NewgTLDs – No Country for Domain Investors? - It’s virtually impossible to get a great keyword in a relevant newgTLD at general availability. And by great I only mean a keyword+newgtld combo that has a real world business use. The sheer number of ‘filters’ that the keyword has to go through to get there is mind boggling. First – There’s the ICANN Block List – which blocks thousands of common keywords from most TLDs, so a lot of good keywords you can’t even register. Of those you can register, there are other ‘filters’ ... read more ...

KSL – A new dimensions for domain length? - Most people will tell you a short domain is better, and usually more valuable than a longer one. And there are usage parameters to back up this fact – Shorter brands are easier to remember Shorter words are used more often Shorter URLs are more effective in SMO And with the world going increasingly mobile, this makes sense too. But EMDs [exact match domains] can also be effective, and those are two/three word domains for the most part. 1. So how does one measure the length of the domain? 2. ... read more ...

newgTLDs: A rising waves rises all ships! - 1. A registrant with a .com will not give up that .com and move to a new TLD 2. ccTLDs perform well in non-US locations inspite of .com mindshare 3. newgTLDs will expand the market – Paul Stahura I’m cautiously optimistic about newgTLDs, not surprisingly, since I’m also extremely positive about existing alternative TLDs and ccTLDs – both refashioned brands and those with a strong home base. In fact, I saw ccTLDs as a viable alternative back in 2007, when most people still scoffed ... read more ...

The newgTLDs discuss – featuring Rick Schwartz & Michael Berkens! - Don’t know if you’ve been following the back and forth between Rick Schwartz Michael Berkens about newgTLDS, but it’s been enlightening to say the least. What I’ve done is taken a few of their quotes that made the most impact and collated them. Read on… Rick’s Points http://www.ricksblog.com/2013/12/ricks-poll-results-mean/ So I don’t have all the answers, the consumer and the future does. True, no one has all the answers, but an educated guess is better than a shot in the ... read more ...

Basics of Building a Website - As a web solutions provider one of the most common questions we get asked is if WordPress is free, why should my website cost anything? Good point, except that WordPress only satisfies one small part of the entire set of building blocks that lead to a website being developed, getting visible and thus visited. Which in turn generates revenues for you and justifies the cost of building and managing your own website. Of course, if you consider the website a part of your marketing plan, then ... read more ...

Is your domain name real? - You want to buy the perfect keyword domain name for your website but you realize even the most obscure ccTLDs for that exact term have been registered. So you look around for other opportunities that will allow you have the exact keyword without buying one in the aftermarket. And then you stumble upon the perfect solution – domain.xx.com (fake example) – now that seems perfect! But wait! That is not a domain name you’re buying, it’s a sub-domain! What??! Yeah, it’s a sub domain, ... read more ...

The Next Step in Domain Names! New gTLDs explained. [Infographic] - Big changes to domain names are coming very soon. These new changes will open up a great abundance of online marketing and domain registration opportunities for small and medium size businesses. With so many domain names being registered every day, it’s getting harder to register your preferred domain name. Research shows that there has been a 600% increase in the total number of registered .au domain names since December 2002. There are over 2.5 million Australian domain names registered ... read more ...

A finish beam to newgTLD stats - Blacknight Solutions has launched a fantastic new site on DotWhat.co that crunches the numbers on newgTLDs for the rest of us. It provides some excellent data and a information which makes it an ideal location for anyone wanting to learn about newgTLDs and/or the antecedents of the applicants. Data sets include newgTLD applications: By Region By Country By Contention By Community By Geo Location The site also has some interesting visual representations of newgtld applications. There really ... read more ...

The tip 230 newgTLD applications! - They say money talks and if that were taken as a given, then these 230 strings would account for 38.92% of the entire amount spent applying for strings in ICANNs newgTLDs initiative. APP 13 HOME 11 INC 11 ART 10 BLOG 9 SHOP 9 BOOK 9 LLC 9 DESIGN 8 MUSIC 8 MOVIE 8 LOVE 7 LTD 7 WEB 7 CLOUD 7 STORE 7 NEWS 7 HOTEL 7 MAIL 7 TECH 6 ONLINE 6 CORP 6 BABY 6 VIP 6 CPA 6 GMBH 6 NOW 6 LAW 6 STYLE 5 SALE 5 GROUP 5 TICKETS 5 BUY 5 GAME 5 SITE 5 FREE 5 FASHION 4 MED 4 RESTAURANT 4 SEARCH 4 IMMO 4 VIDEO 4 TENNIS 4 REALESTATE 4 ECO 4 RADIO 4 HEALTH 4 INSURANCE 4 POKER 4 LLP 4 TEAM 4 PLAY 4 GREEN 4 SCHOOL 4 GAY 4 BET 4 SOCCER 4 SHOW 4 PIZZA 4 FLOWERS 4 AUTO 4 SALON 4 CHAT 4 CASINO 4 GOLF 4 HOT 3 TUBE 3 HOSTING 3 GARDEN 3 CASA 3 BROADWAY 3 FUN 3 MAP 3 CAM 3 MARKETING 3 MEDIA 3 CARS 3 MBA 3 SECURITY 3 RIP 3 BASKETBALL 3 BEAUTY 3 RUGBY 3 MOM 3 SUCKS 3 TAXI 3 FOOD 3 FILM 3 FORUM 3 SPOT 3 MLS 3 CLUB 3 MERCK 3 HELP 3 MOBILE 3 FAMILY 3 TIRES 3 SPA 3 MEMORIAL 3 CITY 3 YOGA 3 LIVE 3 WEDDING 3 PROPERTY 3 CRICKET 3 DIET 3 DEALS 3 WINE 3 LIFE 3 DOCTOR 3 DOG 3 DATA 3 WEBSITE 3 WOW 3 RACING 3 SCIENCE 2 DEAL 2 GOLD 2 DRIVE 2 DEV 2 DDS 2 SWISS 2 GUARDIAN 2 WEBS 2 (IDN) 2 KIDS 2 GOO 2 TALK 2 FURNITURE 2 GRATIS 2 [IDN] 2 MOTO 2 GROCERY 2 JEWELRY 2 WEIBO 2 [IDN] 2 FYI 2 AUCTION 2 LATINO 2 AUDIO 2 BAR 2 GIFTS 2 GIFT 2 [IDN] 2 ONE 2 SAVE 2 PLACE 2 SAS 2 SRL 2 GDN 2 FISHING 2 WORLD 2 FISH 2 SPORT 2 LEGAL 2 BINGO 2 SARL 2 DESI 2 DELIVERY 2 BASEBALL 2 EARTH 2 CHARITY 2 BAND 2 BANK 2 BOATS 2 STUDIO 2 DOCS 2 GLOBAL 2 STORAGE 2 JUEGOS 2 LAWYER 2 STREAM 2 PING 2 SKI 2 RED 2 COLLEGE 2 PARTY 2 DISCOUNT 2 CAFE 2 PHOTOGRAPHY 2 CRUISE 2 COACH 2 OSAKA 2 [IDN] 2 [IDN] 2 DIRECT 2 VOTE 2 TRADING 2 ENERGY 2 LUXURY 2 COUPON 2 RENT 2 FOOTBALL 2 COUNTRY 2 PHD 2 SEX 2 FORSALE 2 PET 2 PAY 2 REVIEW 2 PHONE 2 COUPONS 2 CONSTRUCTION 2 DIY 2 EXPERT 2 HOCKEY 2 HAIR 2 [IDN] 2 LOL 2 THEATER 2 DOT 2 MONEY 2 YOU 2 LIVING 2 BOX 2 LOANS 2 BROKER 2 MONSTER 2 REALTY 2 FIT 2 EXPRESS 2 CLICK 2 SHOPPING 2 APARTMENTS 2 CHURCH 2 RUN 2 GUIDE 2 SECURE 2 PLUS 2 YUN 2 I ... read more ...

Matt Cutts validates my perspective of newgTLDs and SEO! - All the recent propaganda one heard about how .com and other existing TLDs will be doomed in terms of SEO due to the emergence of newgTLDs has been proved to be just that, propaganda. Matt Cutts has this to say earlier today: “don’t expect a new TLD to get any kind of initial preference over .com, and I wouldn’t bet on that happening in the long-term either”. I’ve been saying the same thing since 2008 actually. “Which essentially means established TLDs will continue to do well ... read more ...

The fundamental advantage ccTLDs will have over newgTLDs - The newGTLDs process is underway, 144 applications have been received, a lot more will be before the window closes. 300-500 new applications will be processed by ICANN during the first phase, you can expect another round within a year per the information out there. While most people believe that the new gTLDs won’t affect .com prices, as do I, a lot of them miss the most obvious advantage ccTLDs have over newgTLDs – the fact that newgTLDs have to be 3 letters or more, whereas all second ... read more ...

Buy a TLD - It’s been quite a while (July 2008) since I blogged about why you should ‘forget domains, buy a tld‘ but inspite of all the drama that surrounds the new extensions process at ICANN, there does seem to be a LOT of movement in this aspect. While it would cost quite a bit ($400,000+) to start your own registry and/or extension, the upside seems to be manifold as shown by the recent success that the .CO registry has achieved ($30 million+ in year 1 revenues). For the more simple minded, ... read more ...

Ethics 101 for Domain Investors - Came across a few excellent posts related to the ethical side of domaining on NamePros, some interesting questions were raised and some interesting viewpoints offered. http://www.namepros.com/358387-the-llll-com-sales-discussion-thread-789.html I’ll quote some interesting bits here, though I would recommend you read the original posts, they’re totally worth reading: Of course, in my opinion at least, approaching/offering to secure and sell any domain that you have not already bought/won ... read more ...

New TLDs Shaking Up Domaining? - Don’t know if you’ve noticed but the quality of domains on auction at Domainfest, TRAFFIC and other online marketplaces has improved dramatically. On offer earlier this month were Stocks.com, Quotes.com, Alcohol.com XXX.com, Cable.com, Rate.com, Artist.com, Hamburgers.com, Koran.com, Patents.com and many more! Up at TRAFFIC are such blockbusters like UI.com, DA.com, BS.com, Lover.net, HomeSchooling.com, Mouse.com, Lifts.com and Keyboard.com among others. You now routinely hear of top of the ... read more ...

The Million Dollar Prediction - I called the sale of the TShirts.com lot correctly a month before it actually sold. Hope this doesn’t sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet but I’m very pleased I predicted this would sell easily with a 500k reserve. Patrick Ruddell of ChefPatrick.com had mentioned this lot last month on Facebook and my comment was “I see this set selling quite easily – tshirts.com, t-shirts.com, t-shirt.com, tees.com, tee-shirts.com – pretty much sews up the niche. Nice one.” ... read more ...

The .TV Relaunch - As you must already be aware from the recent reports, Enom and Verisign have decided to remove premium annual renewal fees on unregistered domains which they had held back for the last ten years and make them available to investors for a flat one time fee and standard renewal thereafter. They re-classified a lot of domains previously considered premium as standard and released them without warning a few hours before any official announcement was released. There was some buzz so those with ... read more ...

ccTLDs lead from a front! - Everyone seems to have woken up to ccTLD investments all of a sudden. The big ticket sales in 2009 – 2010 have really seem to peaked an interest in ccTLDs from all over the world. Specially since these chart breaking sales are seen in the Global contenders charts now, instead of just the ccTLD charts on DNJournal. I’ve been a ccTLD evangelist ever since I started domaining back in 2007. It shows in my posts, in my purchases and also on my portfolio. It also shows in the forums I help ... read more ...

Domain Investment Strategies – Part 2 of 5 -

Ok, this is partial dual of my 5 partial array on what kind of domains make good investments. we wish a 3 people who review my blog will find this interesting.

Via: mwzd.com

Domain Investment Strategies – Part 1 of 5 - There are essentially five domain investment strategies that work better than most others. This is not information most people would be willing to share, but I thought I’d let it out there – if it helps one person register better domains, all the better. Investment Strategy # 1: Geo Domains City names, state names, country names in any tld are called Geo domains. Such names might be tough to monetize without development, but resale values are usually substantial and most extensions will ... read more ...

5 Essential Tools for Domain Owners - These are my top 5 recommendations for essential domaining tools that any domain owner MUST have in their arsenal. They are all extremely cool and allow domain portfolio owners by making information available extremely easily. 1. FreshDrop One of my favourite tools for finding domains about to drop as well as available domains. It provides sortable lists of domains, you can change the displayed names via filters. Also provides essential information regarding the drops including number of ... read more ...

The Extension Agnostic - I’ll start with what a lot of people will consider a fairly radical statement, though those in the know should probably agree – “Extensions are less relevant than the keyword of the domain”. I’ll take Exhibitions.ws over ExcellentTopExhibitions.com any day of the year. With each new extension you have a subset of domainers who invest most of their money in that extension, then have to go around touting it as the next big thing since sliced bread else their investments will not get ... read more ...

Average Joe on Domains -

Saw an engaging video on YouTube featuring Howard Neu (thx Pred) seeking normal bland people about domains.

Take a look:

Via: mwzd.com

Free Domain Name Appraisals - Everyone tries to help newcomers with understanding what makes a domain valuable to start with. But after a while, it gets on your nerves, specially the two or three persistent guys who insist on using you as a their personal ‘free domain name appraisal‘ system. I’m happy to help once in a while but please don’t make it a habit. I’d rather use my time to sell my domains instead of helping you buy from other people, its nothing personal, just business. And we all have only 24 hours ... read more ...

An Insider’s Guide to NamePros - Namepros is the biggest and most popular Domain and Web Forum on the planet. It is a fantastic resource for domainers, web developers, web hosts, designers, seo specialist and anyone else connected with domains and web development. It is an essential stop in the online arsenal of many a smart webmaster. Being a part of the community and using it for selling your services and domains is really easy as the userbase is huge and fairly varied in terms of background, geo location and financial ... read more ...

The Top 10 Myths about Domain Investment -

1. Just since we register a domain someone will offer we millions of dollars for it.

2. There is an ‘easy’ approach to make income with domains, buy my ebook.

Via: mwzd.com