Every day thousands of domains ‘expire’ and are put back into the pool of available domains that anyone can register. They can be very valuable if you are looking for a quality domain for your online business, or if you want to re-sell them for profit. But wait! There is another huge advantage to a domain that was previously owned — Instant Traffic!

As I said above, expired domains have all been owned by someone in the past. Many of these previous owners built Websites for these domains, advertised them, registered them with search engines, and even exchanged links with other sites. All translating into traffic to that domain name.

Now, why would someone who took the time to do all that work let the domain expire? It could be one of several reasons:

* the author simply lost interest * an online venture ran out of funding * poor management of the domain * they couldn’t afford the fees

Whatever the reason, it happens. And you can reclaim some of the wasted traffic and use it to your advantage. You can either point it to your existing site or use it to jumpstart and add value to a new site.

How do you know if an expired domain has traffic?

While there is no way to gauge the actual amount of traffic going to an expired domain, you can find out its link popularity in the major search engines. This will tell you the number of Web pages listed in a particular search engine that link to that domain. The more links, the higher link popularity and the more traffic that domain is getting (in some search engines, the higher ranking, too).

A free online tool to help you find the link popularity of an individual domain at five top search engines can be found at http://www.Webofsuccess.com/popularity/popularity.cgi

Another way I recently discovered is to use this powerful software program called Popular Domains. Among other features, it allows you to import a list of expired domains and automatically check the link popularity of each one. To learn more about it, check out http://www.Webofsuccess.com/domainsweekly/popular.html

As you can see, this can be an affordable way to gain instant traffic to your site. Be nice, though, and do not abuse this technique, make sure the site you are sending traffic to relates to the domain. For example don’t register the expired domain ‘ehairplugs.com’ just because it has a high link popularity and then forward the domain to your site about Internet marketing. Other than that you may use your new domain with ‘built-in’ traffic however you wish!

About The Author

Wayne Ford, info@domainsweekly.com, is the founder and president of DomainsWeekly.com the leading supplier of daily expired and soon-to-expire domain lists. He also publishes a free weekly newsletter packed full of domain-related information and a list of quality available domains. You may subscribe by sending a blank email to domainsweekly-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Just like any business, your identity is very important. On the World Wide Web, your domain name is your identity. Of course, you can opt for a subdomain name that comes with many free web hosting like http://yourdomain.netfirms.com. But if you are serious about being successful on the Internet, you have to get your own domain name, like http://www.yourdomain.com.

Top 10 reasons to have your own domain name

Please note that all domain names listed in italic are ficticious:

1. It is cheap and easy to get your own domain name (less than $15/year in most cases)
2. You own the name (as long as you pay the annual fee)
3. You are not dependent on one web hosting company to let you use a subdomain, or worse, a subdirectory
4. Your web site promotion effort does not go to waste if you change your web hosting company (because the domain name remains the same regardless of what host you use)
5. The domain name can be optimized to your business, like www.best-used-cars.com
6. Your web site is more professional
7. The domain name is easier to remember. For instance, www.best-used-cars.com rather than www.geocities.com/web/public/business/auto/best-used-cars/
8. It is much easier to sell a web site with its own domain name
9. A good domain name can be an asset
10. It is cheap and easy to get your own domain name (this one is worth repeating)

How to register for a domain name

Please note that all domain names listed in italic are ficticious:

1. Think of appropriate name for that suit the theme of your web site. For instance, an online dating service may find domain name like www.loveconnection.com, more desirable than say www.best-used-cars.com
2. Search for domain name availability. Every domain name registrar will provide you with a search tool; although some search tools are better than other. You will have to do a lot of searches because a lot of domain name that you wish to have is probably already owned by someone else (very common).
3. As you come across available domain names that you like, jot them down. Keep searching until you have about 3-5 different domain names to choose from.
4. Choose a domain name and register it at a domain name ICANN Accredited registrar.

Other factors to consider

• Initially, you will want the .com version of your domain name. If your internet business takes off, you may want to consider registering other first-level domains (i.e., .net) of your domain name and perhaps even similar domain names to prevent mistaken identity
• Use domain name registrar that will register the domain under your name under all contacts information (perhaps with the exception of technical contact). It should be clear that you own the domain name.
• Use domain name registrar that provide good online account support.
• Use automatic domain name renewal if you are planning to own the domain name long-term

Pinyo Bhulipongsanon is the owner of GreatNexus Webmaster Resources offering visitors with features such as webmaster forums, webmaster directory, webmaster dictionary, programming scripts, and webmaster articles.

A good domain name is, and will always be, essential for any online business. If you ask me, the internet is still only just evolving from infancy. It’s a long way to maturity.

Still the world has come a long way since Ken Olson, president & founder of Digital Equipment Corp. etched his name in history, when he proclaimed less than 30 years ago, "There’s no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home."

How technology has changed our lives within a span of a single generation. Sooner rather than later, more and more businesses will want to go online and cater to a global market instead of being content with the local neighborhood. And one of the first steps after deciding what business you want to do, is getting a good domain name for your business.

A domain name can make or break an online venture. A domain name is a company’s identity online. It is your brand, your personality, your trademark. So, choosing the right domain isn’t easy.

BuyDomains.com argues that:
"Today .COM and .NET names have established recognition and can identify your company on the Internet forever. For this reason, they have considerable resale value and serve as excellent investments.

Over time, most, if not all companies will conduct a considerable portion of their business over the Internet. A domain name that is easy for your customers and prospective customers to remember is the key factor in generating new business and conducting business on the Internet.

Having relevant "keywords" to support your domain name is also an important consideration and will enable customers to find your online business effortlessly through Web based search engines.

Another excellent marketing tactic you should consider is to have multiple URL addresses (including your domain name) point to the very same Web site. This is very simple …..This will allow you to keep your legacy domain name, while multiple new e-business names conduct commerce and are listed in the search engines, significantly increasing your Web site’s overall traffic."

A web site is a worldwide advertisement that runs 24/7. For the price of one print ad, or one-tenth of a 30 second commercial, you can have a solid web site designed and running every single minute of every single day. Show a company how a few thousand dollars invested in a domain name & a web site now can translate into 100 years of sales and effective promotion, and they will all be scrambling to get in line.

Most companies, even small ones, will tell you that having a web site is no longer an option. It offers the business owners the opportunity of having potential customers view their products or services day or night, without needing to an outlay of huge sums of money.

But then, many small and medium sized businesses that are already online have poor or difficult sounding domain names. Names that they would readily change in an instant if they had the right domain name. So there will always be people and companies who will be looking at the domain resale market for a better name for their business. This is key.

When Anysoft, a Massachusetts company, acquired any.com for $30,000, their vice-president, Emily Shain, said it was worth the money because the domain name was such a vital marketing tool that would help customers find them easily.

If you are at the right place at the right time with the right name, you could find yourself pocketing some nice cash.

Even governments are getting in on the act. The New Zealand government shelled out NZ$ 1 million for newzealand.com. As a result, there was understandable criticism in the NZ parliament over the purchase as being a waste of tax payers money.

What was the government’s response? Mark Burton, the NZ Tourism Minister had this to say, "There is no question that this domain will provide an invaluable portal for… commercial entry into New Zealand for those interested in tourism, commerce, and industry.

The South African Government offered US$10 million for southafrica.com. It has also been reported that korea.com was sold for US$5 million to True Net, Korea’s largest Internet service provider."

Author, Tariq Ghafoor writes, "I feel that there’s still reason for optimism in the domain aftermarket but in order to profit there’s a crucial need to alter one’s perception and strategy just like our brethren have been forced to do in other web-based businesses."

It’s true. The heady days of the domain gold rush has seen its final sunset. We are seeing shifting trends in the arena. To cope with the changes, a domain speculator needs to see himself as a domain entrepreneur and begin to organize his domain names and increase their value and prepare them for prospective buyers.

Edwin John is an author and webdeveloper
He is the author of "How I Sell My Domain Names"
http://www.OpenForSale.com

Find out if your domain name is wanted:
http://www.DNames.org

Aero Registrar Secura GmbH proposes to the IT departments of airports to sell aero-domains to companies at the airport. Airports can build a portal of the airport and forming by this a kind of virtual airport.

The advantages:

1. Search engines are today focusing link popularity. If airports would build a portal of the airport with interested companies and ask the companies at the airport as a condition for getting the aero-domain and the link to their websites that the companies link back to the airport’s website, the airports will get many links back to their own website.

By this they increase the success of their website. Especially Google,the most important search engine of the world, is working with link popularity. If you assume, that the website is important for your marketing, you should try to improve your ranking at Google and other search engines.

2. ICANN accredited Registar Secura will sell to airports the domains for other companies at reseller conditions. The IT departments can sell the domains at the price, which they think is fitting. The IT departments of airports will have an economic advantage at every sold aero-domain.

We also propose to airports they you should realize the shortcut initiative of SITA. One of many examples: If somebody is entering at the PDA parking.youraeroport.aero, there are hints how to go and/or drive to the parking lot. Secura GmbH is also ready to make free subdomains in order to help to realize the shortcut initiative.

Hans-Peter Oswald

The author is the CEO of Aero Registrar Secura GmbH

About The Author

Hans-Peter Oswald

CEO

ICANN accredited Registrar

http://www.com-domain.com

secura@domainregistry.de

As the editor of DomainNameWire.com, I’m frequently e-mailed by people asking for domain name advice. Specifically, what should they look for when registering a domain name for their company? This may be basic for some of you, but I hope some of my readers gain value from this.

Let me start with the things to avoid when registering a domain name that will be used for your main company web site.

1. Never use a hyphen. If your domain is some-name.com, many people will forget the hyphen when typing your name into the browser or sending e-mail to you. This can result in lost business.

2. Avoid digits if possible. Using digits requires you to spell the domain name out to people. For example2.com, you need to tell people it’s the digit “2” rather than the word “two” or even “to”.

Here are the positive things to look for in a domain name.

1. .Com extension. It’s imperative that your domain name be available with a .com extension. I’ve seen businesses and major web sites try to get away with .net or .org, and perhaps half of their intended visitors land on someone else’s web site. Or worse, confidential e-mails are sent to the wrong domain.

2. Easy to spell. Keep in mind that your spelling might be better than most people!

3. Short. Try to keep it to 2 words, 3 maximum and 20 characters or fewer.

These are general guidelines applicable to your main company domain name. There are instances where hyphens, numbers, and non-.com domain extensions are fine for secondary sites and search engine-optimized sites. But your company’s main domain should follow these general guidelines. Good luck!

Andrew Allemann is editor of Domain Name Wire, a news and opinions site for the domain name industry.

Searching for public domain works can be a tedious job and take several hours just to find one or two good publications.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of quality databases online you can use to search for public domain content, but are you aware of the places offline you can visit starting tomorrow morning and walk away with a handful of public domain publications you can duplicate.

The best part is you don’t even have to purchase the books.

I’m referring to your local public and university or college library. There are thousands of public domain books right on the shelves waiting to be revived.

This is by far the simplest way to get your hands on hard-to-find public domain works.

I did a quick search of my libraries database online and found over 20 interesting publications I think will be good sellers online such as “How To Speak And Write German”, “The Official Guide To Knots And How To Tie Them”, How To Play A 5-String Banjo”, How To Star In Baseball”, Gemcraft: How To Cut and Polish Gemstones”, Kites: Hot To Make and Fly Them”, Your Lawn: How To Make It and Keep It”, “How To Make Your Own Picture Frames”, and the list goes on and on.

Once you find public domain material you’re interested in conduct a quick copyright search to ensure these publications are in fact in the public domain.

Then visit your library, sign out the books and begin using the content. There are companies who offer scanning services relatively cheap so you can create a digital version.

You can also create audio and/or video portions of each publication and sell the videos under your copyright.

So now you have enough information to start your public domain search offline starting tomorrow morning.

Mike Hill is the creator of the Public Domain Sources Directory, dubbed: “The Most Profitable Book In The World” because of all the hard-to-find secret sources he lists inside this incredibly detailed directory. For more… http://www.publicdomainempires.com

So you want to be an Internet superstar, work from home and earn six figures cool we are working on doing just that. In previous articles we have discussed figuring out what you want to do for your home business another term for this is finding your niche.

We then discussed a few different programs available to help you if you are a Veteran, or Single mother. (There is a lot more of this to come)

We will now discuss step three in designing your income producing website.

Proper domain name selection.

When selecting a domain name there are a couple of key questions you should ask.

Is my domain name easy to remember?

When purchasing a domain you want to keep it as short as possible and avoid hyphens whenever possible. For example H-B-S.biz is much easier to remember then Home-Business-Success.biz. In this case we bought both names. We use the shorter domain to put on business cards, flyers, and brochures. When a person types in H-B-S.biz they are automatically forwarded to our long domain website. The long domain URL has two of our keywords in it, which should help with the search engines. The bottom line is the shorter and more memorable the domain the better. It is suggested to put keywords into your domain name wherever logically possible. Try to keep the domain short and use a maximum of three words. If you want to brand your company you can insert your company name in the domain. Be as specific as possible, for example if my company was called: XYZ marketing and one of my websites was about Home business I could purchase the domain XYZHomebusiness.com.

In, this example we have both our company name and keywords, so this would be a good domain name to choose. With some niches such as Home business the competition is tough so as in our case you might have to settle for a domain name with hyphens in it. Try to avoid it but it is not the end of the world.

Has anyone owned the domain prior to me?

When I was first looking for a domain name for H-B-S, I was happy to discover that Home-business-xxxxx.com was available so I bought it. Big mistake. We proceeded to build the page and gather incoming links as well as doing some manual submissions to directories. After a few weeks we noticed that our site was not getting crawled by the search engines. We also noticed that any emails I sent to Jeff using the new domain got blocked by his email spam program “Spam Cop”. We both wondered what the heck was going on. It was then I started to do some investigation to find out if someone else had owned the domain name prior. There are a number of ways you can check this. The first way is to go to Alexa.com and use the Wayback machine. Check to see if the site has ever been published on the net before. If the site is about Gambling, or a Pill store I suggest you look for another name.

Should I only buy a .com URL? Two years ago I would have said yes, however, today a .biz URL is fine. A majority of people who surf the net are aware of the .biz extension and your customers should also be able to remember it easily. As with the hyphen example above if you can get the .com and a spammer has not used it in the past go ahead and get both the .biz and .com versions.

Should I buy all the extensions available? In a nut shell yes! With the cost of a domain name starting at around $7.00 each I suggest for peace of mind and future growth you buy the .com, .biz and .org variations of your domain name. I know of a case where a person put up their site and built it for six months very successfully. Well about three months later the person discovered someone had bought the .biz version of their URL and was trying to steal traffic. Listen you are investing in your future success, spend a few extra dollars now to avoid a potentially major headache in the future.

Should I buy a domain name from a Domain auction? You should save your money. There are thousands of combinations of domain names that will fit your business. Take that money and invest it into your website promotion perhaps through Pay per click or pay for submission to a few of the upper level directories.

I hope this article has helped you and will make your domain name selection easier and more profitable.

Steve is a partner in the writers shack. http://thewritersshack.blogspot.com/

They’re pushing for a top level domain (TLD) exclusively for porn sites. I’m quoting from this article at http://www.babnet.net/en_detail.asp?id=1224: “There is also concern that the existance of .xxx will lead to legislation making its use mandatory for sexually explicit material, leading to legal conflicts over the definition of "sexually explicit", free speech rights, and jurisdiction.”

That’s like saying that the Louisville Slugger company in Kentucky shouldn’t make bats anymore because they can be used as weapons. Just because something can be dangerous when placed in the hands of one intent on doing harm, doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t exist. And to tell you the truth, the adult industry and the government are already - and always - at loggerheads with each other when it comes to the First Amendment.

Let me start off by saying I agree with the article in this respect: the existence of an .xxx TLD would be a God-send to parents trying to prevent their children from accessing pornographic sites.

But the reason ".xxx" is not for me has nothing to do with the above-mentioned quote. Not that everyone thinks along the same lines that I do, but, according to the article, in order to use the .xxx TLD, you’d have to download certain internet explorer plugins; plugins that are categorized as spyware and adware. Spyware and adware? No thanks. Lord knows how many hours I’ve spent trying to rid my computer of popup-inducing software and applications.

And $60 to register a domain (I hear that in the UK that it‘ll cost about 40 pounds)? Unless you as a webmaster are trying to cover all your bases (e.g. you currently own mypornsite.com, my-porn-site.com, mypornsite.net, etc, and would like to own mypornsite.xxx), why bother paying that much? If you’re not purchasing a popular, high-traffic domain directly from another webmaster, any decent domain can be had for less than $20.

Moreover, “.com” is so entrenched in the layman’s mind, no other TLD comes even close to its popularity. I find that people don’t remember your website URL as well if it doesn’t end in a .com. I think that’s why, with all the television programming out there, .tv is not such a household name as far as TLDs go.

And, not to spread rumors or anything (so remember, you didn‘t hear it from me ), I don’t think that the .nets, the .bizs, and the .infos of the world do as well in the search engines. However, the .orgs and the .govs, where the search term is appropriate, seem to have no problems ranking well in SERPs (search engine results pages). That’s just my personal and un-scientific opinion.

Go on and try it: search for popular and generic words on your favorite search engine, and see how many listings come up .tv, .net, .biz, or .info. Or maybe it’s the old “chicken and the egg” puzzle; maybe there are no results to be had because many prospective webmasters fear registering those less popular TLDs in the first place.

The author is affiliated with Sex-Toys-Videos.com, and writes regular porn and sextoy articles for his blogpage.

Domain name registration is a necessary, easy, and strategically important first step in establishing an online presence, whether for business or otherwise. A well-chosen domain name registration can set you up for success with your new site in so many ways, the most prominent of these being increased search engine traffic. Here’s some vital elements to consider when executing your domain name registration.

A good domain name registration, particularly for an online business, (which is the main focus of this article) is easily done, but at the same time requires choices that will impact your site’s effectiveness. So here, in no particular order, are some things to bear in mind when doing a domain name registration.

The extension - Will it be a .com, .net, .org, .info etc. Any of these will get spidered and indexed by the search engines, but if you can get a .com for your chosen name you’d be better off, as this extension is more common and carries an air of legitimacy with it.

Try not to have you domain name registration with your web host. The reason being that should you decide to part ways with your host, (and this isn’t uncommon!) it’s potentially a massive headache to move your domain as well. Split them up: you’ll be glad you did!

Your domain name registration, purchased from a reputable company should run you somewhere between $1-10, depending on the extension and the amount of time you sign up for.

Probably the most important aspect of your domain name registration is the choice of keywords to use in your domain name. Try to use the main keyword or phrase you’d like to optimize the whole site for, and see if you can craft a domain name around it. The search engines seem to favor keyword-rich domain names. Nuff said.

Keep it short if possible. A shorter name is easier to remember than a long one.

Don’t use your company name unless it has your keywords in it. There’s no point in ranking high for your name if no one is looking for it yet.

Try to keep your domain name registration topically relevant. As search engines get smarter and smarter, sites that display total relevance will rank higher than catch all sites.

Lastly, be sure to avoid other companies trademarks and copyrights in your domain name. For example, let’s say you’re an affiliate of The Sharper Image. It’s tempting to use some version of that name to promote your affiliate site, but don’t do it, unless of course you’d like to meet their lawyers!

To sum up, your domain name registration is easy to do, but important to do well. It can make the difference in whether you get found or not!

Keith Thompson is the webmaster at Domain Name Registration Today where you will find the latest news and information on domains.

Here are the top ten most frequently asked questions regarding on Internet domain name registration:

Q1. Which characters are allowed in Internet domain names?

A: For normal ASCII domain names, the letters a-z, the numbers 0-9, and one special character, the hyphen or dash "-". Note that domains cannot start or end with a hyphen. For the new tested IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names), the full range of Unicode characters are available. This allows nearly all of the languages on the planet to be represented within domain names, including Thai, Arabic, Lao, Hebrew, French, German etc.

Q2. How many characters can a Internet domain name have?

A: Generic domains (gTLDs) can have 63 characters in the second level, plus the top level domain, .com, .net etc.

Q3. How long can I register a Internet domain name for?

A: In most cases, you are allowed to register a Internet domain name for period of one to ten years. Longer periods are not currently allowed by the registry.

Q4. How long do Internet domain registrations take to make & process?

A: Typically ten minutes or so. Once you have chosen the name and paid the fee, most registration systems will register your name in near real-time.

Q5. Do I "own" a domain name I register?

A: Not really, it is more like a rental agreement. But importantly, you have the exclusive right to renew the agreement with the registry at the end of the initial registration period, so effectively you can keep the name as long as you want.

Q6. Why does my Internet domain name still show as unregistered in a WHOIS tool?

A: WHOIS tools are meant to show the nameserver / contact information for domain names held by a particular ICANN registrar. They are typical not updated in real-time and thus are not good indicators of current domain registration status.

Q7. How will I know if a Internet domain registration attempt has been successful?

A: WHOIS tool takes anything up to 48 hrs to be updated so can’t be relied on. A better indicator is whether you receive a confirmation e-mail from the domain registrar. You could also try registering the name again. By doing so, the registrar will do a "live" availability check on the name, which will indicate to you whether the name has been registered or not. This is not the same as a WHOIS look-up.

Q8. How long do domain names take to be active after registration?

A: Approximately 24 - 48 hrs, though because nameservers work as a distributed network, it can take up to 72 hrs or more before your domain name is accessible to all Internet users worldwide.

Q9. Can I register a Internet domain for later use?

A: There is no problem in registering domain names first, and using them later on. In fact, it is estimated that among 80% to 90% of all domain names are "idle".

Q10. Can I get a refund if I make a mistake & register the wrong name?

A: Nearly all domain registrars operate a strict no refund policy. This is because they are charged a non-refundable fee by the registry to perform the registration.

John Leong is the webmaster at Internet Domain Registration Guide where you will find the latest news and information on domain name registration.