Verisign Price Increase Takes Effect Tomorrow, July 1, 2010

Elliot Silver
-
3

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

Elliot Silver
-
0

Name.com TransfersIf 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

Elliot Silver
-
8

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

Domain Intelligence: Domain Registrations Can Reveal Plans & Strategy

Elliot Silver
-
0

One of the bigger news stories this morning in the mobile and social media space was that the popular Farmville game may be coming to the iPhone, iPad, and/or Android sometime in the near future. The impetus for these news stories? Apparently the company where Farmville gamemaker Zynga registers its domain name became the owner of farmvilleandroid.com, farmvilleipad.com, farmvilleiphone.com and farmvillesms.com.

Although it’s quite reasonable to think the domain registrations could simply be defensive in nature so cybersquatters don’t purchase them (like the parked and privately registered iphonefarmville.com appears to be), these domain registrations could give away valuable strategic intelligence to competitors. Likewise, it could also contribute to cybersquatters speculating further on a company’s online strategy, leading to speculative typo domain registrations even prior to launch.

With Domain monitoring tools from companies like Domain Tools, it’s getting more difficult for large companies to keep upcoming launches and product upgrades top secret. Instead of sticking to corporate domain regulations that many companies have that require them to register domain names at a particular domain registrar, it would be smart to buy them with privacy guard at other popular registrars like Name.com, Godaddy, or Register.com, where they would be lost amongst the millions of other domain names.

That is… unless they want the publicity and leaks for “top secret” plans and strategies.

Domain Suggestions Tool

Elliot Silver
-
4

I was using NameTumbler.com, a website operated by WhyPark that allows you to enter specific target keywords and choose from drop down lists of other keywords, forming potential domain names. I thought this tool was neat, and it helped me locate some city keyword domain names related to a couple of websites I operate.

The one downside to this tool is that it doesn’t simply provide a list of available to register domain names. You need to cut and paste the list into the bulk domain registration tool at your registrar (they have it linked to Godaddy). The downside was that I twice erased my list of available names, as every time I searched a new term, the entire page refreshed (including the Godaddy search page), eliminating the available names I had kept in that list.

I did some searching to see what other tools I could find to help find potentially valuable domain names, and I found the Domain Suggestions Tool at Name.com, which is more comprehensive than the other tool I was using. With Name.com, you can enter your search term, and it provides a list of related recommended terms. It also lets you know which names are available to register, and you can easily register them and see what other extensions are available to register.

Not only does it look for English terms, but it also does searches for IDN domain names, too. For example, I could purchase 犬の散歩.com, which is the Japanese term for “dog walking.” I don’t have an international audience on my website, but that would be pretty cool if I did.

In addition to the Name.com recommendations, the search tool also provides Google Keyword Suggestions as well based on similar keywords and keyword phrases found frequently in Google. Using the tool, I was able to hand register CatSitters.org, which I think is a nice complement to my site, CatSitter.com. There are a number of organizations for walkers and sitters, and as my business grows, that could be a way to expand it.

If you are looking to invest in hand registered domain names, these two tools can be helpful to you.

Welcome Name.com!

Elliot Silver
-
6

As you may have already noticed, I am happy to announce that Name.com has made an advertising commitment on my blog. I’ve heard a number of positive things about Name.com, especially working with the company, and now I have the chance to do so.

Name.com offers a number of great products and services for domain investors, some of which have been previously mentioned and discussed on my blog.

– NameSafe – This third-factor authentication works with two different styles of fobs (keychain and credit card style) as well as a host of mobile phones (m.verisign.com). For customers who want an extra level of protection for their account, this third-factor authentication option provides the needed level of account security. I use a keyfob for my Paypal account, and I think it’s a great security feature.

– Geo Domains Search – Long tail geodomain names are popular among local businesses because of their generic nature. What city doesn’t have a City Locksmith or City Pizza?   Probably none. Personally, I think larger city keyword domain names make very good directory websites – similar to Name Administration’s MontrealRestaurants.com. This tool allows you to easily find unregistered geodomain names and long tail geodomain names in a variety of extensions. A quick search of available city .com names in Argentina shows presidenciaroquesaenzpena.com is available to register (Presidencia Roque Saenz Pena is a city of over 75,000).

– Domain Suggestion Tool – This is a great tool for IDN investors, as Name.com integrated Google’s translation tool into it. They also have the “Google Keyword Suggestion” tab that uses Google’s Adwords api/keyword suggestion tool to suggest domains based on popular search terms. The DST   shows real search data for keyword terms that are entered.

– Web Hosting – Name.com just launched web hosting services within the past 6 months.

1...19202122Page 20 of 22