a few more bases and protects you from other business' registering similar names to poach your customers. Maybe you could register some for those that mis-spell or make a typo as well. Often, your web site domain name registration is included in your ecommerce web site hosting fee. In any case, the cost is minimal.
Another reason not to rush ahead with excitement before you do your research is it can take up to six weeks to move your domain name. If you register your name with the first solution you find, and then do your site research which may also include a template design and a hosting solution, you may end up with a long wait before you can go online. Best to take it easy and do things in a logical order. Already registered with company ABC? No problem, but have your domain name transferred as soon as you decide on your web site hosting service. They will be able to do this for you, but it can often take some time. Don't forget until the last moment. It can be a major frustration!
Be sure to register your domain names as soon as you have decided on the best solutions though. You may be disheartened if you go back to register a name you were pondering, and find it registered two days later. It does happen! Who knows who is watching your searches? This is a nasty practice that is "not supposed to happen", and something difficult to prove if it does. Best to be decisive and happy.
There are many places you can search for a domain name. But choosing the right domain name is the real task. If you can include your best keyword, the one you build your Home Page around, and explain your business at the same time, you are way ahead of the game.
Some web site building companies suggest you register your name first, choose your template, and then start to build. But build what? It is important to well understand your site direction and content before you register your domain name. Spend time on brain storming your web site ideas, and choosing relevant and optimum keywords and you can use this information to find a name that suits your business well, but also helps you gain a better place in the search engine listings. If you have several words, like Ecommerce Site Builder, think about using hyphens to make it more readable, ex; ecommerce-site-builder.com.
Building traffic from the search engines is one of the most important components of site construction and design. Many would say THE most important. Having a domain name that includes a core component of your main site keyword helps the search engines clarify your site. You might also consider registering similar names and re-directing them to your site. An example might be e-commerce-site-builder.com. This just means that people finding your secondary names will be automatically directed to the main site. This covers a few more bases and protects you from other business' registering similar names to poach your customers. Maybe you could register some for those that mis-spell or make a typo as well. Often, your web site domain name registration is included in your ecommerce web site hosting fee. In any case, the cost is minimal.
Another reason not to rush ahead with excitement before you do your research is it can take up to six weeks to move your domain name. If you register your name with the first solution you find, and then do your site research which may also include a template design and a hosting solution, you may end up with a long wait before you can go online. Best to take it easy and do things in a logical order. Already registered with company ABC? No problem, but have your domain name transferred as soon as you decide on your web site hosting service. They will be able to do this for you, but it can often take some time. Don't forget until the last moment. It can be a major frustration!
Be sure to register your domain names as soon as you have decided on the best solutions though. You may be disheartened if you go back to register a name you were pondering, and find it registered two days later. It does happen! Who knows who is watching your searches? This is a nasty practice that is "not supposed to happen", and something difficult to prove if it does. Best to be decisive and happy.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Buying a Domain Name to Increase Site Traffic
By Peter Engelbrecht
Everyday thousands of domains names expire with the site owners simply abandoning them as one would an old rusted car at a junk yard. Why do they simply walk away? For some it may be that they have lost interest, while others it may be that they are not reaching their intended goals. The bottom line about all this is that this piece of junk now can serve as an opportunity for you to capitalize on.
So why would you and how do you take advantage of an abandoned website? Firstly, you will need to search for domain names that are about to expire. There are numerous sites that will provide to you for a small fee a list of domain names that are about to be thrown on the junk heap. Once you have a list, search for some domain names that are relatively close to your own. Chances are that the same site visitors that visited the site may be interested in your site. So you can take advantage of the site traffic from this forgotten site. Sure, it may not be much but even if it has a steady trickle of traffic you can make something out of it.
Once you have found a few domain names you think you can work with, you should then evaluate the power of the name. You can do this by checking its Google page rank. Many site owners spend a considerable amount of time and money building their page rank. Next, type in the URL of the domain in any search engine and see how many external sites are linking into the site. Link exchange programs take a long time to build, here again you can take advantage of another site owner’s effort.
After you have purchased the domain name, the only thing to do is to have the site traffic redirected to your website. This is easily accomplished by making some customized changes in your control panel which is usually located with your host company.
Everyday thousands of domains names expire with the site owners simply abandoning them as one would an old rusted car at a junk yard. Why do they simply walk away? For some it may be that they have lost interest, while others it may be that they are not reaching their intended goals. The bottom line about all this is that this piece of junk now can serve as an opportunity for you to capitalize on.
So why would you and how do you take advantage of an abandoned website? Firstly, you will need to search for domain names that are about to expire. There are numerous sites that will provide to you for a small fee a list of domain names that are about to be thrown on the junk heap. Once you have a list, search for some domain names that are relatively close to your own. Chances are that the same site visitors that visited the site may be interested in your site. So you can take advantage of the site traffic from this forgotten site. Sure, it may not be much but even if it has a steady trickle of traffic you can make something out of it.
Once you have found a few domain names you think you can work with, you should then evaluate the power of the name. You can do this by checking its Google page rank. Many site owners spend a considerable amount of time and money building their page rank. Next, type in the URL of the domain in any search engine and see how many external sites are linking into the site. Link exchange programs take a long time to build, here again you can take advantage of another site owner’s effort.
After you have purchased the domain name, the only thing to do is to have the site traffic redirected to your website. This is easily accomplished by making some customized changes in your control panel which is usually located with your host company.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Looking for Top Domain Names?
By William Dittman
Domain names of course is the obvious for any internet business, without a domain name you will not have a website. Now if you are new to the internet business world (welcome to a great business). But be aware there is alot to learn about your new endevour.
If you are new to internet marketing, or a website owner who wants to make more money from your website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your internet business at http://www.dlbllc.com. The folks at Dillard Local Branding helped us attain Top 10 status on search engines for several of our sites.
So when picking a domain name be sure to pick a domain name that is easy to remember and describes your business.
A typein domain is a domain that people often would type into their internet browser. As competition on the Internet intensifies, more and more people are actively looking for a quality domain for their site. You can find these names at http://www.TopDomainsAvailable.com
Once you make your first purchase, you'll most likely find yourself registering other names as well. Becareful it can become addicting. Remember a domain is only worth what you can get someone to pay for it. Some people think there name has more value than it does. The dot com's are the domains of choice.
Not only that, but with a little time and effort, you might even be able to pick up some popular domain names just for conjecture or to resell at Top Domains Available.com
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Tips To Create Good Domain Name
By Alias Goldenia
Domain name is an identity for a website. Each website has its own domain name. The function is similar to fingerprint as identity for human. The tips to create good domain name are memorable, short, dot com, global, nice sound, hyphen free, repeated alphabets, descriptive, keyword and brand.
Good domain name must be memorable. It shall go immediately to visitors mind. They accidentally easy to memorize the domain name. It will attract more unique visitors to the website. The domain name must be unique and different from others.
Good domain name must be short in spelling. It shall not be more than ten alphabets. It is easier to be memorized and spelt. Short in spelling can reduce the possibility of spelling mistakes. Visitors are always like to type the short name.
Good domain name normally with suffix dot com. Dot com is more popular and familiar. Most visitors tend to assume and write suffix dot com when they forget the actual suffix. Person who want to buy domain name also normally prefer to choose dot com as first choice.
Good domain name shall be a global name. It can be accepted by visitors from different countries, races and religions. Global name seems more elegant and attract more visitors. Global name can be generic or unique domain name.
Good domain name must be nice sound. It is easy in pronunciation. Easy pronunciation will easy to memorize and to spell. Visitors tend to appreciate more on the nice sound domain name. Most famous domain names are nice to be heard and pronounced.
Good domain name shall containing alphabets only. It shall not contain hyphen and number. Containing hyphen seems the name impression is not good. The domain name also can be spelt wrongly because the pronunciation and spelling is different.
Good domain name normally containing repeated alphabets. Repeated alphabets will bring nice sound. Nice sound means more memorable. Most popular website use this tips for their domain name. Their website sounds are nice and famous.
Good domain name must descriptive. It shall be reflective to the website activity. Visitors able to know immediately the website activity by just see the domain name. Use opposite domain name will cause real visitors will not reach the website.
Good domain name shall containing keyword respective to the website activity. Combination keywords can be used. The important things are the sound must be nice to be heard and memorized. Good combination keywords become unique domain name.
Good domain name shall be able to be branded name. Most branded domain name now started from unbranded domain name status previously. Create new branded name to be different from exist trademarks. Generic name can be customized to be unique domain name.
There is challenge to meet all above tips. Use our head and heart to create good and creative internet domain name. Get the domain name immediately before others get it. Trust and confident in our intuition. We must love our domain names. Then we will do better for our website.
Domain name is an identity for a website. Each website has its own domain name. The function is similar to fingerprint as identity for human. The tips to create good domain name are memorable, short, dot com, global, nice sound, hyphen free, repeated alphabets, descriptive, keyword and brand.
Good domain name must be memorable. It shall go immediately to visitors mind. They accidentally easy to memorize the domain name. It will attract more unique visitors to the website. The domain name must be unique and different from others.
Good domain name must be short in spelling. It shall not be more than ten alphabets. It is easier to be memorized and spelt. Short in spelling can reduce the possibility of spelling mistakes. Visitors are always like to type the short name.
Good domain name normally with suffix dot com. Dot com is more popular and familiar. Most visitors tend to assume and write suffix dot com when they forget the actual suffix. Person who want to buy domain name also normally prefer to choose dot com as first choice.
Good domain name shall be a global name. It can be accepted by visitors from different countries, races and religions. Global name seems more elegant and attract more visitors. Global name can be generic or unique domain name.
Good domain name must be nice sound. It is easy in pronunciation. Easy pronunciation will easy to memorize and to spell. Visitors tend to appreciate more on the nice sound domain name. Most famous domain names are nice to be heard and pronounced.
Good domain name shall containing alphabets only. It shall not contain hyphen and number. Containing hyphen seems the name impression is not good. The domain name also can be spelt wrongly because the pronunciation and spelling is different.
Good domain name normally containing repeated alphabets. Repeated alphabets will bring nice sound. Nice sound means more memorable. Most popular website use this tips for their domain name. Their website sounds are nice and famous.
Good domain name must descriptive. It shall be reflective to the website activity. Visitors able to know immediately the website activity by just see the domain name. Use opposite domain name will cause real visitors will not reach the website.
Good domain name shall containing keyword respective to the website activity. Combination keywords can be used. The important things are the sound must be nice to be heard and memorized. Good combination keywords become unique domain name.
Good domain name shall be able to be branded name. Most branded domain name now started from unbranded domain name status previously. Create new branded name to be different from exist trademarks. Generic name can be customized to be unique domain name.
There is challenge to meet all above tips. Use our head and heart to create good and creative internet domain name. Get the domain name immediately before others get it. Trust and confident in our intuition. We must love our domain names. Then we will do better for our website.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
How to Change to a New Domain Name
By Candice Pardue
When changing over to a new domain name, there are some precautions you should take before doing so. You must determine whether it's important enough that you change domain names to possibly lose some established customers and efforts you've made to gain traffic to your website.
If you already have a number of visitors coming to your website, then please think really hard before getting a new domain name. Consider the risks. If you're still sure this is the route you should take, then read the tips below for a smooth domain name transition.
What You Should Do Before Changing Your Domain Name
Below is a quick checklist of things to do before changing your domain name. Do these BEFORE you cancel your current domain name. Otherwise, you could lose valuable information or content on your website!
1. Create a thorough backup copy of your entire website.
This includes autoresponders you may have created in the email portion of your hosting control panel. Don't make the same mistake I made when changing to a new host. I forgot about the email section completely. There were several emails and two autoresponders I used on a regular basis. These were, of course, deleted when my website's hosting was shut down. I had to try and remember all the emails I had created and re-write my autoresponder messages! Imagine if I had 20 to 30 autoresponders or emails. What a nightmare that would be!
Check with your hosting company before changing domain names to see what is involved in backing up your site. If you have special programming features stored for your site, you'll need to back up these as well.
2. Re-design your web pages with the new domain name inserted in all your links. Before switching to a new domain name, be sure your site is designed with its links all changed to the new domain name. When you upload the new domain name to the Web, the website should be fully functional under the new domain name.
Redirect to Keep Good Search Engine Rankings
Understandably, a brand new domain name will be subject to the "aging delay" at Google and other search engines. The aging delay for your new domain will happen because search engines will not recognize it as your "same old" website. They will assume it's a brand new one because of the new domain name.
To help things move along faster, keep your old domain name for a while until your new one gets established. Only, do a "temporary redirect" on your old domain name. You can create this through your domain hosting control panel or by contacting your host if you're not sure how. The search engines will recognize the website as your old one much quicker.
Once your new domain name starts getting indexed in the search engines, change the redirect to a permanent one for a while. A "permanent redirect" should be left at your old domain name until your new one has been established at the search engines and any other sites or directories that were linking to your old domain name.
Your goal is to hang on to the old domain name while waiting on the new domain name to get established. It's well worth the effort, even if it costs you a little more each month for a while!
Changing a Large Company's Domain Name
If you own a large company or corporation with many employees using your website, this process can be even more complicated. Your employees' log-in information must be updated on the new domain name. Check with your hosting company and in-house programmers to find out what needs to be done.
Changing over to a new domain name is a pain, but sometimes needful. Decide if it's right for you and use the tips above to simplify the process.
When changing over to a new domain name, there are some precautions you should take before doing so. You must determine whether it's important enough that you change domain names to possibly lose some established customers and efforts you've made to gain traffic to your website.
If you already have a number of visitors coming to your website, then please think really hard before getting a new domain name. Consider the risks. If you're still sure this is the route you should take, then read the tips below for a smooth domain name transition.
What You Should Do Before Changing Your Domain Name
Below is a quick checklist of things to do before changing your domain name. Do these BEFORE you cancel your current domain name. Otherwise, you could lose valuable information or content on your website!
1. Create a thorough backup copy of your entire website.
This includes autoresponders you may have created in the email portion of your hosting control panel. Don't make the same mistake I made when changing to a new host. I forgot about the email section completely. There were several emails and two autoresponders I used on a regular basis. These were, of course, deleted when my website's hosting was shut down. I had to try and remember all the emails I had created and re-write my autoresponder messages! Imagine if I had 20 to 30 autoresponders or emails. What a nightmare that would be!
Check with your hosting company before changing domain names to see what is involved in backing up your site. If you have special programming features stored for your site, you'll need to back up these as well.
2. Re-design your web pages with the new domain name inserted in all your links. Before switching to a new domain name, be sure your site is designed with its links all changed to the new domain name. When you upload the new domain name to the Web, the website should be fully functional under the new domain name.
Redirect to Keep Good Search Engine Rankings
Understandably, a brand new domain name will be subject to the "aging delay" at Google and other search engines. The aging delay for your new domain will happen because search engines will not recognize it as your "same old" website. They will assume it's a brand new one because of the new domain name.
To help things move along faster, keep your old domain name for a while until your new one gets established. Only, do a "temporary redirect" on your old domain name. You can create this through your domain hosting control panel or by contacting your host if you're not sure how. The search engines will recognize the website as your old one much quicker.
Once your new domain name starts getting indexed in the search engines, change the redirect to a permanent one for a while. A "permanent redirect" should be left at your old domain name until your new one has been established at the search engines and any other sites or directories that were linking to your old domain name.
Your goal is to hang on to the old domain name while waiting on the new domain name to get established. It's well worth the effort, even if it costs you a little more each month for a while!
Changing a Large Company's Domain Name
If you own a large company or corporation with many employees using your website, this process can be even more complicated. Your employees' log-in information must be updated on the new domain name. Check with your hosting company and in-house programmers to find out what needs to be done.
Changing over to a new domain name is a pain, but sometimes needful. Decide if it's right for you and use the tips above to simplify the process.
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