the reason why business need a good domain

Why domains are not created equal? and why we must own generic or premium domain ? Here is the reason.

3 ways to encourage more offers for your domain name

I took this from morganlinton.com.Thanks to him for giving us free and precious lesson.

Not all domains get offers, in fact, a minority of domain names get offers from end-users. In most cases this is because the domain just plain sucks. I don’t mean to be blunt but it’s true, your baby might be ugly. However there are also domain names that don’t suck, in fact they are pretty darn good, but they get little to no offers. Their owners may assume that the domain just isn’t of much interest to end-users, when instead they may be inadvertently turning people away.

What many Domain Investors forget to think about is how little your average person knows about domains. Most people don’t know how to conduct a WHOIS search, what a domain would cost, or even what a registrar is. This means that you want to do everything you can tell let someone know that your domain is for sale, unless of course you don’t want to sell it, but then you shouldn’t be reading a post about how to get more offers on your domains.

Below are three quick and easy ways to encourage more offers on your domains:

1. Place a “For Sale” banner at the top of your site – I think InternetTraffic.com and TrafficZ do great jobs of making a clear and visible for sale strip at the top of the the site. There should be a clear call to action so anyone visiting the site knows it is for sale and knows how to make an offer.
2. Keep your WHOIS information public – most people assume that if your WHOIS information is private, you don’t want to be contacted. In fact most people have no idea that you can email these WHOIS privacy addresses and get in touch with the owner. Make your information public, heck you can even mention that the domain is for sale in your WHOIS if you really want to make it clear.
3. Don’t develop the domain – if you want to monetize your domain, build it out, but if you want to maximize offers this will work against you. When people see a fully built website on a domain they assume there’s a business there and that either the domain is not for sale, or there would be a lot of complexity buying it.

One final note that I think is important to mention. While I love so many wonderful TLDs out there it should be known that .COM domains do get far more inquiries than any other TLD. I’m not saying other TLDs don’t get offers, they certainly do, but .COMs get the most.

See also his Domaining MBA Monday (its update every week) for getting more from him .

Demand Media has acquired Name.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Demand Media® (NYSE: DMD), a leading digital media company, today announced the acquisition of Denver-based Name.com, a domain name registrar known for its strong retail footprint, award-winning customer service and creative spirit. The acquisition is intended to expand Demand Media’s platform as it prepares for the historic release of new Top Level Domains (TLDs) this year.

Founded in 2003, Name.com customers have registered nearly 1.5 million domains, and use the company’s tools and services to grow their online presence. As the second largest registrar in the World, Demand Media’s eNom subsidiary has over 13.5 million domain names on its platform registered by over 8,800 resellers and partners. “Name.com will provide a direct channel for us to reach consumers and small businesses as they develop and manage their online identities,” said Richard Rosenblatt, chairman and CEO, Demand Media. “This becomes even more valuable as over one thousand new domain extensions are expected to become available for registration in the years ahead.”

In 2011, ICANN initiated the process for creating new domain extensions as a way to increase domain name choices for memorable or descriptive web addresses (for example, integritymortgagesolutions.com can become integrity.mortgage or integritymortgage.solutions) and help organize websites and information better (for example, gwathmey-siegel.com could end in a domain extension that maps to the nature of the business, such as .law, .architect or .cpa). Last June, ICANN announced it had received 1,930 applications for new TLDs that were submitted by entrepreneurs, businesses, governments and communities around the world looking to operate a TLD registry of their own choosing.

Demand Media will retain the Denver-based team and the business will report to Taryn Naidu, executive vice president, Registrar Services. “Our strategy is to provide an end-to-end solution for all things domains — whether you are looking to consume or distribute names and services,” said Naidu. “Name.com brings innovation, creativity and a deep commitment to their customers – factors which we believe are essential in the environment of new gTLDs.”

.Org wholesale price to increase to $8.25

.Com prices may be fixed for the next six years, but that’s not stopping other registries from increasing prices.

Public Interest Registry has informed ICANN that it will increase the wholesale cost of a .org domain name to $8.25 on July 1, 2013.

It sent a letter to ICANN on Christmas Eve that was just published yesterday.

Apparently I (and ICANN) are a bit late on this news, but that’s what happens when you slip a notice in over the holidays.

A price increase for .org basically happens once a year. In April 2011 it increased to $7.21; in 2012 it increased to $7.70.

Verisign just announced a 10% .net price hike to $5.62.