Small Website Hosting - Internet Marketing and web development » Domain

How to Check Domain Name Availability Instantly

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 02:48:32 +0000

The domain name of a website is the one way in which people can find the website that they are looking for. Thus, from a business point of view, the domain name needs to be relevant to the information contained on the website and be something that people will find easily. However, when getting these names for the domain, it is sometimes hard to come up with something that is original and is not going to be confused with another website that is out there.

At PCNames.com, people can do a domain search to find if there are any websites out there that are using the same name. This search will include those websites that are .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, and so many more. How is this helpful to the website owner? It makes certain that the domain name that you are using is one that others are going to be able to find with ease and without confusion. Which could do wonders for your website traffic. The search results are yielded after a few seconds of delay as the site goes through all of the domains to make sure that there is a match or not.

In addition, people can find valuable information that they can use. For example, there are web hosting reviews for those that are starting there on website that will put them on the path of establishing their own website. There is also information concerning the technicalities of websites, such as what certain terms mean and so forth. As well as tips as to how to change the domain yet not lose all the information that you have already compiled from your current domain.

Overall, PCNames.com is not only a great place to make sure that you have a completely unique domain name via instant domain name search, but it is also a great place to just learn more in general about the use of domain names and websites altogether.

Namecheap.com is Launching an Affiliate Program

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:40:04 +0000

Great news for Namecheap fans and those who look for a one-stop solution for establishing their Internet presence: Namecheap is finally launching their very-first affiliate program.

Namecheap, an ICANN-accredited domain registrar, web hosting provider and other web hosting related services, is finally coming to their senses, perhaps after listening to many feedback from their clients (including me) to launch an affiliate program that will benefit them, as well as us, the clients.

Here are what Namecheap offers to the affiliates:

You can sell every service Namecheap offer, including domain registry, web hosting and SSL certificates.
Earn 15% commission on any sale (first purchase only.)
Commission up to 15 days of referral.
30 day waiting period.

Namecheap is one of my favourite web hosting partner (the other one would be HostGator for their outstanding customer live support and reliability.) The big plus for Namecheap is that their simple but highly effective account dashboard, where you can manage everything from inside – Your domain names, web hosting and other services, not mentioning their super-fast support ticket system’s response.

What about GoDaddy? I try to stay away from it, except for managing my domain names – Maybe it’s just a personal preference…

If you are looking for a unique feature other domain registrars don’t do, here’s one: Namecheap’s domain control system allows you to let others exercise control on your domain names with limited permissions. Pushing domain names to other Namecheap members is couldn’t be easier, too.

Hopefully, they will provide more perks to the affiliated clients in the near future.

If you are interested in what Namecheap can offer you, make sure you visit their website to learn more or sign-up as a member.

Check domain history before buying domain

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:03:42 +0000

Before you bought any domain, you should check the domain history whether it is dropped before or not. What is a dropped domain anyway? A dropped domain is a domain name that was previously registered but was not renewed by the domain owner. There are several reason for this. The owner might forgot to renew the domain name or the previous domain owner did not want to renew the domain. If the domain is banned, the previous owner might not want to renew it. He might used it for spamming. If the domain has been banned, the search engines will not list your website and you will not get any or little traffic from Search Engine.

Before you buy you can check it’s history at the Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine. Type in the domain, and you can check if it has been previously dropped. You can also find the age of a domain there.

Why should you move to 1&1?

admin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:19:20 +0000

Anyone who is thinking to start serious blogging should buy non free hosting and domain. Here are TOP reason why you should move to 1&1:

1&1 is both the world’s biggest web host, and the fastest growing. Their global community is 7.83 million customer contracts strong.
99.9% Uptime. No matter what the cause, network downtime hurts your credibility, your sales, and your business. 1&1 uses its experience and expertise in hosting to deliver 99.9% uptime, so your website is there when you need it.
FREE 1&1 WebsiteBuilder: 4 easy steps, no programming required.
Search Advertising Vouchers for Microsoft® ad Center, Google AdWords®, Yahoo!®, and Citysearch®.
24/7 Customer Support.
They are having special offers in this new year:
HOSTING: 3 Months Free on select shared hosting packages.
DOMAINS: 25% Off! Pay only $6.74 the first year on a new .com domain name purchase! I usually bought domain that cost $9, so a 25% is quite big.
It accepts paypal.

1&1.com has just launched a new feature for finding already registered domain names up for sale alongside unregistered names, as well as continuing to offer great prices on new domain names. Powered by Sedo, the world’s leading marketplace for buying and selling domain names, the service delivers more options to clinch the perfect web identity. &1’s participation will bring registered domains to a wide range of consumer and business user groups and will enable the user to make a more appropriate choice from the very start of an online project. For businesses operating in a highly competitive Internet environment, investing in a memorable web address can often help drive traffic to a website or e-commerce venture.

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Domain history

admin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:33:10 +0000

I just found a new domain name which I though a good name. In fact, its so good that I can’t believe that it was still available. But before buying a domain name, one should find out the history of the domain. You don’t want domain which has been used for spamming, and thus penalized by search engine.

One tool you can use is http://www.archive.org/web/web.php. But there is a possibility that it was previously owned by somebody.

Domain life cycle

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:37:45 +0000

In the early days when a domain name expired, other people can register it immediately. Today Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) made it more complex to protect registrants. They created a “Grace Period”.

After domain name expired it will enter the “Auto-Renew Grace Period” which is 0-45 days. In this phase domains is still in zone (domain name will still resolve). Registrar often use the domain for its own purposes in this phase. During this period the registrar becomes the official owner of the domain but might still allow the registrant to renew it. Many registrar will try to make money by putting up PPC (pay per click) ads on the domain.

After the “Auto-Renew Grace Period”, it will then enter the “Redemption Grace Period” for 30 days which is no longer in zone (domain name will not resolve). Registrars would be able to redeem the name by paying renewal fees, plus a service charge, to the registry operator.

If the domain registrant does not take action to renew the domain within the 30 day redemption period, the domain will went into “pending deletion”, which lasts for 5 days. Once the domain enters into this period, the registrant can no longer renew the domain name. After the 5 days period the domain is deleted by the domain registry, allowing anyone to register it.

Here’s the summary:

“Auto-Renew Grace Period” 0-45 days
“Redemption Grace Period” 30 days
“Pending deletion” 5 days

Advantage and disadvantage of hyphens

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:34:50 +0000

Many people ask “Is it good using hyphens in a domain name”". Here are a few considerations when choosing your domain:

Advantages

It is easier to read in print like in business card. So hyphens is better for offline promotions. Just compare these two: homemortgagedeal.com or home-mortgage-deal.com
Hyphenated domain names works better for search engine. Although current search engine technology has impoved much, they can be confused. Homemortgagesnow.com can mean “home mortgage snow” or “home mortgages now“.

Disadvantage

It is hard to say. If you are on radio and your domain is home-mortgage-deal.com, you need to say “home hyphen mortgage hyphen deal dot com”.
Many people will usually forgot to type the hyphen.
Url’s with hyphens do not look professional.

Only you can decide whether you are using hyphens or not. What do you think?

Choosing a domain name tips

admin — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:47:30 +0000

Domain name is one of the important think before you start your website or blog. There a three things a domain name can help you:

Branding for your website. This can contains word which is not in the dictionary, like Yahoo or Google.
Search Engine Optimization for your website. By using keywords on your domain name, you can have higher rank for the keyword in Search Engine Result Page (SERP). If you want to build a website on mortgage, you can create a website using the name homemortgagedeal.com.
Targeting a specific niche for Google Adsense. By choosing homemortgagedeal.com domain name, your website will probably shows mortgage or real estate ads.

Here are tips on choosing domain name:

Know what is your goal. Is it branding or SEO? If is for branding, choose short name domain, and easy to remember. If you are for the SEO, put keyword(s) on your domain name.
Choose dot com (.com) domain. Most people will type .com for default.
Use short and easy to spell domain name.
Use your company name or product name as your domain name.
If you are planning to branding your domain name, buy mispelled name too. Also buy another extensions to protect your brand like .net, .info, .biz
Do not use hyphen for your domain name. Many people will forgot to It’s easy to forget the hyphens when typing a name.
Dont use too much words on your domain, maximum three. So don’t go with besthomemortgagedeal.com (4 words).

Any comments?

Tips using domain registrar

admin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:08:07 +0000

Domainwarning.com has an excellent article on explaining tips on choosing domain registrar. According to them, you want to register your domain with a registrar who:

Never hides any fees, like “transfer-out” fees.
Pays the registry for the same number of years you order, up front
Gives you direct, unfettered access to your whois records, your registrar locks, your auth codes and even total control over your domain’s DNS settings like hostname records, mail exchangers and nameservers
Offers a free whois email privacy service and will never sell your data to a third party
Who doesn’t “monetize” your domains
Who never “front runs” prospective domain searchers
A domain registrar who answers the phone and basically doesn’t try to upsell you or sell you a bunch of services you don’t need or want, who is courteous, professional and has over 10 years experience providing rock solid domain and DNS services.

Learn more here.

Domain Code

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:18:45 +0000

A Domain Secret or Authorization Code (AUTH-Code) is a code assigned by the Registrar at the time the domain name was registered. This Auth Code acts like a password for a domain name. Domain Secret is a security measure, ensuring that only the owner of the domain can transfer their domain name.

Code should be available within the Domain Name Management Interface provided by your Registrar. In the event that you are not able to locate your Domain (Transfer) Secret or Auth. Code, you need to contact the Support Team of your current Registrar, to obtain the same.