When you first start an Internet business one of the first items on the list, after you’ve written your business model, is getting a domain name. In years past it wasn’t as difficult to find a decent name for your site. Today however, it’s not as easy to get your dot com name. The process of registering a name has improved substantially but the availability for descriptive names is far more difficult. Why is this a problem you may ask? It’s more of a problem for small and home business sites than it is for larger companies. The reason is simple and I can sum it up in one word: money.

Larger companies, especially public companies have the funding to advertise their new sites, therefore they don’t really need to have names that reflect the type of business they are in. I can site a perfect example, Go Daddy.com, has absolutely nothing to do with the type of business Go Daddy is in. But being the largest register of domain names, GoDaddy can advertise on all media levels to get business including buying advertising time on the Super Bowl! If you are starting a home based business on the Internet, I’ll bet that you won’t be buying time on television not to mention next year’s Super Bowl.

Okay, where am I going with all of this? You are on a limited budget when you start your business and you must rely on free traffic to your site, because without traffic you have no business. This is what I described in my article on organic traffic a few weeks ago. In order to get substantial traffic to your site you’ll need to have an optimized site. This all has to do with keywords and something called keyword density. You achieve this by having your most important keywords dispersed throughout your website and your domain name. (See I did come to the point of this article.)

Most SEO, search engine optimization, programs first look at the domain name and your major keywords. They look to see if your domain name and site title have any commonality. If they do your site receives extra points in the SEO algorithm, (a logical step-by-step procedure for solving a mathematical problem in a finite number of steps, often involving repetition of the same basic operation.) I hope that I haven’t lost you here because all of this is very important, especially to home based Internet business owners.

Most SEO programs will constantly refer back to the domain name and those words which match the dominate keyword phrases that you have chosen. When your site is optimized, search engines will pick up your scent, so to speak, and you will have great placement and positioning on searches that have your keywords. All of this amounts to substantial traffic.

I’m not an expert on SEO and I don’t pretend to be but I’ve spent my share of time in attempting to understand it and how it effects my site. I can recommend two areas of my site that I think are beneficial to you: Web Site Design and Search Engine Optimization. You can find them at: http://www.homebusinessresearch.com There are a lot of submission services as well. Some of them are good and some of them are not so good. Try to optimize first.

Rick Carbone is the owner/webmaster of Home Business Research a web site devoted to starting and running a home based business. In addition to hundreds of articles and information on start up, management and business opportunities Home Business Research offers digital products for home businesses. Visit our site for tons of free information.

http://www.homebusinessresearch.com

So if your site is mysite.com, you can be sure there’s no other site on the planet with the exact same title.

Computers talk to each other via numbers; in this case it’s called an IP number. You have probably seen or heard of it when setting up your e-mail program. It looks something like this: 209.15.63.7.

So when a user wants to access your site, what they basically do, is give their computer a signal to locate your computer’s fingerprint IP. You don’t see this happening; the computers do this whole process while you see the pages load on your screen. So every online machine anywhere in the world is programmed to recognize ‘mysite.com’ with its IP number and will take you to that site.

There are two (or more) parts to your domain:

· Top level domain

· Unique or second level domain

So in the example mysite.com, .com is the top level domain and ‘mysite’ is the second level domain. GOOGLE ADSENSE

The Top Level Domains

The previous example of .com as a top level domain is one of many. Consider:

.com = commercial . net = network . edu = educational .org = organization

Another thing you can do is state sub domains (commonly known as hostnames) of the domain mysite.com. An example would be mypage.mysite.com. This will direct to another section of your site.

Technical Information

All domain names registered are profiled in a database which details everything about the domain name and personal details like address, contact, billing details and your domain name server (DNS).

Here are the steps how accessing a website works:

1. User requests site via browser (a particular IP address) using a domain name

2. The local host queries the local name server

3. If the local name server does not find the IP address on its local database, then it will query other available name servers, which in turn will perform the same steps.

4. Finally, the user is given the IP address (website) or error message.

What can a Domain Name contain?

· Letters

· Numbers

· Dashes (-)

They can’t contain any spaces or symbols anywhere in the domain and they can’t start or end in a dash. Including the top level domain (like .com), you have 67 characters to work with which gives you lots of opportunity to register a keyword rich and audience specific domain. But try to keep your domain as condensed as possible as some browsers return error messages if the domain name exceeds 58 characters.

Example

Acceptable Domains:

þ mymarketingcenter.com

þ 1resource-marketingcenter.com

þ 1-stop-marketing-center.com

Unacceptable Domains:

X -mymarketingcenter.com

X 1resource-marketingcenter.com- -

X 1 stop-marketing centre.com-

Why Should I get a Domain Name?

If you want your site found on the Web, you need one. But apart from merely identifying your site, your domain name represents your business and is the first stimulus search engines use to draw visitors in.

Many people are misled thinking they will get their domain/s when they have a need for it or when the right time comes. The problem is when they finally get around to it, their domain has been taken long ago, and they start again from square one. Many have recognized this trap so they register their domains immediately to reserve them until they are ready to use them. So for a few dollars, they protect their next business idea.

If you are a company, its even more reason to reserve your domains immediately. If your company relies on a number of brands for its majority of sales, then it would be wasteful if not tragic to discover your best brands are being held hostage to a guy working out of his living room in hope you will pay him big bucks to get your domain back. Even if you win the legal battle, why have it in the first place?

On last count, there were over 30 million registered domain names with thousands more joining daily. You just know there are thousands of people glued to their computer screens searching the availability of every imaginable domain that could make them rich tomorrow. You can guarantee that as soon as somebody finds that undiscovered, potentially lucrative domain, they will instantly register it. So delaying even for a few hours already puts you behind the 8 ball.

Test this for yourself. Open your browser and think of your favorite hobby. Now type in the name of your favorite hobby followed by .com. So if your hobby was tennis, you would type tennis.com (it’s taken). You will struggle to find a domain name that hasn’t been taken.

Now considering the CIA (yes, the intelligence guys) projects online users to increase to 1.46 billion by 2007 (it’s now estimated at 945 million) your chances for getting the domain name you really want rapidly decreases by the day!

Your Personal Website

Domain name selection for your personal site is a whole lot easier. You can just name the site after your name like maggiebruce.com or after your profession like dryourname.com. You probably have a higher chance of getting your exact name as a domain if it is less common than Smith or Jones.

With software programs such as FrontPage you can build your own website with zero HTML skills, zero programming skills and not really have much of an idea about websites at all! These programs do the coding and programming for you. All you do is put in the text and graphics which you can easily cut and paste from other applications and it will automatically generate your site for you.

You can get lots of help from free online sources and support from specialists who often give free tips and advice in exchange for their names being promoted to the network’s members.

Your Company

Trademarks

There are now tough regulations from ICANN and InterNIC that forbid you from buying other people’s trademarks and registering them as a domain name. For example, Wal-Mart is a trademarked name so anyone who owned the name previously would be forced to hand it back without any payout to Wal-Mart. The same goes for just about any trademarked name.

We strongly urge you to keep clear of trademarked names and costly legal battles.

Stick with relevant domain names for your business. You can buy as many as you like and they reinforce your company’s image as an industry leader. Your business is far better off buying its domains now rather than later which can cost several thousand dollars. Remember, the online community is exploding at staggering rates and won’t wait for you to make up your mind. Active-Domain has domains available from as little as $9.95 per year – a minute investment that could pay handsome rewards.

Your Products and Services

This is one of the most powerful ways you can unleash your brand name on the Web. Many companies reserve a domain name based on future projects not even completed yet. They rely on market research and forecasts to anticipate demand for their particular product or service.

So they name their domain name after their product or service. When it officially hits the market, it creates a buzz and people swarm from all over to buy it. Viagra is a great example. Search engines shoot it up to the top of their lists and keep it there as long as the traffic and search term requests are consistent.

So if you have a product or service you know is destined for success, buy its domain now and keep it hidden from the public eye until you are ready to launch. That way, you can focus on your project and not have to worry about if your perfect domain will be taken by somebody else.

Investors

It’s hard not getting excited and have $ signs glaze over your eyes when you see domains like business.com sell for $7,500,000.

We are not saying all domains will fetch huge sums of money but you may strike it lucky and get a good buyer if the domain has a high value.

Despite the potential for loss, masses of people still actively search to buy and sell domain names. One can only speculate that the relatively cheap cost of buying domains today combined with the moneymaking potential far outweighs the risk of not making anything at all. So people will still take their chances.

You will always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Sammer Hakim is a Dallas based copywriter and has put together a comprehensive domain name website for current and new website owners, offering free information relating to all their domain name related questions. See http://www.free-domain-name-articles.com

With domain name articles and tips floating around all over the Web, most people probably feel that they know a good deal about picking and protecting a domain name. However, some common domain name myths persist. Let’s debunk a few.

Myth: Once I register a domain, I can use it forever.

Fact: While it’s possible that you’ll keep your registered domain name forever, it’s not guaranteed. Several things can happen that would cause you to lose your domain name. First, you have to register your domain name each year (or register it for multiple years up front) in order to keep your access to it. If you forget to renew your registration, you could lose your domain name, or someone else can register it and charge you a huge fee to have it transferred back to your name. Second, you could lose your domain name in a trademark dispute.

Myth: My domain name is automatically trademarked, so no one else can ever use it or anything too similar to it (such as with other extensions).

Fact: A domain name cannot be trademarked in the US! It also isn’t protected by a copyright. However, if your business’ name is trademarked before anyone else is using it, then you could sue if someone registered a domain name using your business name (or a common misspelling) to sell products or services that are extremely similar to your own. For instance, if someone else ever tried to register something like Microsoft.net, or even microsort.net, for the purpose of selling computers and software, Microsoft could sue them to stop them from using the domain name. This is to stop scammers and competitors from trying to profit off of a trademarked name. In some countries, you can’t even register a domain with their country-specific extension unless you own the trademark there for that business name.

Myth: If I own the trademark for my company’s name, I automatically have the right to register my company’s name as a domain name.

Fact: You do not, in fact, have the right to register any domain name, even if you have a trademark on the corresponding company name. The reason for this is that a trademark on a business name doesn’t give you exclusive access to use that name. It only gives you exclusive access to use that name for the particular products and / or services that you offer. Going back to our above example, let’s say Microsoft forgot to renew their registration on Microsoft.net. While they could sue another computer manufacturer or software company for registering the domain name without question, let’s assume it’s registered by a small company making microfiber-covered sofas and other furniture. The name makes sense – ‘micro’ as an abbreviation for microfiber, and ‘soft’ because it’s a very soft fabric. That company has every right to use the company name Microsoft, and they would own the trademark for that company name as it applies to the products they sell. Because of that, Microsoft couldn’t do anything to get their .net domain name back except offering to buy it outright.

Myth: A domain is only worth registering if you can get the .com version.

Fact: Many web sites have been successful using .net, .org, and country-specific domain extensions. Don’t reject an otherwise good domain name just because the .com extension isn’t available. If you’re setting up a domain name based on keywords, a .net or .org shouldn’t make too much of a difference. If you’re selling products or services to only residents of your country, a country-specific domain extension could prove to be quite profitable for you, as it tells your target market that you’re specifically selling to them.

Myth: You should never use dashes in a domain name.

Fact: While including dashes in a domain name isn’t ideal, it also shouldn’t be forbidden. Dashes make it harder to market your domain name via word of mouth, but they can be very effective if you’re determined to use a keyword-rich domain name for a general content site, if the version without the dashes isn’t available.

Copyright 2006 Stephen Ashton

Learn more domain name tips at http://www.domainnamescenter.com and find cheap web hosting at http://www.abetterwebhost.com

A few years ago it did not matter whether you had a .com type domain or an extension specific to your own country.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that it was probably considered quite ‘cool’ to have a .com domain. It gave the impression that you were serious about your business.

Then Google decided to go local and now most local country searches would probably go through the version of Google specific to your own country.

When Google launched my country’s local version of Google (www.google.co.za) I investigated the matter of having a .com domain versus having .co.za domain and how that would affect where you would show up in the SERPS (search engine result pages).

I searched through various forums (on Google itself) as well as other big forums like WebHostingTalk. I also did my own tests. The consensus seems to be that you will only show up in the regional search engine of Google (and I specifically refer here to using your country’s local Google to LIMIT results to your country’s results) if 1) your domain extension (e.g. .co.za or .co.uk etc.) corresponds with the region, or 2) your IP of the hosting server falls in the corresponding geographic region or

The implication of this is that if your domain ends in a .com AND you happen to be hosted physically on an internationally located server, your .com domain will NOT show up in www.google.co.za when the search is limited to South African results. (How do you know whether your domain is hosted locally or off-shore? There are technical ways to find out but the easiest would be to ask your hosting service provider!)

Now you might argue that people might not use the ‘Limit to results’ option - that they might search world wide. That might be so, but here is another curveball: Even when presenting world wide results, the regional Google search engine gives a preference to local domains.

So here is the bottom line: - When you have a .com website, make sure that the physical servers that they are hosted on are located locally in your own country - If you have the option (and your business is aimed at your local market), always register a local domain for your business website.

If you currently have a .com domain that is located off-shore, you will NEVER show up in the local results of Google (if you specifically limit the searches to your own country’s results only), and even when people do not limit the results to your country only, you will compete against millions of other .com domains, while your local competitor with a local domain extension will sneak right up to the top results in Google because Google gives more preference to those domains when using its local version of the search engine.

What can you do about this? I would suggest that you register a local domain and start migrating your webiste over to the new domain. You can leave your business cards and company brochures with your .com extension until you run out and have to print new ones in any case - all you need to do is ask your webhosting provider to put a forward on your .com domain to your local domain name.

It will take a while for the transition to show up in all relevant search engines and to be frank, this might not be a painless process! But you need to decide how important it is to you to show up on the first pages of the local search engines - there are other ways of marketing your website too. But if you think that you might be losing out on targeted traffic, I suggest you bite the bullet and go for it - rather sooner than later!

Get the maximum benefit from your website: Your FREE course on how to turn your website into a powerful marketing machine for local businesses is available now at Tailormade4you Webhosting - Cheap Web Hosting for South Africa

So many people have websites that simply sit out there in cyber space collecting dust when they could be generating a fair amount of money. The problem is that typical domain parking doesn’t help one get any traffic to their site to sell services, generate money from ad programs, or anything! Many of us settle for the terrible or even mediocre traffic that we get coming and going through our website, even when the seach engines aren’t helping us out any. Despite adding links and other things to your websites, you just cannot seem to drive traffic to your website. This is a common enough problem, no doubt. You can change all of this if you want to. If you are willing to think outside of the box and forego traditional domain parking you’ll find that your websites can be far more lucrative than they are now.

The reason that so many websites cannot seem to generate an interest or even steady traffic is because traditional domain parking does not provide you or your visitors with anything new or unique. There are literally thousands of identical parked pages on the Internet right now. Additionally, there is no content on your webpage for the search engines to follow or for visitors to read. The problem with the fact that your webpage doesn’t attract visitors or search engines is that those that do come only come once, and never return because the webpage doesn’t have anything to offer them.

If you are in this situation you need to change things up in order to find a better solution to your current problem. When you visit www.whypark.com you’ll find that you can change your website so that it is totally unique and will attract both people and search engines who will return again and again. WhyPark.com breathes life into old, dull, and boring webpages that have never attracted more than a few lost web surfers. WhyPark will provide your website with fresh, relevant content that is directed toward your target audience. Because you get to choose the keywords, you know that you’ll always have the best information as well as real content that is attractive to both the average web surfer as well as the very important search engines that will help bring you more traffic. Because you have great content, new and old visitors will return again and again because your content is ever changing and reliable.

Keyword rich content, keyword rich titles, and easy to follow index pages will make your website a favorite of search engines. This means that you will have more traffic, that you will rank higher with search engines, and you will simply be more visible, which is great for any webpage. You won’t have to worry about duplicate content or content that doesn’t make sense, this is the real deal, and it’s easy, affordable, and will pay off immediately as you see your websites rise through the ranks in a matter of days. Your website doesn’t have to continue to attract dust from non-use; it can become very popular very quickly with the help of www.whypark.com.

WhyPark.com is an enhanced domain parking service that provides domain name owners with a way to earn revenue and quickly build content from their unused domain names. Park your domains and earn more revenue at http://www.whypark.com.

Many people have heard the term domain parking, but aren’t all that sure what it is. The problem is, domain parking is an issue for a lot of web owners out there, and they just don’t realize how much it is affecting how much they could be profiting from their current and future websites. The thing is, once one knows exactly what domain parking is and why traditional forms of domain parking is something they cannot afford, they will be looking for alternatives, and there is at least one great alternative for those that don’t want their website collecting dust anymore!

Simply put, domain parking is the term that applies to websites that are not currently being used, but there is a “holder” page that can be seen that lets customers know that the site is under construction or even available for sale. There is no content on the pages, just the notice that the site exists, but as of yet, there is not content associated with it. Traditional domain parking services are generally just pages of links to other sites, or the more generic under construction page. These services offer no value to the owners of these domain names, but the www.whypark.com has figured out how to add value to these webpages!

The reason that www.whypark.com is different from all the rest is that it doesn’t just provide a webpage with no value, instead they ensure that your webpage includes hundreds and even thousands of pages of real content that is relevant to those that you would hope would visit your webpage. Your can pick and choose the content seen on your webpage by selecting related keywords. WhyPark.com then ensures that there is content rich, informative, and interesting content on your webpage so that search engines and users alike will be drawn to the website again and again because your webpage will constantly update with new information. When you team WhyPark.com up with great resources like Google AdSense, your earnings are truly unlimited.

WhyPark.com is awesome because they are very affordable, you can host up to 100 of your domain names with them for less than $100! This is an unheard of rate, especially because the domain names won’t just be sitting there without any value. Whether you just haven’t had the time to construct something more or you will eventually sell the domain, why not profit off of the space in the mean time? It really is that easy. WhyPark is really easy to use; there is no fine print, no monthly fees, nothing! You pay once and then you are done! With great tools such as WhyPark.com you no longer need to have a dusty website just waiting to be filled with content, instead it can be filled with content in just minutes!

Bring revenue and visitors to your domain names today. Get started at http://www.whypark.com.

Buying and selling domain names for profit is something that many people are figuring out can be done and can even be quite fun when approached in the right way. If you spend much time on the Internet you’ll see that there are many websites out there that are just collecting dust when they could be making huge profits. If you see websites like this, you can actually buy them; change them up with the help of the www.whypark.com website and make quite a bit of money on them though you don’t have to do a lot of work on them. Then, you can decide to sell this very profitable domain name to someone who is looking for a website that has good rankings and has a decent amount of traffic. When you work with this website you’ll find that you can turn a website around quickly so that you can profit from it, making it simple to sell the domain if you so choose.

You can either buy domain names from others that are not doing anything with them, or you can buy domain names from whypark.com and you can start making money instantly. Even if you don’t have the content to put on all of the domains that you buy, you can make money. The way that this works is that the WhyPark.com website won’t just put up an under construction notice on your website, instead, they will help you put content on the page. Not only will the content draw the attention of those that are looking for specific information, the page will draw the attention of the search engines, which is priceless when it comes to making money with the website. This isn’t a hit or miss program, the content that www.whyPark.com puts on each website is unique and is content rich so that both people and search engines will find the website highly interesting. This means that if you pair the content with Google AdSense programs you can make a lot of money.

The WhyPark.com program also provides website statistics about click through rates, visitors, and the like. This information can be invaluable when you are trying to increase profits, or when you want to sell the domain. Many people out there are looking for websites that are already profiting and have a following. With good statistics, your domain will be simple to sell, and you can sell it for much more than you bought it for, no doubt. WhyPark.com doesn’t just provide the content rich content, though. They also provide information on how to market your site to drive even more traffic to your site to increase traffic as well as profits.

When you work with WhyPark.com it is simple to buy and sell domains for a profit. This program doesn’t have a huge overhead or even monthly charges, there is simply a one-time fee that will allow you to host up to 100 domains! One hundred domains with keyword rich content can mean a lot of money for you, and for those that want to buy from you!

Put your unused domain names to work by building traffic and revenue at http://www.whypark.com.

Domain parking has become quite popular because it allows people to buy domains that they do not have content for, but still profit from them. Then, if the domain is successful, one can expect to sell the domain for 6-96 months worth of revenue! The money that can be made of parked domains is truly unlimited if proper networking and advertising is done. To make as much as possible you also need to work with the right domain parking service, and it can be difficult to ascertain which is the correct service for you. Below you’ll find a review of the top domain parking services to help you decide which may be the best fit for you.

NameDrive.com

This is an attractive website that will allow you to both park and sell. Namedrive.com also offers an affiliate program so you have the opportunity to make even more money through those that you are able to refer to ww.namedrive.com. You’ll find that the website offers you website tracking so you can see exactly what is taking place on your domain at any time. You’ll also benefit from monthly payouts, which is nice, because it keeps you motivated to keep advertising and marketing to drive traffic to your website. While all of this seems great, it can be sort of a bummer that you have to share any revenue that you make with namedrive.com. Unfortunately, the website does not really specify how the revenue will be split, which raises some eyebrows, for sure. Overall, this seems like a great website to work with for parking and selling, as long as you don’t mind sharing your revenue.

ParkQuick.com

This is a website that parks websites and links to others that buy and sell, as well. The front page is a bit misleading because they keep referring to the other websites, so you are almost drawn away from this website! You’ll experience great revenue with this website as they use content on each of your parked websites to attract both Internet users and search engines. You’ll be paid according to page views and clicks, but the website doesn’t offer much information about payment or shared revenue. The website almost seems to dodge the cost of their services, as after 20 minutes on the website we could not find a direct link to the cost of their service or revenue sharing programs. While the website is probably great, the overall opinion was that they just weren’t all that upfront about much of anything.

Sedo.com

This website will allow users to buy, park, and sell, so it’s highly convenient for those that want to do a little bit of everything in one place. The website will pay out as soon as your account holds at least $20 and will payout by Paypal or bank transfer. While the website offers the ability to do everything you need, revenue generated from your parked websites will be split with Sedo.com. The website is a bit complicated, but overall seems to be a decent resource for those that want to buy, park, and sell.

WhyPark.com

This seems to be the bet website for parking your domains! Not only is this website very upfront and uncomplicated, they are also very straightforward about their services and the cost of their services. You can register up to 100 domains with WhyPark.com for just $100. This is a one-time fee that you will pay and you will not split any revenue with them, ever! While the $99 may seem like a lot now, it will seem like so little later because you can make more than that in one month! That means you will not have to split your revenue later on, so you can make a lot more. Because WhyPark.com specializes in parking, you will get a lot of traffic to your sites because they use keyword rich content that will attract all of the visitors you could ever hope for. WhyPark.com also gives pointers on how to drive traffic to your site through advertising, which is awesome. This was definitely the overall favorite for domain parking, hands down!

Earn more from your domain names by instantly creating content-rich web sites rather than parking your domain names. Monetize domain names at http://www.whypark.com.

Do you have a business website? Do you ever plan on having a website for your business? Are you even remotely interested in having a website for your business? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions then it’s important that you pay special attention to what we’re about to discuss here. It won’t change your life but it might just save you a gigantic headache and potentially thousands of dollars.

If you plan on either building your own website or having one built for you then you’re going to need a domain name. Owning your own .com is a nice feeling and something that has a certain sense of pride to it. When you register your domain (or it’s registered for you) there are three critical elements to this:

1. Who actually owns the domain. Make absolutely certain you have 100% legal and financial control over your domain name.

2. The number of years you want to register the domain for. Make sure your domain is registered for at least 5 years.

3. Always, always, always set your domain to automatically renew.

On point one here you want to be absolutely certain that nobody outside of your business has any legal or administrative control over your domain name - for any reason. It’s just good business sense to retain 100% control of a company asset.

On point two it’s important to register your domain for 5 years for one very simple reason - in case you forget to pay the renewal fees next year. It can happen all too easily too! If you forget to renew your domain ownership then somebody else can register that domain instead. As a matter of fact some individuals wait for just such an opportunity to arise. They’ll pay for a service to inform them of the moment your domain name becomes available again on the market. They’ll then register the domain themselves and either sell it on the open market or offer it back to you for several thousand dollars. This happens every single day.

Oh and what was the personal experience? Recently I was leaving my home office to drop off some toys to the childrens ward of our local hospital. Before leaving I quickly checked my email and found that I’d forgotten to pay the renewal fees for my domain. DOH! I came within moments of losing my most important domain name. All my email addresses, site logins and a whole pile of other things are tied into that domain. To lose control of the domain would have been catastrophic to me.

If your domain is important to you (and it should be) then take the steps to protect. Register it long term and always have it set to autorenew - never hurts to be cautious with these things.

This article was provided by HomeOfficeBuddy.com where you can learn lots more about home office design and other related home office topics.

For transfer of domain, you should apply to the gaining registrar, as it is responsible for the operation. It is the duty of the gaining registrar to ensure that the application for transfer by the domain owner is a valid one. The validation usually is in the form of an email sent to the admin contact that requires a reply. In some cases, however, signed faxes are used. Losing registrars these days may resort to ‘double-checking.’ In this case, they will perform additional security checks if you seek transfer from them. The losing registrars may ask you to reply to an email, or dispatch a notarized letter. After completion of the transfer, a year is always added to the end of the registration period.

If you have your names registered with a number of registrars, it will be better if you transfer them to one single registrar to make the domain management process much simpler. You should go for transfer as soon as you decide to do so. Or else, if the transfer application is not processed by the losing registrar on the domain’s expiry date, they can put your name "on hold" for non-payment resulting in more holes in your pocket. Usually, it takes ten working days (in some cases, not more than a couple of days) for most transfers to take place. Even then, you should ideally expect a month’s time to complete a transfer.

In case a transfer fails, most registrars will fully refund your money. However, others may charge some "administration fee" for failed transfers. Many losing registrars will insist on confirmation before authorizing transfers. This trend is growing these days, more so from the expensive registrars that are losing out. In a desperate bid to keep their market share in tact, they are taking recourse to every possible step to make moving away from their system as tough as possible.

Domain Transfer provides detailed information on Domain Transfers, Transfer Domain Registration, Cheap Domain Transfers, Free Domain Transfers and more. Domain Transfer is affiliated with DNS Hosting.