The Valentine’s Day domain name poetry contest sponsored by Name.com ends tomorrow, and you can win a $250 Name.com credit! So far, it looks like there are only 2 official submissions:
$7.77 for New .COM and .CO Domain Name Registrations at Name.com
I just got word that Name.com is offering a special price on .COM and .CO domain registrations. The company is charging just $7.77 per new registration from now until February 12, 2011. I haven’t seen a better .CO price anywhere else.
Name.com also released a spoof Super Bowl commercial for your viewing enjoyment:
Saturday News & Updates
Looks like it’s going to be a relaxing weekend for me. Hope you have a nice weekend, too. Here are some news updates that might be of interest to you.
If you are owed money by Snapnames as a result of the “Halvarez” shill bidding situation, this is a reminder that the deadline to accept their rebate offer is Friday, November 5, 2010, which is less than a month away. You will need to sign and return the agreement to collect the money owed to you.
I received a news release from a new domain registrar, NameSilo.com, that is scheduled to be released on Monday. According to the co-founder Michael Goldfarb, “Our basic concept is to offer the cheapest everyday domain prices on the Internet, simple and straightforward processes, powerful domain management tools and extremely high levels of domain security.” I visited the site and it looks like their pricing is $8.39 for .com names with privacy.
A couple of TRAFFIC-related news bytes from this week. Legendary boxing promoter, Don King, will be making an appearance at TRAFFIC. I am interested to see how it will tie into the conference. Also, Rick announced via email that the ticket price of TRAFFIC will be $1,495 on Monday only. If you haven’t booked your conference ticket yet, Monday is the day to do it.
Lots of news reports about the FaceMash.com domain name going up for sale, including articles on non-domain related blogs like PerezHilton.com. I do understand why owning a domain name with “history” like this would be appealing, but I don’t see the high value. Once this hit movie is an afterthought, it probably won’t get much traffic, and it’s doubtful the winning bidder would be able to flip it for more with all the publicity.
If you have any pet related mini-sites and you want to make a little bit more money with them, drop me a note in the comment section. I might have an offer for you to pay you to add an article for me.
Verisign Price Increase Takes Effect Tomorrow, July 1, 2010
I want to give you a friendly reminder that the Verisign price increase of 7% for .com domain names and 10% for .net domain names will go into effect tomorrow, July 1, 2010. I’ve known about it for a while but haven’t started taking any action until the last couple of days.
As a result of Verisign increasing the prices of domain registrations, commercial domain registrars will also have to increase the prices consumers pay for domains. I emailed several domain registrars to ask what the new prices will be and most were reluctant to provide those numbers, so unfortunately, I can’t give you more information on this, but you can figure it will be around 7% for .com domain names.
I’ve heard that one factor that plays a part in Google’s algorithm is the amount of time remaining on a domain name’s registration. Apparently, a website with a domain name that is registered for a longer period of time may rank higher than another similar website, with all things being equal. With the price increase about to happen, I’ve been extending the registration for several years on some of my key websites. Sure, it’s only a few dollars that I am saving, but I am going to have to pay the fee at some point, so why not now.
Some companies like Name.com are offering specials for domain transfers (the company is currently offering $6.99 domain transfers). Additionally, the company is also offering $5.99 .COM & .NET registrations for today only when you purchase a domain name using the promo code “NEVERAGAIN.”
If you know of other special offers feel free to post them to let others know.
Name.com’s “Real” $6.99 .com Transfer Promotion – Ends June 30th
If you own more than a few domain names, you’ve probably heard that the price of .com domain names are going to be increasing across the board on July 1, 2010, the result of VeriSign’s price increase. If you own just a few domain names, this probably isn’t such a big deal, but if you own hundreds or thousands, this is a big chunk of change.
Oftentimes you see registrars touting great transfer prices, which have an asterisk because they don’t include other “little” fees which can add up. Currently, Name.com is running a special domain transfer promotion, where the real price of the transfer is $6.99 – with no added/hidden fees at all.
Name.com’s “Real” $6.99 transfer promotion details:
- No promo code required
- Doesn’t limit the number of domains that can be transferred at one time or per account.
- Includes the ICANN fee in the $6.99 transfer price
- Is valid for new and existing customers
- Ends June 30, 2010
If you transfer your domain name(s) to Name.com for $6.99 total, they will add a year to your domain registration, so you’re actually paying $6.99 for an additional year. If your domain name expires in December of 2010 for example, and you transfer it now, the expiration date will be moved to December of 2011.
Domain Investors who would like to transfer their domains to Name.com and save can start by visiting Name.com’s transfer page.
Special Offer: Reserve Your .CO Domain Names for Just $275
There are going to be a whole lot of .CO domain names available to the general public which aren’t reserved by the .CO Registry or by trademark holders. These names will be available during the landrush period, which begins on June 21 at a limited number of domain registrars.
Register.com is offering a special price of $275 for .CO domain registrations when you call their customer service number and provide them with the special code LR25 or if you register it online. If for some reason Register.com cannot reserve the domain name from you, they will give a refund less a $9.00 processing fee. If Register.com has multiple reservations for the same domain name, it will be auctioned to those who reserved it.
Here’s the .CO release schedule:
- Global Sunrise April 26 – June 10
- Landrush June 21 – July 13
- General Availability July 20