Archives for March 2008
Is WWW Dead?
While going through all of my sites yesterday and performing maintenance/upgrading WordPress, I noticed a trend that I adopted without even knowing it. All of my existing websites (20+) have been setup without the www prefix in front of them.
Like I said above, I wasn’t even really conscious of my decision to change, but at some point in the last few years I quit using www. So why did I change? Well, why not? The internet is always evolving and I do my best to evolve with it. Whether it is trends in domaining, website development, or whatever else I’m working on, I always try to make adjustments.
In looking around at some of my favorite websites/blogs, it looks like many people have evolved with me by dropping the www from their domain names. Are you still using the www? If so, is it personal preference or another reason?
Register Available Domains with Domain Name Analyzer
I mentioned in the past that I’m always on the lookout for good domaining software. Every time I try a new software, in my mind I am comparing it against the free software that I am currently using called Domain Name Analyzer. Today I realized I haven’t yet written about it on this site yet, so I figured what better time to share it with my readers?
Domain Name Analyzer is a software that makes it really easy to find available domain names on the public registry. Once you’ve downloaded the software and opened it up, select the Create Names from Keywords button and a menu will appear where you can enter prefixes and suffixes.
I assume like all good domainers, you maintain a list of prefixes and suffixes that you like to use? Of course you do! When you have a keyword you want to use, simply input that keyword and all of the suffixes you’d consider using. You could also enter your keyword in the suffix field and paste all of your prefixes into the list as well.
From there, you can select which TLD’s to search under and click Lookup All. DNA does the rest for you, letting you know which domains are available for registry based upon your specifications.
Here are some screen shots for your reference:
Any questions? Let me know in the comments below!
Strategy When Investing in LLLLL.com Domains
With the LLLL.com domains long gone, it is domainer nature to move on to the “next big thing”. Each domainer may have a different opinion of what exactly that is, but it seems many are moving on to LLLLL.com domains, with CVCVC.com domains getting most of the focus. Without checking, I’m pretty sure that many of these domains are already gone!
One term that has become popular on the domain forums is the word pronouncable when advertising these domains. It is the same tactic that was used with LLLL.com domains. Pronouncing many of these domains is quite a stretch, and the ones that are pronouncable in type, may not be when verbally spoken.
One thing people need to ask themselves before investing in one of these types of domains for a potential end-user sale is whether or not it can be spelled multiple ways when pronounced verbally. The goal of having a brandable domain is to associate the name with the product or service, and this includes verbal association.
When spoken, if saying the domain name results in several possible spellings, then it isn’t a brandable domain name in my opinion. One example would be Colo.com. When pronounced, it could sound like it would be spelled Solo.com or Kolo.com. What about Pedi.com. Is that spelled Pede.com? Or Pedy.com? Or even PD.com? This is something to keep in mind when investing in this market.
With that said, there are many great brandable domains in this market, includes established sites like Sedo.com, Bido.com, etc. I love domains ending in ”o” and think they are brilliant. But there are other CVCV.com domains that would work great as well.
What do you look for when investing in LLLL.com or LLLLL.com domains?
Dotster Offering Registration Discount on Domains
In case you were thinking about picking up some domains in the near future, it looks like Dotster is currently offering a 25% discount on domain names. This Easter discount is available on any .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, and .us domains and is good through March 25th, 2008.
If you decide to take advantage of this deal, you’ll want to use coupon code EASTER25.
DNJournal Releases New Domain Sales List
I think for most domainers, one of the most anticipated things each week is DNJournal’s release of domain sales. There are a lot of factors that go into determining a domain value, but one of the best ways to do this is to compare your domain to similar domains that have sold recently.
In this weeks edition, there was somewhat of a surprise to me with Casino.de taking the top spot at $625,060.00. If you don’t find a dot com at the top, you might think that a dot net is probably in that top spot. It isn’t often that you find a country code there. With that said, the German country code has been well received by their country, so that could explain the high dollar figure it earned. For those wondering, the highest German domain sale was Poker.de for $957,937.00 last July.
Only one other confirmed sale over the benchmark of $100,000.00 was completed with Tests.com selling for $176,505.00. Relative.com, Psychiatrists.com, and Niche.com followed that up with sales between $85,000.00 and $100,000.00.
Other interesting sales:
- A dot mobi made the list with Shows.mobi selling for $20,000.00.
- Equipt.net sold for $18,000.00?!?
Compliation of Domain Suffixes
Even to a veteran domainer it can sometimes be difficult to know exactly how many country-code top level domains (ccTLD’s) there are out there.
If you are a new domainer and are looking at investing in ccTLD’s, there are some things you need to look into. Here are two things I look at before investing in a ccTLD:
- How well has the country adopted their country code? - There are a few ccTLD’s that have really gone over well with their country, while many others no one really uses. For example, a lot of people invested in China’s country code when it was released and it didn’t take very well there. India is one that seems to be doing well.
- How much does this ccTLD cost to register/renew? I’ve read about some costing as much as $500.00 a year to register/renew, so you’ll want to factor this into your decision on whether to invest or not.
I’ve also thrown together a list of domain suffixes for your reference and the country they are associated with. More ccTLD are becoming available every year (.me due out soon), so I will do my best to keep this list updated:
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