Facebook RSS Twitter
Home DomainTools Page 6

DomainTools

Do You Subscribe to DomainTools?

Elliot Silver
-
6

I think DomainTools’ Whois History tool is the most important domain tool I use, and it is only available to people with active DomainTools memberships. The History tool allows me to see who previously owned a domain name, and it can be used to make sure there hasn’t been any suspicious activity on a domain name.

To be blunt, I don’t know how anyone would be comfortable buying an expensive domain name in the aftermarket without doing a proper search using this particular history tool, since there don’t seem to be any competitors.

Earlier today, someone asked me to run a poll to see how many people here have DomainTools accounts, and I think that’s a pretty decent idea. Check out the poll below:


DomainTools Undergoes Site Redesign

Elliot Silver
-
19

DomainTools WhoisIf you are an active DomainTools user like me, you’ve probably noticed the DomainTools.com website has undergone an extensive re-design. I first noticed it live last night when doing a Whois search, and I saw the rest of the reveal this morning when the entire site went back online.

I was given an opportunity to test the site just prior to launch, and I am impressed with how easy it is to find everything. I was also able to discover a couple of tools I didn’t even know about. The company made sure to keep many things familiar, so the layout of records on Whois lookups is virtually the same.

It appears that the pricing structure and pricing have changed. Gone are the confusing “units,” replaced with actual costs in dollars. This is a very positive change, as it makes more sense to know what your costs will be rather than having to buy “units” of something that was previously a bit unclear to me. I have been assured that pricing structure will remain the same for current subscribers like myself, although the company did increase its pricing for the first time in ten years.

If you are an active user, I strongly recommend taking a tour of the website to save yourself some time. Maybe you’ll even discover a new tool along the way.

Make Sure Your Email Address is Accurate

Elliot Silver
-
2

Almost every morning, I receive a Registrant Alert email from DomainTools informing me of newly archived domain names (in their database) that are registered to my domain name and those names that were transferred out or expired. I don’t remember when I signed up for the alerts, but they’re helpful to my business.

A couple of months ago, I started seeing random domain names that were registered to my email address but definitely were not owned by me. At first, I thought it was an accident and an anomaly, but over the past couple of months, I’ve received a whole bunch of notices for domain names I don’t own but are registered to my email address.

After seeing a few of these come through, I did some research and noticed there is very generic registrant information (ie no business or personal name). Additionally, I confirmed that the domain names are registered to my email address, so technically I could request the password and likely the EPP authorization code for the domain names to transfer or change the DNS (not legal).

To make things worse, these aren’t just domain names… Almost every one is a developed website, and they all appear to be physical businesses. Ordinarily, I would reach out to the website owner via the contact form on the site, but the sites are all in Russian. My guess is that they were all developed by the same company (or hosted by the same company) and the host or developer changed his registrant information to mine in error.

This is just a reminder to 1) always keep your Whois information accurate and 2) always manage your own domain names.

Obviously I am not going to do anything nefarious with these domain names, but the owners likely won’t receive their expiration notices.

Is Godaddy Spurning DomainTools on Whois Lookups to Sell Domain Names?

Elliot Silver
-
9

I’ve noticed something when performing Whois lookups at DomainTools for domain names registered at Godaddy, and I believe it is a fairly recent change. Instead of providing the full registrant information, there is a link to the Whois lookup page at Godaddy.

Interestingly, however, when you do a Whois lookup of a Godaddy-registered domain name at iWhois.com, the full Whois information is available.

When you visit the linked page on the Godaddy website, you are first met with the available domain names with the same term in other top level domain name extensions. Below this are available alternative domain names that can be hand registered, and further below this are premium domain names that can cost in the thousands of dollars.

There is also a link to Godaddy’s Domain Buy Service to help you acquire the domain name that is being looked up.  Finally, below all of this, you can see the domain registrant information.

Although this is a bit annoying for me when using DomainTools to lookup domain names, it is probably a shrewd financial move by Godaddy.

Standard Whois Lookup at DomainTools:

Whois Lookup at DomainTools for name registered at Godaddy

Whois Lookup at iWhois.com for name registered at Godaddy

Top 10 Domain Tools Websites

Elliot Silver
-
30

I thought about this for a few days, and want to share my top ten domain tools and websites that are beneficial to my business. While this does include a few news websites, I consider them tools because the information provided is used to bolster my business.

These are in alphabetical order.

  • DNJournal.com (Weekly sales reports)
  • DNSalePrice.com
  • DomainBoardroom.com
  • Domaining.com (News Feeds)
  • DomainTools.com (Whois Lookups, Whois History, Reverse IP, Domain Monitor)
  • Escrow.com
  • Estibot
  • FreshDrop.net
  • GoDaddy (Bulk Domain Checker)
  • Google (Adwords Keyword Tool)

What are your favorite tools/websites?

When Selling Domain Names to End User, Use the Whois Email Address

Elliot Silver
-
5

I’ve written extensively about selling domain names to end users, and one thing I want to recommend is that you use the registrant email (or phone number) found in a Whois lookup as a means of getting in touch with the proper person.

Oftentimes, a business website only offers a contact form to contact them. If the company is larger or if it’s a company that would need a customer service contact (ie an ecommerce company where most people are writing to check on orders), your email may be lost in the process or reviewed by someone who doesn’t know how to handle your request.

Instead of taking a chance and sending the email via form that may not be read by a decision maker (or calling the wrong department), use a Whois service like Domaintools and find the email address on record. Chances are good that it’s a person in the executive offices or possibly the actual business owner.

I’ve also found the History tool to be helpful, since many companies change the Registrant email once they grow sufficiently enough that the owner/founder is more hands off. The History tool costs $15/month as part of the Silver membership, and if you are serious about buying domain names and need to check on a domain name’s history, it’s an essential tool.

1...567...9Page 6 of 9

Recent Posts

Squadhelp Rebrands as Atom with Atom.com

Elliot Silver - 5
Squadhelp announced a complete rebrand this morning. The company is now known as Atom, and it acquired the Atom.com domain name in advance of...

Nissan Going after Nissan.ai

Elliot Silver - 3
Nissan is an automaker that uses NissanUSA.com for its website here in the US. The reason it uses an off-brand domain name is because...

Using AI For Background Image

Elliot Silver - 9
I acquired a domain name last week, and once it transferred to GoDaddy, I set up a custom landing page using Carrd. Instead of...

It’s All About the Time You Put into It

Elliot Silver - 2
A few years ago, my wife jokingly described my daily work lifestyle as leisurely. In some ways, I thought of that as a badge...

D3 to Host Invite-Only Dominion Conference

Elliot Silver - 0
D3 is a relatively new entrant to the domain space, but it has a team with considerable domain industry expertise. In announcing its $5...
© Important Notice: Unless explicitly stated, Top Notch Domains, LLC does not endorse any advertiser on this website. Advertisements and links may take visitors to external websites. Top Notch Domains, LLC is not responsible or liable for products, services, or content found on any other website. See the DomainInvesting.com disclaimer for additional details and information as well as this website's Terms of Use. Copyright © 2007-2024 - DomainInvesting.com | Top Notch Domains, LLC