Domain names have more value than useful addresses that are useful for storage and for showing either personal or business information online. Domain name business can certainly be the difference between a successful and non-performing business.
Choosing the right domain name, the correct website design and hosting provider and web development is a job that needs work and lots of it.
Domain Name Market Place
An internet business study proved that many individuals and businesses take less than 2 hours when it comes to selecting their domain name, selecting the most qualified web hosting providers and carrying out detailed plan for their site requirements.
The less time taken often leads to more problems later on during their website development process and thus the individual or business ends up spending more money than they had budgeted for.
It is also reported that 45% of the business that fail blame the failure on choosing the wrong domain name and believe that their sales ratio would increase exponentially if they had a better name. This comes as no surprise as the business or individual set aside very minimal time making the decision than they do deciding on their next meal.
Buying and using long domain names that are quite tedious for your customers to remember translates to a loss of traffic and valuable business emails.
As much as there is a whole bunch of controversy revolving around domain name, there is one thing that stands out; can the individual or business really afford to let some random person capitalize on the brand name or names?
The fact is domains are increasing each and every hour and many of these domains are linked to geographical locations, case in point; .nl that stands for Holland, .FR for France and .de for Germany.
The local Top Level Domains (TLD’s) help in categorizing the internet and helping the customer pinpoint a supplier of the product or service they are looking for in their own country. Furthermore, every country on planet earth has been supplied with a TDL so it goes without saying that the choice of TLD’s is diverse.
Not only that, now there are continental TLD’s that have been availed. Some of the most common TLD’s include; .asia and .eu and .au these are TLDs that allow individuals and businesses have a presence in certain regions in the world.
There are the predominant TLDs in the world that have gone global, they include; .com and .net these domain names are mostly used by individuals and businesses that are garnering for a global presence. These types of predominant domains make the website a much sort after and extremely valuable domain.
Every day there are constantly new TLDs that spring up in the internet. Case in point we now have a .mobi domain that was created for smart phones and tablets, there is also the .xxx that is dedicated to the adult film industry.
Many more domain names are in the pipeline and it goes without saying that in the coming times we shall have TLDs that will cover niches such as .clothes .cars, the whole point is to help niches and domain addresses become more relevant.
Domain Names, How They Work
In essence, a domain name is a shortcut to a specified Internet Address. The internet works by giving every device which is connected online giving it authentic identification number that is known as an IP address.
The device also receives packets of data that are sent to and from the device and they get marked with the same IP address. Its goes without saying that IP addresses are not a fun task to recall as they run as long as 12 digits long.
To help users recall IP Addresses, they are converted into something understandable which is Domain Names. Domain Names are used as direct links that link to e-mail servers and the web. Case in point, if you type 216.109.112.135 in the browser and you’ll be re-directed to yahoo.com
Domain names and IP addresses that appeal to your searches are all stored in a DNS (Domain Name Server). This means; as you type the URL you are looking for, your computer sends a request to the DNS to your local ISP (Internet Service Provider) and it looks for the IP address of the webserver you are searching for.
After retrieving the right information A.K.A the right address, the info is then re-laid directly to the web server and you can search for sites for as requested. One short way of finding the right IP address of any website is by using the ping command.
Simple go to the Start-Run and key in perhaps ping yahoo.com in the box. A small window will pop up with the web server IP address. There are plenty of domain names which supply this type of service and many more. Give it a try on ip-address.com and sample for yourself.
Having this sort of info will help you understand why you get delays as you register a new domain name and website and you will be aware of changes you make to settings of an existing web site DNS.
The DNS information needs to spread correctly, this can take up to 24 hours for all the DNS servers world-wide to update and list the new domain setting that holds your website.
Who is In Charge of Domain Names?
Domain Names are regulated by an organization known as the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). The ICANN organization is accountable for determining how the internet TLD structures needs to seem and what TLD’s need to be used.
NB: ICANN is a non-profit organization that acts under the authority of the United States Government precisely the Department of Commerce.
As much as ICANN makes all the major decision about which TLDs are available, every country or TLD has its own registry. An organization known as Nominet takes care of all .uk domains and has the mandate of deciding on the structure as well as the release of the UK’s second level domains.
Second level domains play a huge role for countries and they may come with variety such as; .me.uk, .co.uk and .sch.uk
How Do You Register a Domain Name?
When it comes to registering a domain name, there are several things you ought to know. To begin with, you need to check that the domain name you desire is still available.
One of the easiest ways of doing this is keying in the domain name in the search box that is readily supplied. Remember that anyone is capable of registering a domain name that is within the framework of permitted suffixes as long as the domain name has not been registered yet.
But be warned that there are restrictions on certain TLDs such as .eu. .Asia and .us that call for potential registrar to reside within a certain geographical location, caution is advised as you choose your domain name, as much as there are several restrictions on registering domain names, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are not allowed to consider the title hold name.
This action could have you have action taken against you by either and individual or business through the disputes tribunal as a means of protecting their names, brands, trademarks and worst of all they can take over your domain name.
This is better known as cyber-squatting; An instance where an individual registers a domain name so that they can sell it or cause harm or disruption and damage the rightful owners brands image.
Domain Auctions
If the domain name you are searching for is not available, there may be a chance that you can still purchase. Should the domain name lack a website, you can look for the registered owner and liaise with them and discuss the possibility of buying off the domain name from them.
Fortunately, there is nothing that can stop you from making this move and it is perfectly legal to go ahead with the move so long as the two parties (the owner and yourself) are in full agreement.
To find out who the rightful owner of the domain name you are looking for, you can conduct a search on sites such as whois.net, such a search will give you the full details about the person or business that registered the said domain, you will have their address, name and contact details.
After having decided on the domain name or names, the next step is contacting a domain registrar. Domain registrars are authenticated companies that have been mandated to register domains of you behalf.
You should consider shopping around when looking for your domain registrar. It goes without saying that a number are required depending on the amount as well as the type of TLD you wish to purchase. Prices can vary lengthily due to the global nature of the web.
It really doesn’t matter much where the domain company is based as you can save on costs by choosing a domain registry company that is based overseas.
After successfully acquiring the domain name, the next step is setting up the website. However before the setup, it’s necessary that you research web hosting providers. These are the companies or people that will supply you with web hosting and email hosting package.
It means that you have rented web space on the hosting company’s web servers. The beauty of being the proud owner of your own domain name and finally setting up hosting accounts is the full control you will be given on determining the structure of the domain and the control over the email for that website and the domain name.
Basic web hosting packages that carry about 50MB of space that come with a restriction on bandwidth and amount of data downloadable a month is prevalent. It is necessary that you spend a little more time working out the precise thing that your site will be doing and the type of service required.
There is no need of paying $100 monthly and all you do is run on the server a blog that is updated utmost once a month.
New Category TLDs
New category TLDs are quickly coming online each and every other day and are availed to the world public for registry purposes. When a new TLD is availed, there is a given grace period where businesses are offered the chance to apply for domains and register names they perceive as their trademarks before the domain names are accessible by the general public.
Currently the .Asia TLD is in the market right now. During sunrise period as it is commonly known as, both individuals and companies are given the chance to apply for certain names or trademarks ahead of the general public.
The sunrise period is run for four months and the names that do not get allocated during this period are then open to the general public using the criteria of first come first serve basis.
Now there is a whole industry that has been setup to help individuals and businesses attain their names for such situations, it is known as the pre-registration scheme. If you pay extra you may be placed on top of the company’s attempt of securing your name.
Also dependent on the name and amount of interest can make the process become a perfect way of guaranteeing you your domain name or names.
There are however, some companies that make use of slightly different approaches and begin a pre or post auction on the domain name they were able to acquire. This is a perfect business when you think of it, should they manage to register .eu or hosting .asia for $20, and proceed to auction it to the highest bidder, and they stand to make loads of money for very little work.
This is a delicate issue but until different governing bodies pull their act together, you have little to no choice to play the game. If you fail to locate a company willing to pre-register your domain name for a certain fee, see to it that your funds are reverted back to you in full should they fail to successfully register your selected domain name.
The pre-registration service is not recognized officially by the domain registration organization and this means you have zero rights on the domain name till when you successfully register it.