Has everybody heard of this young entrepreneur, Andres Kello?

He’s the guy trying to break the World Record for the most expensive Domain name ever.

Price Tag? How about 12 million plus one dollar. From the proceeds of the sale, at least $4,000,001.00 is pledged to charity. Another $4 million is promised to be given away to his supporters.

The official record is held by Business.com at $7.5 million.
The unofficial record stands at $12 million and reportedly is credited to Sex.com. Imagine that!

Mr. Kello believes that the sell of his Domain name is a small price to pay compared with the fees that some big businesses pay for 30 and 60 second ads on Super Bowl Sunday. He thinks once the sale is made, the media will be flooded with reports. Everyone will log in to see what this site has to offer and who finally decided to take a chance with that kind of advertising dollar.
He may have a vailid point. I’m curious right now, and maybe just a little jealous that I didn’t think of such a great idea. I love the charity factor that he has woven into this project, even though with that kind of money, I think he should commit at least half of the sale proceeds. Either way, it’s a big gift and I’m sure many people will benefit. Mr. Kello also claims that he will not just quit and walk away with his small fortune, but will continue to come up with bigger and better ideas to top this project.

I hope this thing really does happen. Maybe this idea will fuel the rockets in all our brains to propel more thoughts to new highs and make this world a better, safer, and more peaceful environment for our generation and those that will exist many years from now!

For more information and a chance to get in on the action, please head on over to BillyReeves.com.

See Ya!

Barberman

For those of you with Web sites, you probably know what a “host” is. It’s a company that provides a location, or address, on the Internet where your Web site resides.

In other words, just like a physical business needs an address, so does a Web site. You can’t have a Web site and just “stick it up” on the Web. Unless you want to set up your own server, you have to go through a hosting company who gives you that address, including server space and bandwidth, that enables the search engines and visitors to find your site.

Let’s look at some common problems we often have with hosting companies:

• You can never find an actual person to talk to! They may have a 24-hour customer service line open, but you can never get through to a real person.

• Hosting companies often think that the “lowest price” will always get the sale, but they fail to realize that what people really want is excellent customer service, servers that are up almost 100% of the time, and a variety of services that come with the hosting package.

• Many hosting companies don’t provide any other functionality other than Web site hosting. They don’t provide a “control panel” full of goodies such as PGP secure e-mail, shopping carts, log analysis, database creation, etc.

• Guess what? Technical support people often don’t make the best “customer support” people. They may be technical gurus, but their main interest lies in their high tech servers and other functionality, rather than solving the simple problems of their customers.

In other words, weak customer service is a major problem with the majority of hosting companies these days. Solution:

I recently had the pleasure of being introduced to Combustion Hosting Company, and to say I was impressed is a vast understatement.

Here are some things that struck me as unbelievable. When the phone rings, whoever answers the phone is required to stand up to answer it and talk. After all, the sheer act of standing up requires that they’re alert and are listening to your problems and concerns. And, you actually speak to a “real” person!

With Combustion, if you have a problem, they don’t just “tell” you how to solve it, they solve it for you! Also, their services certainly aren’t limited to “hosting.” They can set you up with an account to where you can access the Internet through local access numbers no matter where you travel.

Their prices are extremely reasonable — much better than I had been paying previously. Plus, the “extras” I’ve received by going with Combustion are amazing.

But the one thing that makes Combustion shine over most Web hosting companies is their devotion to providing good customer service, and this is an area in which they truly excel.

So, if you’re in the market for a new Web site, or if you aren’t pleased with your current host, consider Combustion Hosting. It will be one of the smartest moves you could ever make for your Web site. http://www.combustionhosting.com/moreinfo

If you want further proof as to the benefits of using Combustion, read: this article.

About The Author

Robin Nobles is the Co-Director of Training of Search Engine Workshops with John Alexander. They teach 2-day beginner, 3-day advanced, and 5-day all-inclusive “hands on” search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe. She also teaches online search engine marketing courses through http://www.onlinewebtraining.com, and she’s a member of Wordtracker’s official question support team. With partner John Alexander, she’s co-authored a series of e-books called, “The Totally Non-Technical Guides to Having a Successful Web Site.” And, they opened a networking community for search engine marketers called The World Resource Center for Search Engine Marketers.

robin@searchengineworkshops.com

What is a Domain Name?

Imagine that everybody in the world used their telephone number instead of their name… If names didn’t exist, you’d be forced to invent them, or you’d never be able to identify your closest friends, let alone casual acquaintances you’d met only a couple of times!

Domain names were invented to fill a similar need on the Internet. Most computers connected to the Internet are identified by a unique number called an IP address (for instance, 234.208.12.129). IP addresses are neither intuitive (they don’t correspond to a geographical location) nor easy to remember.

If you type the IP address into the URL bar of your browser you will be taken to the web site it relates to. As well as being hard to remember, however, IP addresses are also FIXED (i.e. if you change web hosting companies you’ll need to get a new IP address for your site).

Domain names offer a more intuitive way to name and find a website. Each domain name replaces a string of meaningless numbers (an IP address) with a simple word or expression. That’s the theory - in practice, domain names can be pretty obscure too.
A domain name is the label used to identify the Web site, for example “http://www.qualitylinkbuilding.com” It usually describes some aspect of the site and is easier for the visitors to remember than the Web address, also known as the IP address.

.com is the top domain under which the other domain name is registered. There are heaps of different top domains out there, from commercial (.com) through to non-profit (.org) and even country-specific top domains such as France (.fr) and Italy (.it). Every domain name is registered under a top domain of some kind. The top domain is often known as the domain extension.
History of domain

When top-level domains were first implemented, in January 1985, there were six:

.com
.edu
.gov
.net
.org
.mil

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) currently classifies top-level domains into three types:

country code top-level domains (ccTLD): Used by a country or a dependent territory. It is two letters long, for example jp for Japan.

generic top-level domain (gTLD): Used (at least in theory) by a particular class of organizations (for example, com for commercial organizations). It is three or more letters long. Most gTLDs are available for use worldwide, but for historical reasons gov and mil are restricted to the government and military, respectively, of the USA.

infrastructure top-level domain: The top-level domain arpa is the only one.

A full list of currently existing TLDs can be found at the list of Internet top-level domains.

Domain Name System

When the Internet was being collaboratively developed by a substantially technical community around a growing but still manageable Internet Engineering Task Force, the Domain Name System (DNS) evolved as a hierarchical solution to the problem of keeping track of which computers had which Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

The Internet however, is based on IP addresses. Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they’re easier to remember.

How does the Domain Name system work?

Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name http://www.qualitylinkbuilding.com, http://www.seo-professional-india.com , http://www.selldomaindomain.com might translate to 198.105.232.4

The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn’t know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned.

Without DNS, we’d all have to memorize long numbers instead of URLs or E-mail addresses. What a mess that would be!
Guidelines for the registering a domain names

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Ihe ICANN coordinates the assignment of Internet Domain Names, IP address numbers, protocol parameter and port numbers and identifiers that must be globally unique for the Internet to function. Domain name guidelines:

1. The main part of the name (’yahoo’) can only contain the letters a-z, the digits 0-9, and a dash (-).

2. The dash can’t be at the beginning or end of a name.

3. Underscore (_) and other special characters are not allowed.

4. The name may not exceed 63 characters, excluding the characters used to identify the Top Level Domain (such as, .com, .biz, .info, .net, .org).

5. Upper and lower-case characters are equivalent: YAHOO.COM is the same as yahoo.com.

6. The end of the name (e.g. ‘.com’) is called the TLD (Top Level Domain). Conventions for TLD’s are discussed below.

What does it mean to “register” a domain name?

When you register a domain name, you are inserting an entry into a directory of all the domain names and their corresponding computers on the Internet.

Domain Name Registrar?

Registrars are companies that compete with each other and enter new or renew domains into a TLD Registry(s).
1. Domain Name Registrars can set their own registration and renewal fees.

2. All Registrars are required to collect the same information.

3. The differences between Registrars are basically: price and service.

Some answers for Frequently Asked Questions

How do I register a domain name?

Domain names ending with .aero, .biz, .com, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .net, .org, or .pro can be registered through many different companies (known as “registrars”) that compete with one another.

The registrar you choose will ask you to provide various contact and technical information that makes up the registration. The registrar will then keep records of the contact information and submit the technical information to a central directory known as the “registry.” This registry provides other computers on the Internet the information necessary to send you e-mail or to find your web site. You will also be required to enter a registration contract with the registrar, which sets forth the terms under which your registration is accepted and will be maintained.
Domain Names aren’t free. But, if you are a serious about your business, a Domain Name is the best investment you can make. To register your Domain Name:

1. Determine what Top Level Domain (TLD) you are qualified to use: gTLD, rTLD or ccTLD.

2. Click on the TLDs Registry and select a Certified Registrar.

3. Conduct a WHOIS Search and determine if your domain name is availabe.

Fill out their form.

Double check your domain name spelling and extension.
Click process link.

Will my name and contact information be publicly available?
Information about who is responsible for domain names is publicly available to allow rapid resolution of technical problems and to permit enforcement of consumer protection, trademark, and other laws. The registrar will make this information available to the public on a “Whois” site. It is however possible to register a domain in the name of a third party, as long as they agree to accept responsibility — ask your registrar for further details.

How long does a registration last? Can it be renewed?
Each registrar has the flexibility to offer initial and renewal registrations in one-year increments, with a total registration period limit of ten years.

How much does a domain-name registration name cost?

Each registrar sets the price it charges for registering names, and prices vary significantly among different registrars. In addition, some registrars offer discounted or free registration services in connection with other offerings, such as web hosting.

Can I change registrars after registering a domain name?
Yes, you may change the registrar sponsoring your domain name (60 days after intial registration.) For details on the transfer process, contact the registrar you would like to assume sponsorship of the registration.

Regards,

Mirza Mohd Ali Baig
Seo Professional India
http://www.qualitylinkbuilding.com
http://www.selldomaindomain.com
Email: contactseo@gmail.com
Phone: 00919391136471

I have a Masters in Engineering and Changed my profession as an IT Professional. I have More than 3 years of Experience as a SEO Professional. If you are interested then ask for Quote for Seo Campaigns. My Website http://www.qualitylinkbuilding.com

Webmasters all over the globe are anxiously anticipating the
latest in domain registration. In fact, the registration of .eu
domain names–European domains is expected to go quickly and
anyone interested in such domain names needs to stay on top of
the game in order to secure their place in the every changing
Internet world. Let’s take a look at what European domains are
and why they are so promising:

1. The new European domain registry (Eurid) opened for business
on December 7, 2005 and made first offerings to Government
agencies. Further, the outpouring of Government agencies
scooping up .eu domains was truely phenomenal! In fact, within
the first few hours of .eu domain offerings, some 80,000
applications were placed from all around Europe. Countries like
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and
Sweden were submitting applications as fast as possible!

2. With .eu domain names already proving to be popular, remember
some 80,000 application within first few hours of first day is a
testament to the popularity of these new domain names, the
remaining domain names are likely to disappear just as quick in
phase II and III of the .eu domain registration process. On
February 7, 2006, domain registrars like are expected to offer
.eu to trademark businesses. Later, in April, phase III
commences and offers .eu domain registration to everyone.
Clearly, the most popular .eu domain names will be all but gone
by April of the following year! Well almost.

3. All the best domains have gone from the .com and .co.uk
registry, yet the .eu domain registration process gives
webmasters an opportunity to, once again, get in on the best
domain names available. Webmasters can get short, professional
looking domain names with .eu domain registration, but only if
they are quick about signing up and they don’t waste time
waiting for the right moment. The moment is now–decided on a
.eu domain name and visit a .eu domain registrar now, before all
of the popular .eu domain names are gone.

4. The .eu domain names will go quickly for a number of reasons.
First, the .eu is likely to be popular on the continent and
amongst the newer member of the EU such as Poland. European
webmasters will be racing for .eu domain names and you will miss
out if you don’t sign up as soon as possible. Second, because
.eu domain names afford webmasters the opportunity to get easy
to remember domain names, many webmasters will be looking to get
in on the opportunity to improve their web traffic and business
will be looking to improve their profit margin.

5. During the Landrush phase on 7th April 2006 when everyone has
a shot at getting a .eu domain name, it is likely that there
will be tens of thousands of applications. The only way you can
ensure that you will get the .eu domain name of your choosing is
if you beat all of the other webmasters in your request for that
domain name. It is time to start thinking about the
possibilities afforded to you with a .eu domain name now and to
choose your .eu domain name wisely.

6. There is a lot of interest in UK market. The Internet has got
businesses thinking about the global market and the massive
improvements such a market can give to a company’s bottom line.
Thus, the rush for .eu domain names will most assuredly be a
maddening process, one in which businesses from all over the
globe are vying for the attentions of an international market.

7. Most of the main registries and resellers will be offering it
and this is good news for webmasters. By visiting accredited
registars you will find that their pricing for .eu domain names
is highly competitive and everyone knows that when the market
competes the consumer benefits. Now is the time to get that .eu
domain name, while the prices for such domain names are
competitive and low.

8. Pricing is likely to be competitive and to ensure that you
get a decent price for your .eu domain registration, you need to
get in on the market with a reputable domain registrar.
Discountdomainsuk.com offer you the opportunity to get in on
this incredible venture and reap the benefits from having a .eu
domain name of your choosing at a price that you can easily
afford.

9. Many services offering a backorder system - but there are
likely to lead to disappointment. A backorder system cannot
guarantee you that you will get the .eu domain name you want–in
fact, if another Webmaster applies for a .eu domain registration
name before you do, you are out of luck. The sooner you sign up
for your .eu domain name the better–there’s no time to waste
and www.discountdomainsuk.com can help you get your .eu domain
name with ease.

10. It is important to note that there are residency criteria -
so it’s only open to citizens or business established in a EU
Country. Nevertheless, the domain registration will allow
companies in this area to reach out to other countries and gain
new audiences for their businesses.

If you want to see your EU business succeed and become as
profitable as possible and by helping you find and obtain an
attractive and attention grabbing .eu domain name, one that is
keyword potent.

11. Finally, .eu domain names are technically the same as other
domain names types. The big difference is their newness–because
they are so new, many unique and profitable domain names are
waiting to be taken. Don’t be caught at the end of the waiting
list on this one–get your .eu domain name today.

Your domain hosting name is not something to be chosen lightly. Your domain hosting name is your front line in your branding campaign for your online business (or your offline business’s online presence). Careful consideration needs to go into choosing just the right domain hosting name to represent your business. The following are some key points to consider:

The Right Extension for the Right Site
Each type of site you want domain hosting for may serve a different market. Make sure the extension you use — .com, .net, .org, .biz, etc. — is the right extension for your market. If you are a business and there is no reason you cannot do it, get domain hosting for a .com. If you are a non-profit organization, consider .org. If you are building a personal website and are on a budget, consider .us or some of the other lesser-known extensions. When in doubt, however, go for .com. The part of a URL people most often first forget is the extension. And when they’re in doubt, .com’s what they type in: .biz and .net should only be considered if you’re completely attached to a particular domain hosting name and the .com variant isn’t available. But our best suggestion for that scenario is to vary the domain hosting name and get the .com extension.

The Shorter the Better
When picking domain hosting names for your website consider that people have to remember it to visit it. Not everyone is going to get to your website by clicking on a listing or an ad or a reciprocal link. Word of mouth leads increase when your domain hosting site’s name is short and sweet. And people make less spelling mistakes and typos when trying to type in your URL directly.

Stay Away from What Doesn’t Belong to You
Big companies with trademarked names seem like tempting targets for domain hosting names that generate loads of free (albeit unintentional) traffic. Heck, you could even sell the domain hosting name back to them for a hefty sum. More than likely, however, you’ll just get sued. And chances are, if you’re reading this article, they have better lawyers than you.

The More the Merrier
Admittedly this catchy tag line is a little misleading. Considering registering a group of domain hosting names in order to cover yourself for the inevitably of interested visitors typing in the wrong URL is an excellent idea. Try, if possible, to get the .com and .net variant of your domain hosting name, or a variant with hyphens as well as the one without (always go for without hyphens first). But don’t buy more than you can afford or more than you need. Once you own the domain hosting names, whatever they are and of whatever number, you still have to get people to visit them.

U R a *, but Your Domain Name Can’t Be
You can use neither symbols nor spaces in your domain hosting name (our apologies to “the artist formerly known as Prince”). And URLs are not case sensitive. So don’t waste your time.

Do it Now
Have you ever heard the concept that if you have an idea then at least one other someone else somewhere else in the world is having or has had the same idea? Well that’s certainly the case with domain hosting names, which is why you need to make all due haste in nabbing your ideal domain hosting name. Otherwise, you may wind up compromising with an alternate far inferior.

Hosting-Review.com is the premier resource on web hosting. Visit www.hosting-review.com for comprehensive reviews and rankings of over 50 web hosting providers, as well as informative articles about everything to do with hosting, including domain hosting..

Well, it seems we should all be very busy registering new domain name extensions as soon as we can, irregardless of whether we feel this is necessary or not. With ICANN bringing on an additional bevy of new domain name extensions, there are more possibilities to celebrate and party.

With Google now indexing .otherdomainextensions much higher than .com extensions irregardless of relevance to the topics or subject, it seems to be one of the few solutions to attaining top ranking positions.

I guess this is the way the web is going to go at present; at least for the time being - until Google realizes (or maybe not) that it doesn’t help any of us to find top ranking .co.uk, .travel or .other domains with very little relevant information and a lot of affiliate links than to find a really well informed .com domain with tons of useful information (presently ranking much lower than a .otherextension domain with much less useful information).

I assume that Google will find a way to get around this but for the time being, having other domain extensions will put you in a much better position for getting tons of traffic. The newer they are, the better your traffic will be since the quantity of sites on any specific extension seems to also have a considerable impact on placing in Google.

Combined with the newest craze of blogging and RSS feeds, why not get a foreign based blog or RSS instead of a .com blog or equivalent? Your profits are sure to hit the roof.

With each new domain extension, the possibilities for Internet marketing remain boundless. Which reminds me, I got to get up and start building the only two other domain extensions I own other than the (now seemingly becoming useless and defunct) .com domains.

Ann Louison is owner of a few gambling and casino portal sites and is dedicated to providing useful information on various topics.

When it comes to choosing your domain name, do not allow yourself to get stressed out or worry over choosing the perfect domain name that will make your website a success. When it comes down to it, there are several things you can do to ensure you choose the best type of domain for your business, and after that any number of domain names will work effectively for you. However, you need to read the following suggestions and follow them in order to avoid any costly mistakes to your traffic and business due to a bad domain name.

Tip #1 Short and Sweet

You will want a domain name that is short and sweet. There are many reasons for this, however if you have a short domain name it will be easier for people to remember and revisit not to mention tell others about. Also, if your domain name is short, other websites linking to your site will not have to worry about broken URLs and invalid web pages.

Tip #2 Make a List

You should definitely make a list of the domain names you like the most, but it is best if you make a list of themes rather than exact domain names. The reason for this is there are so many domain names on the Internet that finding an easy one is not so easy. So, come up with themes you are interested in and then start searching from there.

Tip #3 Be Open

Do not set your heart on one particular domain name, especially if it is a generic one because odds are it is taken. You will only be disappointed and unhappy with any other domain name. Do not set yourself up like this and realize ahead of time that you will need to be really creative with your domain name and open to new ideas and options.

Tip #4 Search for Options

Once you have your list of themes and ideas you want for a domain name you can start searching online. There are plenty of websites that will allow you to search and register different domain names. Most likely, several that you search for will be taken and the program might suggest you take that domain name with a really large number on the end or other variations that are available. In general, you do not want to do this because it is more difficult to remember your URL and you will get a lot of your traffic misdirected.

Tip #5 Dot Com

There are many kinds of extensions or suffixes available for URLs from com to .net and .biz to .info. While all of these are options and your particular desired domain might be taken under .com and available under tv you should consider long and hard before doing this. The reason for this is everyone knows about .com and if they are thinking of your website they will probably search for it as .com first. So, having a .com will keep people from getting confused. Also, if your keyword URL exists as a .com and you choose .net, you will probably lose customers and traffic to the other site because people know to go to .com.

Michael Turner reveals step-by-step how you can increase search engine traffic in his free 7 part mini-series. Grab it now at http://www.powertraffictactics.com/

The Registration of domain names is a thriving business on the Internet today – this is evident by the high bids that companies are willing to pay in Per-Per-Click (PPC) engines to attract potential customers for domain name registration.

The business of domain name registration is sometimes referred to as “Internet Real Estate”. Just like we can occupy high traffic areas in the central business districts of major cities in the real world, we can register domains for commonly used words or sought after keywords to generate traffic more easily to our websites. While most common words and abbreviations have already been taken for the most widely used top level domain names, with a little bit of creativity we can still register an endless number of promising domain names.

While there is no clear indication to what extent .com, .net as well as country top level domain names such as .co.uk, .de, .fr and so forth influence search engine rankings of websites, the word is that .org domains are still favored by Google as part of the non-commercial tradition.

However, this article is not looking at how the domain extension influences the ranking of a website as this is thought to be insignificant for search engine rankings. A stronger influence on search engine rankings have indeed the length of registration, frequency of DNS changes as well as the reputation of the registrar.

Even though sometimes overrated in its importance - especially in relationship to its effect on search engine rankings, domain names do remain an important asset for the online corporate identity of your business.

The main consideration concerning your domain name will be to choose between a creative name (such as “yahoo”, “alibaba”, “kazaa”) or a keyword name (such as “study-tourism”, “retail-gifts” or “hawaii-mortgage-company”. In fact using main keywords in your domain name does have a positive effect on your search engine rankings, especially to get your rankings off the ground after launching a new website. Down the road the effect however becomes almost negligible.

While many people tend to register numerous domain names to accommodate most important key words within them, they overlook that Google and other major search engines will pay almost the same attention to sub-domains. So instead of registering “hawaii-real-estate”, “florida-real-estate” and so forth, we might as well just register “real-estate” and have sub domains such as “hawaii.real-estate”, “florida.real-estate” and so forth.

What people further underestimate is that search engines in general look for keywords in the URL (unique resource locator) which comprises of the top level domain, any potential sub-domains and of course the file name. So, if you happen to be using a creative domain name that does not contain any important key words, you can of course include your main keywords in the file name of the webpage itself, i.e. florida-real-estate.html.

Hence, in a nutshell, while domain names are a major asset for your corporate identity, their significance for search engine rankings is overrated, as there are various ways to accommodate significant keywords in the URL and eventually other onsite factors (coding techniques, content) of a website will have a greater impact for search engine rankings.

Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and Internet entrepreneur. He is an online marketing specialist active in various online industries; among his online presences in the real estate and home loan industry are Hawaii Real Estate Listings and Hawaii Home Loans. Svend also just started a blog sharing his experience about how to make money online. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia before settling in Thailand.

Since every website needs a name, Dr. Steve Baba has written a free ebook that will help you obtain a brandable, memorable domain name at a reasonable cost, which will contribute to your brand equity and profits. The ebook, downloadable from Seemly.com, explains how to select and buy an elite domain name. You will be able to obtain a better name than your competitors have.

There are at least 10,000 words in a dictionary that would make great domain names plus at least 10,000 proper names and 10,000 great short coined-words. With a supply of 30,000 great names and millions of good names, obtaining a good name is easy.

There is no need to pay more than a few thousand dollars for a great one-word domain name, and many good domain names are available for free. This book provides you with the information needed to beat domain name speculators at their games.

Both naming methodology to identify great domain names and negotiating/purchasing methods to obtain great domain names at low prices are covered. After a couple of introductory sections, the book starts with domain naming goals or the criteria for choosing a great domain name: image, memorability, trademark-legal, and price. Then quality domain naming strategies are discussed. Inferior domain naming styles, which you want to avoid, are then discussed.

The second half of this book explains how to buy a great domain name. Auctions, expired domains, speculators, and other sources are discussed. Finally, many other topics are expanded on.

Steve Baba has a Ph.D. in Economics and ebusiness experience. The ebook on domain names is available at www.seemly.com, for free. No registration is required. The ebook is a PDF file of approximately 250K. The free ebook is advertising supported. The following paragraphs are book excerpts. Generic names, arbitrary dictionary words, coined or made-up words, modified generic names (generic plus) and unrelated two-word names are quality domain naming strategies. But, each quality strategy has strengths and weaknesses. There is no such thing as a perfect name.

Generic names are highly controversial and expensive. Examples of generic names are Hotels.com, Shoes.com and Furniture.com. The generic name strategy was always controversial and peaked during the dotcom bubble.

The generic naming strategy is virtually never used offline, but a very few small stores do business under generic names such as the “Mattress Store” in Annapolis, Maryland. Offline, anyone can use the same generic name and open a store name “Mattress Store.” Online, ownership of the domain name MattressStore.com can only prevent competitors from using the same exact domain name.

Since, generic names cannot be trademarked, competitors can use Hotels.NET, Rooms.com, Hotelrooms.com, Motels.com, Hotel.com (singular), Inns.com Hotels.us, and so on. Often, there are a half dozen simple generic names for each industry not to mention generic names with a prefix (e, i) or suffix such as eHotels.com.

Since competitors can use similar generic names, developing a distinct, memorable brand is difficult. Memorability or the need to spend less on advertising is often an argument for high domain name prices – but this argument is only half true. At the same time, with only a few first-rate generic names in each industry, the generic domain names may be unavailable or overpriced, and are rarely bargain-priced. A generic name also hampers brand extension beyond the generic category – Hotels.com selling plane tickets?

Another quality strategy is unrelated, arbitrary dictionary words. Examples of unrelated dictionary word names include Amazon.com Yahoo.com, Google.com, Target and Staples. Both the words yahoo and google are in the Oxford dictionary, but were rarely used prior to becoming famous brands.

Compared to generic names, it was not immediately obvious what business Amazon, Yahoo or Google was in. On the other hand, Yahoo can legally prevent competitors from using similar names such as FreeHoo via trademark laws.

SearchEngine.com would be the generic name for Google. “Fast” and “All The Web” are used as trademarks by another search engine. But “fast” and “all the web” are not unrelated or arbitrary. Other search engines can also claim to be fast, speedy, quick, the entire web, or something similar.

The key to having the most trademark protection is to choose an unrelated, arbitrary word. Descriptive words, such as fast, are unlikely to earn much trademark protection. Instead of fast, it may be possible to use a suggestive name such as jet, rocket, or race.

With 10,000 good, short, easy-to-spell dictionary words, it is always possible to find one for a few thousand dollars. Shorter four or five character dictionary words are more expensive. Three character dictionary words are extremely expensive.

Coined or fanciful words are words such as Exxon or Kodak that had no prior use. In theory, coined words are the best from a trademark-legal point of view, since no one has used the word before. Ideally, a coined word is totally new and unrelated to any other word.

But, memorability requires a short name, which has led to a number of similar coined names such as Duron, Enron, and Micron, which diminishes the legal advantage, since confusion is possible. LexIs sued LexUs.

While the legal protection is not perfect, the legal protection is considered the strongest of any category. But from a marketing point of view since no one has used the word, coined words may be as difficult to remember as nonsense syllables.

With a supply of thousands if not tens of thousands of short, coined words, it is always possible to find one for a few thousand dollars or less – often free.

Because of the lack of trademark protection for generic names, the lack of distinctiveness, and the cost of many generic domain names, many businesses have used a “generic plus” or “modified generic” naming strategy.

A prefix, suffix or second word can be added to the generic name. Examples of this are Carmax, CarMart, eCars, CarDepot, CarOne and CarLand.

This works if the generic word, such as car, is short. Longer generic names, such as CarpetCleaningMax.com, can be too long. But many of the longer generic words have common abbreviations. For example, computer is often abbreviated “comp” as in CompUSA. Software is often shortened to “soft” or “ware” in names. Tech is a common abbreviation for technology, overused in names.

These names range from virtually generic, eCars.cars, to nearly coined, QuanCars.com, with descriptive, suggestive and arbitrary second-words in-between. Since the generic word lacks any trademark protection, the trademark strength depends on the trademark strength of the “plus” part of the name.

The generic plus strategy is often an attempt to have the benefits from both a generic and a distinctive name, but may have the problems of both if one is not careful. At worst, it could infringe on someone’s trademark based on the second word such as CarsRus or CarBay. The generic part of the word is usually trademark safe.

Another strategy is to use two unrelated words in a name. Examples of two unrelated words are RedEnvelope.com and BlueTooth.com. The two unrelated words strategy differs from the generic-plus strategy in that neither word is related to the generic product. Technically red is related to envelope by being an adjective, but neither word is closely related to the product or service being sold.

The main advantage to this method, two unrelated words, is that it’s cheap and often free. With 30,000 single words, there are 900 million combinations of two single words (30,000 x 30,000).

The main disadvantage is that two unrelated words are twice as difficult to remember as one. Two words that are commonly related to each other such as “happy birthday” or “hot wire” are easier to remember, but rare and may be as expensive as single words.

From a trademark viewpoint, it could be twice as risky. It could infringe on someone’s trademark based on either the first or second word. If you are RedDog.com selling computers, either Red Computers or Dog Computers could consider trademark action against you.

About The Author

Steve Baba has a Ph.D. in Economics and ebusiness experience. The ebook on domain names is available at www.seemly.com, for free.

eeeni@aol.com

What is .md?

.md is the web address that identifies you, your company or your organization with the healthcare industry. Thousands of professionals and companies in the healthcare industry are already utilizing .md for their branding and marketing efforts, including some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. .md is a valuable and unique asset that can be used as an intuitive and dynamic communication tool.

• .md is the perfect web address for medical professionals and healthcare companies
• .md is a permanent professional address
• .md is a dynamic communication tool and distribution channel for participants in the healthcare community
• .md may be used to protect your brands and trademarks to prevent international cyber-squatters from purchasing your domain names and using them for other purposes
• .md may be used as a unique, intuitive, and available promotional tool to market prescription and OTC drugs

.md Focus: Healthcare

We are developing an Internet domain for the global healthcare community where participants in the healthcare sector can acquire valuable .md domain names that correlate precisely with the marketing of their core business practices and new products. .md permits corporations and individuals to establish a unique Internet presence that carries an automatic, intuitive association with healthcare and other medical services and applications.

Growth of the .md Registry

Since becoming operational, there has been significant interest in the .md TLD. The wide adoption of .md, prior to launching a formal .md marketing campaign confirms the need and desire for a top level healthcare centric domain. The number of .md registrations continues to grow exponentially with this exposure.

The leading adopters in the .md registry are:

• Physicians
• Medical Schools
• Private Practices
• Health Clinics
• Drug Development Companies
• Pharmaceutical Companies
• Health Insurance Companies
• Medical Laboratories

Additionally, Fortune 1000 companies have adopted .md as part of their global brand marketing strategy. These include companies from the following industries:

• Telecom
• Banking and Finance
• Entertainment
• Media
• Consulting
• Automotive
• Travel
• Insurance
• Retail
• Technology

About The Author

Hans Peter Oswald
CEO
ICANN accredited Registrar Secura

https://www.domainregistry.de/md-domain.html

http://www.com-domains.com

secura@domainregistry.de