Domain names are always written in lower case letters, starting with ‘www’, although some links to a web-site page appearing on the same web-site, another web-site, at the end of an article, or within a blog, may require ‘http://’ in front of the ‘www’. The main part of the domain name is always written with no spaces, although dashes (-) or underscores (_) are sometimes used to separate words. Every home page domain name then ends with, usually, a 3 letter suffix, as explained more fully in the next paragraph. The 3 main parts of every domain name are separated by periods (.), which are always referred to as ‘dots’.

Every internet web-site has a page that ends simply with a dot (.) followed by, usually, a 3 letter combination of letters. By far the most popular combination is ‘.com’, but ‘.net’, ‘.org’, ‘.edu’, ‘.biz’, ‘.gov’, and ‘.info’ are also fairly common, depending on the type of enterprise the web-site belongs to. ‘.net’ and ‘.info’ are frequently used when the owner of an enterprise is very keen on a particular main name for his web-site, but the ‘.com’ version has already been taken by somebody else.

Obviously, although the internet now consists of billions of web-sites, all domain names must be unique. There are also new suffixes that are occasionally added. ‘.xxx’ is a fairly recent example of this in an effort to more easily distinguish web-sites of a pornographic nature.

Every web-site has a page name ending simply in ‘.com’, or ‘.net’ etc. This page is known as the home page. However, if the site has multiple pages, then each page must have its own unique name as well. This is achieved by adding a forward-slash (/) after the ‘.com’ (or ‘.net’ etc) and adding a page name. Again, like the main part of the domain name, the page name must be written with no spaces, although dashes (-) or underscores (_) are sometimes used to separate words.

Either in links or when typing a web-site address directly into a browser, the home page can be bypassed by adding the forward-slash and the page name, if it is known, to the domain name. Normally though, a user will not know the name of a particular page so he or she will have to navigate, using the menu structure of the site. to a particular page. However page names are often added to links, where the web-site designer wants the user to be directed straight to a particular page.

Occasionally the whole name is ended with ‘.html’, but except, in some links, this is not usually necessary. ‘HTML’ is the name of the coding language that is used to produce the vast majority of web pages.

Phil Ramage is a semi-retired self-employed accountant, spreadsheet guru & Internet marketer, living in Thailand with his wife of 30 years & an adopted beautiful little girl.

For a free downloadable e-book on domain names, visit:

www.todaysonlinemarketingsolutions.com/domain_names

(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved

So then people started expanding to .org and .net. While these domains are not as coveted as .coms, they are well recognized and respected. And yet, as .com addresses become rarer, these domain endings as well have become more and more difficult to get. As you continue to look around, you may start seeing different domain endings you have never seen before, like PayBox.me or Freedom.ws. What are these domains, and what do they mean?

Usually, like PayBox.me and Freedom.ws, the ending simply is referring to a different country, in this case Montenegro and Western Samoa, respectively. Finding these domain endings is often an easy way people try to get the specific and often shorter domain name that they are looking for.

But there are lots of questions regarding these unfamiliar domain endings. Will people see your URL and assume that your website is associated with some sort of scam? It depends. Many countries, such as Britain and Australia, run websites that are well known internationally, so their domain endings are becoming more and more common, therefore more people trust them instinctively.

However, these URL endings are often just as difficult to come by as .com. The much smaller and lesser known countries like Montenegro or Western Samoa have the availability they do, simply because they are unknown.

So, are they worthwhile? Well it depends on what your website is being used for. For example, if your website is not trying to attract new customers or clients, but is rather being used as an informational site for existing customers and clients, than it is probably fine. Your customers will already know and trust your business, therefore they will know and trust your website.

But if you are trying to use your website primarily to find new business, then you will probably want to stay away from these unknown URL endings. It is preferable to you to have the trust that comes from using a .com ending than it will be to have the perfect domain name. These days, people are used to hyphenated or lengthy domain names. It has just become part of the internet culture.

If you would like more info check out additional PayBox.me Scam and Freedom.ws Scam reviews.

There are probably more individuals who have absolutely made fortunes picking up domains for cheap, say between $10 – $500 and selling them at rates of return that almost seem illegal.

I once picked up a domain that was free to register for $19.95 and sold it for $4K within 18 months. Try getting that rate of return at the bank or on the stockmarket. Unless you are prepared to sell something illegal, you won’t see that return on investment offered any place.

So with money to be made in this industry, it is no surprise that many people are buying and reselling domain names with the hope of making a killing. Nothing wrong with that – after all – it is the American way.

The problem is that the a lot of names being registered and listed on aftermarket websites are horrible. The end result – no one buys them and the names are either not renewed after a year or renewed for another year with the hope of selling them.

Sure, there are cases where not-so-good names have been sold for a solid profit. But resellers will make profits far more consistently by doing their research and buying relevant names.

By relevant I mean you only register domains that you intend on developing and reselling or domains that have the product or service keyword in them.

Developing a name into a website increases its valuable tremendously and doesn’t cost much to do either. Simply install a free WordPress blog on the domain, add some content and get backlinks to it. Sooner or later, the domain will start getting traffic so it.

So when you resell the name, you can show that it is getting search engine traffic – which makes the name easier to sell.

The alternative to developing the name is reselling domain names that have good keywords in them. So if you want to register a domain for the landscaping industry – look to register a domain that has the word “landscaping” and perhaps a geographic location. So “Nylandscaping dotcom” would be great for a landscaping business in New York.

There is a third alternative for profiting in the domain resale business. You could check out websites that specialize in finding hidden domain gems and offering them to investors at very affordable prices. You could buy a couple domains from those sites and resell them for a good return on aftermarket platforms such as Sedo and TDNAM.

The key of course, is being able to locate these websites.

Next, are you interested in reselling domain names for fun and profit? Buy domains from Pimp Domains – affordable, high quality names that you can resell for a great return. Most offers accepted. Visit:

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It is very easy for unsuspecting domain owners to get caught up in this scam. However, with the info provided in this article and a little common sense, the only thing one might lose is the few seconds it takes to read an email.

Here is how the domain appraisal scam works:

You are contacted with an email that goes like this:

Hello,

We purchase/resell domain names and developed websites. Now we consider your domain. What is your price?

If you have other domains for sale feel free to send your list.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,

xxxxx xxxxxxxx

CEO

xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx LLC

Now, if you respond with a price – say $5000, you’ll get another email like this:

Hello,

5000 USD? Ok

Did you use zzzzzzxxxxxx.com before? I think this is the best place for domain/money transfer.

Do you have an appraisal certificate?

Domain name is an investment for me. In other words I’m going to sell your name later and make a profit. If I overpay I won’t be able to make a profit in the future. It’s very important for you and me to know the current market value of your domain.

Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging a reputable appraisal company. I heard many appraisal companies often made inaccurate appraisals. I will only accept appraisals from independent sources I know and trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies in a forum. They recommended (some appraisal company dot com)

If the appraisal comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly. I also hope you can give me 10% – 15% discount of the appraised value.

After I get an appraisal from you we’ll continue our negotiations.

Hope we can come to an agreement quickly fast.

Looking forward to your response.

xxxxxxxxxyyyyy

Basically, if you send money to their recommended company, you might get some phony appraisal or you might not. Bottomline, you’ll that money you sent is lost. They’ll never fulfill their promise and continue negotiations or buy your domain.

Many domainers fell for the scam and sent money for the phony because they were so eager to sell their domains.

Most of the domain appraisal scams take on this format. Other clues include:

1. They’ll never address you by name. Email starts of with “hello”

2. They might be lots of grammatical errors in the email

3. They’ll always accept the offer you send no matter how high.

4. The email is purported to be sent by a “ceo”

One more thing to bear in mind. Most appraisals are worthless. A domain is worth what a customer is willing to pay for it. If you want an appraisal – don’t pay for it.

Do a search and find out what similar names have been sold for or post the name on a domain forum and get feedback from the users on that forum.

If you want to make the domaining business a profitable one, you must first buy well researched, quality domain names.

Next, to buy domain names that are well researched, top quality and affordable and that can be easily resold, visit:

http://www.PimpingDomains.com

It is not uncommon for some newbie domain investor to spend hours searching for the perfect domain name to register. Then when they stumble on free to register names that they feel are as good as the next Google – their heart start beating.

They whip out their credit cards and buy the domains, sure that within a short period of time, they will be able to resell the names for profit.

But for many newbies, that initial burst of enthusiasm fades fast as no one even signal interest in any of the names.

If this describe your experience, here is how to buy domains that will be more valuable than the ones you bought in the past:

1. In general – stay away from brandable names. It is important that you buy a name that an audience will understand as soon as they see it.

These kind of names tend to have the keywords in them and people are typing in that keyword in the search engines. These types of names, would be more valuable to an end-user

2. When you are just staring in the domaining for profit business – go easy on the number to names you buy. Read the domain name forums and read Dn Journal and find out what type of domains are moving.

3. From point #2, you should haves saved some money rather than throwing money at rubbish names.

Take some of that money and search through some of the names being sold at Snap Names. You could find some real gems there for as low as $69.

Sure, you can find a good free to register name for $10. But remember, the advanced domainer scan numerous names on a weekly basis so finding that great $10 domain name is getting harder.

Again, when you go to Snap Names – look for domains that have the keywords in them.

4. Avoid long buying long domain names or names with hyphens.

5. Buy only .Coms. Until you know more about the industry, avoid dotnet, dotbiz, dotinfo and the country extensions such as dotpk (Pakistan), dotin (India) etc.

You have a greater margin of error if you register only dotcoms.

Conclusion:

Knowing how to buy domains for profit is a skill that will improve with time. Read up as much as you can about the industry and learn from your mistakes.

If you want to get a good jump start into the business, only buy domains from websites that have waded through the crappy names and only offering the gems.

Next, buy domains cheap but high quality at http://www.PimpingDomains.com – Most offers accepted!

So, here are a few steps to protect yourself from domain name theft:

1. Make sure you whois record is current. In general, whois records tell searchers who owns a particular domain, their email address and their physical address.

If you go to whois dotcom and enter your domain name, you should see all your relevant information.

It is against The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) rules to have false whois information or information that is not current.

No what is the importance of this?

Well, let us say that you register a great domain. To register a name you must state an email address which your registrar will use to contact you.

Now, let us say that you stop using that email for sometime and the email account is closed due to inactivity. A thief could re-register that email and request a password reminder from your domain registrar and hence – get access to your domains.

2. Safeguard your email password. If someone gets a hold of your email password, he could then change that password and lock you out of your own email.

He then could proceed to request a password reminder from your domain registrar. After he accesses your domain registrar, he could then go on to change the password and have full access to all your domains.

If you check your email from a public internet cafe – ensure that you don’t request that your password be automatically saved. Some browsers give you this option.

3. Lock your domains. This is one of the best ways to protect yourself from domain name theft. Registrars offer this service free – making it harder for a thief to transfer out your name.

4. Pay attention to correspondence from your domain registrar. When your domain name is in the process of being transferred from your account to another account at the same or a different registrar, you get an email.

This email from the registrar notifiers you of the transfer and gives you time to respond if the transfer is fraudulent.

5. Be careful of domain sellers. Thieves eventually want to sell the domains they steal. So if you are about to buy domains from someone you don’t know – google the domain being sold to see if it is reported stolen.

You could also visit the various domain forums such as Namepros and DnForum and do a search there for any reports of the domain being stolen.

Following these steps should not only help to protect you from domain name theft but ultimately protect you from losing money.

Next, buy domains here that high quality and very affordable. Visit:

http://www.PimpingDomains.com

A good domain name can have a positive effect on your website traffic and on the ability of your business to become a brand.

The best domains have a sticky factor, in that they are easy to remember. So if you are looking to choose one for your business, here is what you could do first:

1. Tell a group of family and friends you can trust the domain you are thinking about registering. Then change the topic of the discussion. After a hour later, ask them to repeat the domain you told them.

If they remember it, you might be onto a good name.

Do this exercise with different groups of people, changing the name if possible.

2. Avoid hypens and numbers. These makes it harder for a domain to be remembered. A possible exception is the numbers “360″ or “365″ at the end of a short name.

So for example, there is an internet radio station called Live365 dotcom. The name is short, easy to remember despite the number of the end. As matter of fact, the number ties in with the theme of the site.

3. Keep the name short but avoid abbreviations. When choosing a domain name, it is just hard to remember long names. Plus, less names as less visually appealing.

The exception is if the long name is a keyword that people are searching for a lot on the net. So if people are searching for “distance learning degrees” – distancelearningdegrees dotcom would be a good name – despite the length.

Abbreviations in domains mean little to people and the search engines unless that abbreviation is well accepted such as “UK” or “USA.”

4. Location in a name can be good. If you operate a pizza shop in Kingston, Jamaica, then having a domain such as KingstonPizza dotcom – would be a good choice. Having the city or state is a great way to boost your local search rank.

5. Avoid registering trademark names. When choosing a domain name – I see a couple people making this mistake. And worse, they try to sell the name to other people.

Using a name that is trademarked is nothing but legal trouble. Bottom line – don’t do it.

To find out if the a name you plan on registering is trademarked or not, search the TESS ( Trademark Electronic Search System ) database.

6. Buy domains. If a suitable name is not available-free to register, consider buying a domain from a reputable broker or aftermarket platform. These services often list some excellent names that are not available anywhere else.

Next, need help in choosing domain names for your business? Visit my website for high quality domains and affordable prices. Most offers accepted. Go to:

http://www.PimpingDomains.com

No where on the planet will you find that return on investment. Not the stock market nor the forex market.

Some people buy domains for $10 an try to make a quick sale for say $100 or more. This is called flipping.

Other domaining investors would buy names and develop them into fully blown websites. They then sell those websites later on.

Whatever your model, here are some tips on selling domain names faster:

1. Put the domains you have for sale in your email signature or into your signature at any of the free to join domain forums.

2. Post the domains in free to join forums. Namepros dot com, DnForum dot com and Domainstate dotcom are three popular forums where you can list your names for sale.

Don’t just list your names for sale either – you could provide answers to questions posed in the forums as well.

3. List your names on top broker sites. Sedo dotcom, Afternic dotcom and Snapnames dotcom are great places to list domains for sale. These websites get loads of traffic from people actively seeking domains.

4. Invest in your domain by creating a page or blog. When you have some content on your domains, it is more attractive to a potential buyer. You would also attract more search engine traffic by having content on your domain.

5. Keep your whois data public. This data tells people who own a domain and their contact info.

Many domain buyers track down sellers by checking that data

If you pay for whois privacy when you register a domain, you make it harder to be contacted by a potential buyer. So, keep that info public.

6. Do a Google search for a list of potential companies that may be interested in your name. Then when you have compiled that list – send each of them a personalized domain.

You can find the contact info on the site or by checking the whois dot com database

Some people have success with sending template email but I like to make the email look more personal. Include the name of the person you want to reach and the price of your domain.

Include your name and website and even telephone number. This would separate you from spam and make you look more credible.

When selling your domains in this way – be prepared to negotiate. Don’t be offended if the price a potential buyer offer is too low.

Selling domain names is an exciting a potentially very profitable business. You can buy quality, very affordable domains and resell them in the manner disclosed above.

Next, are you interested in selling domain names for fun and profit. Here is a great place to find in demand, quality, affordable domains that can be resold for a quick profit. Visit:

http://www.PimpingDomains.com

There is a little bit of planning required before you actually register the domain. First you need to make sure that the domain you are registering represents your site theme. It is idea to include your business name on the domain which will not only make a positive impression but will also rank your site high on search engines. If you have a online discount widget store, then try to incorporate the words discount, widget, and stores on the domain. For example: webedesigner would be a good brandable domain name for your site that people will be able to remember easily. If your site is not available in .com extension, then .net or other extensions might work out as well.

You may have to teak the words around and add generic terms to the domain to come up with a name that not only represents your site but is also easy to remember. If webedesigner is not available, you can try webedesigner (making the widget plural) or webedesigner. Just be a little creative and use your imagination here.

Most registers offer domain name suggestions for alternate domains if the domain you are trying to register is not available. You can get some good choices there sometimes. If you don’t find something that interests you, it will at least give you an idea to look for alternate domain names that can be suitable for your site. Once you are comfortable with the domain name you found, you are on to the next step of actually registering it. Godaddy, namecheap, register, 1and1, directnic are just a few popular registers that you can use to register your domains with.

Some registers will give you discounts on multiple years of registration so if you are planning on keeping the domain and using it for a while, then you might want to register it for multiple years and save a little there. If you find a domain name that you are really interested in is already taken, then you may have an option to back-order that domain with some registers. Domain back-ordering service will try to register the domain for you in case the current register does not renew the domain in the future.

Domain name aftermarket is another place to look for the some perfect domains. Sedo is a site to look for such aftermarket domains. If you find a name that you really like and cannot live without, then there are domain name brokers who can contact the current domain owner and try to strike an agreement on getting that domain transferred to you. That however will not be successful always and can cost you a fortune sometimes.

Jermaine Lindsey is a lead developer for a Houston web design firm. He provides support to over fifty website designers and developers. If you need a Houston website design or just looking for tips visit our website.

Domain names are also classified according to the Domain suffix, in this case the “Dot-Com”, in these category we have Top Level Domain (TLD), generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) and Country code To Level Domain (ccTLC). There are currently 239 country top level domains in Existence. You can tell a ccTLD because the domain suffix identifies the country domain. I.e. Philippines ccTLD is dot.ph

Here are a few points to keep in mind about DNS for business

You have to register your own domain name

If you can’t afford a domain of your choice or it’s already taken, then you have the choice of registering your domain through ISPs or web hosts who offer cut rate services by making your domain name an extension of their. Say for instance the web host’s domain is “cheapdomainserve”, when you register with them your domain could look something like www dot cheapdomainserve/geryshop/index dot html.

As a business, you need to register your own domain name. An extension name such as the one in my example makes you look like an amateur and will lose you business. Also, with an extension domain name, every time you change your ISP or Web Host, you will have to redo all your business cards and promotion materials.

Domain names matter

Just as when you originally named your business, names on the Net matter. You need a domain name that not only identifies your business but is easy to remember, as so many people type names or partial names into search engines to find the site they’re looking for.

The problem, of course, is that so many of the best or most obvious names are taken. You may need to think deeply and explore many different possibilities to come up with a good domain name, unless you are already running an established company off-line and are just giving your established business an online home. (In that case, the name of your established company is your best choice of domain name for your online business – if it’s not already taken.)
If you are marketing a product or service internationally, you may wish to register your online business as a dot-com (or a dot-biz or whatever other generic Top Level Domain is appropriate).

Many people who remember a business’s name try to access the business’s site on the Web by typing a name directly into their browser, and dot com is most people’s first “guess” as to what a domain name might be.

Sammy Kirkland in web programming and design. If you’d like to know more about our services, please visit our x-cart web design page and our wonderful custom ecommerce development page.