Domain Owl

Can you afford not to renew, or bulk renew? Domain investors should check themselves because backorders have just gone to nigh $70 bucks. I advise domainers with specific names to keep in the feeder to set up a special funding channel through a Paypal or business credit card that can renew or bulk renew items at your registrar and save these costly fees.

Save a little cash and prepay renewals or make sure your tickler file is updated and all administrative contacts for each domain as recorded in the WHOIS and domain name registrar account properly. Unlike some domainers, I think $69 is too much to  pay and a little elbow grease in the registrar name account should save about fifty dollars off this when organized prudently.

On February 15, SnapNames will raise the starting bid for backorders for all deleting domain names from $59 to $69.  This starting bid increase applies only to orders for names that are deleted from their respective registries (not the expiring or privately held names listed from registrar partners or sellers).

This change applies exclusively to new orders—any previously placed deleting domain name backorders will be grandfathered in and remain at a starting bid amount of $59; thus, $59 will be the opening bid if the name enters our system.  (Note, if you are the only bidder in this scenario, like today you will be the buyer at $59. If another party backorders the same name after February 15, that party’s opening bid will be at $69 and the system will alert you to raise your bid if you so elect.)

As is the case today, all non-deleting domain names will enter our system at the starting bid price specified by the listing party.  Opening bids for those names will stay at the amounts originally set.

There is no change to auction procedures.  If there is only one bidder for a name at the time of its availability, the name will be awarded to that bidder.  For names with more than one interested party, the names will go to auction and the highest bid at or above the starting bid amount will prevail.

Questions can be directed to the SnapNames support team:

E-mail: support@snapnames.com
Web: http://support.oversee.net/login.php

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Not every person doing business online knows how to research and obtain a factual finding for their chosen domain. Looking to buy a certain domain they may stop short of getting it. They may know how to type it in, but that is not the end of the road. But most people know very few of the domain name tools that domainers use every day.

Today I heard neighboring diners at a restaurant throwing in the towel because they saw their favorite name was “taken”. I knew instantly that the prospective buyer’s path to their chosen domain name had stopped about eight steps too early. But trying to convince someone on the fly is near to impossible. Here is the truth:

A researcher can find the estimated value of a domain name at Estibot.com, test the page ranking at Alexa.com, or use Yahoo or Google keyword indexes to compare the relative value of the content on the website.  If there is no website, an error occurs while loading it (404), there are no ads, or the page is parked with a template from a hosting company showing, the owner might be glad to have the domain name off their hands.

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There are domain research tools that might be used to acquire the most desirable name for any online enterprise or venture. just shrugging and walking off into the sunset isn’t the answer.

1. If the domain name has a website up or has been purchased by someone else, that is not the end of the  line. Non-domainers may become unhappy if they think someone is using the domain name actively or promoting it with a live website. But this may be a placeholder and the owner may be unknowing of any interest for a potential sale and disinterested otherwise.

What may look like a live website to a newcomer may be an old template programmed to show updates. The owner may be looking to get rid of it. Motivated sellers will make sure their listing or proxy is activated and working smoothly. Not every domain name owner is greedy and will automatically name a high price for any domain name.

2. The lookup record will be displayed to tell you who owns the domain name is the WHOIS database. Access to this database may be found from every registrar, or domain name online selling platform. The researcher may want to search for other domain names with similar top level domains suffixes, such as -net or -org, -biz and -tv. These are more in use than ever before.

If the domain name record has been established using privacy, a contact email will be provided for contact and anonymous forwarding. If the owner wants to entertain offers, they will check their email. If the registrar elects to offer a formal offer conveyance, the lookup researcher can click that option and their information and interest will be communicated to the seller.

3. WHOIS records detail the email, first and last name, address and company name with phone number and fax number of the current owner. This person may be contacted using this number and the administrative contact information. There is always going to be a real person for this information, as ICANN requires checkup procedures to verify ongoing accuracy in domain registration and WHOIS submissions and updates.

4. If the domain name record is incomplete and no answer to the listed email is received, contact data for the domain name may be found elsewhere. The email address, employment, even access to a hosting account and connected email names may have been lost. A phone call or even formal snailmail communication may quickly discover who owns the name and who can speak for its brokerage or sale.

5. If the domain name researcher uses a search engine to find other records of the domain name, they may find the owner using it as a signature link in a forum or blog entry.The less search engine results the researcher finds, the more possibility there is the domain name can be acquired easily. A domain name owner who has not spent time developing links or building an online presence has invested less value to lose.

Emailing the admin of the blog to find out who the link holder is might clear things up. The email address of the poster will be evident to the administrator of the blog or website. They may email the operator of the account a communication letting them know you want to open a conversation about domain name ownership for “x” name. From there, its anyone’s game.

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The Domain name offer can come in from the cold with the new era of blog databases and instant websites. A template or open source application used for an existing domain’s website means that any buyer can take advantage of premium content original to that domain name as part of the purchase price. This can be termed a “domain sweetener”.

Adding sweetener to your domain can be as simple as allowing the buyer to utilize the current hosting where the domain is lodged. Server information is generally given with the WHOIS record.  The WHOIS record must always be accurate for this reason. Unless a Privacy option is purchased at the time of the domain name creation, the registrant’s name phone number address and fax number is visible to the public. And even Privacy entailed records have bid or offer links at the lookup point.

What functions as a sweetener? Bundled domains with other sub-TLD’s, Emails with the domain or a free renewal might be other domain sweeteners. The ability to transform a nibble of interest into a successfully executed domain sale may take some sweetening on the seller’s part. The trick is knowing when to add the sweetener. Only the seller knows how motivated they really are to get some cash out of the deal.

Domains will attract lookups and type in interest form time to time. the record of these lookups can be tracked by referrer traffic form the WHOIS. This can be viewed from the statistics utility in the web hosting menu. The concept of the WHOIS lookup concedes that a likely buyer is checking out who owns the domain name, how long they have owned it, where it is hosted, and what the owner is doing with the domain.

A domain buyer will check out whether or not the current owner has a lot of time or investment put into the name. The theory is that a domainer will sell a name more cheaply if they haven’t developed it themselves.  Or the prospective buyer may want to see if the domain name is parked and thus assess its potential value as a parked revenue generator. The offer for the domain name may include the content seen online.

Existing content in the form of databases or text files can also function as a domain sweetener. If the domainer has invested in domain development at all, these files can be furnished with the domain name sale as a sweetener. The incentive should be communicated that valuable planning and effort are attached with the domain purchase price. The sweetener should be signalled when the buyer has had enough time to consider an offer.

For this reason, domain name offers to buy should have a deadline and a “window of opportunity” attached. This way the prospective buyer has to evaluate how motivated they are. The domain name price will not be a given with a horizon of forever, but an opportunity to buy the domain name at the stated price within a secured period of time. The communication regarding the sweetener should come from a motivated seller near the end of the offer period.

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Domainers need to know how to execute a few basic operations. How do you get started in domaining? Here are the facts. A domain name career can be as broad or as narrowly defined in terms of skills and operations as the individual chooses. One of the first skills a domainer often learns is the domain registration lookup. Domain lookup information is critical to domainer decision making.

This can be done at an online registrar or hosting company which maintains a free search tool online at their site. Registrar companies are entitled to claim expired domains and have regulated policies about how to gather information from buyers and display it online. Domain name registration data can inform a potential buyer or investor regarding who has owned the name before them, or who owns similar domain names.

Privacy options are available when buying a domain name to keep the companies from disclosing name address and contact information like email addresses and telephone numbers to strangers online. No laws exist for usage of domain name data and personal privacy. Drawbacks to providing personal contact data in the domain registration for public WHOIS lookup abound. Email campaigns of spam and snailmail increases of junk mail are often associated with domain name purchases.

Performing domain lookup searches and name registration data queries is one of the primary skills of the domain game. It may be a long time before a new domainer even wants to buy a domain name. A web domain may be purchased but undeveloped.  the domain name may be parked for revenue upon traffic visitor participation. The privacy option may terminate the searcher’s ability to find out who owns it and where they live.

Domain lookup searches allow a new domain namer to see what kinds of data is revealed when they register a name. New domainers may not fully make the connection the first few times they buy a domain name what happens to the registration data and how public it is. These lookup searches are called domain checks. they show if a domain is registered, for how long, and who to. Contact can be made to offer a purchase price for the domain name directly.

Many new domainers fall into the enticing trap of cheap domain names. But no law of averages determines the resale value of any domain name. However cheap the domain name, the risk is assumed by the buyer or creator of the domain name. This can be seen when cognate domain lookups yield the same registrar owner. Bulk registrations happen when registering domainers get discounts on numerous domain purchases.

Bulk registrations can expire at the same time, filling drop list auctions with unwanted cognate names. Domain checkers can relate the date the domain was purchased. this can be very relevant when disputes arise between domain name owners. WHOIS registration records of domain ownership become the basis of dispute settlement criteria. Options at domain registration include assigning WHOIS data to a privacy record or company name.

Domain hosting is a valuable feature because it simplifies domain name ownership responsibilities to one website and one secure login. Domain hosting may add fee services like parked pages or other features that come with the domain purchase. Forwarding, masking, or cash parking for a fee occur. The domain host or registrar may discount or offer a limit to parked or hosted domains within an account determined tolerance.

An online banking account or credit card may be required to complete the sale. A domain reseller may be able to execute a transaction in a currency a new domainer does not use or make a bid when the membership requirements for proxy bidding  demand a history of reliable domain transactions. Some registrars require a registration and membership for domain auction bidding.

Domain name lookups and domain registration checks are advised before initiating personal domain transfers or private auction domain transactions. Domain lookup searches can verify a domain name belongs to the offering entity. Domain name length of ownership, country of ownership, and proxy contact information is available for every single domain name registered.

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New domainers can spend time combining keywords to make new domain names, or they can browse the clearance aisles of the domain world. Drop lists are churning every day, throwing deleting domain names into the shark pool of auctions. The victory belongs to the brave few who can master these drop list scanning chores and pull the gems from the silt.

Drop lists, or deleting name auctions, are composed from various sources. The chief source is the body of renewing names the owners have elected not to renew. These names recur to the domain registrar for ownership and record keeping. The domain owners may not be in the domaining business sector any longer or they may simply be streamlining their domain portfolio. Differing  reasons a name might expire or not be renewed make the excitement of what domain may pop up on the droplist potent for domainers.

Some domainers take the view that only the “dogs” of the domain industry make the droplists. This is not true. The fact is, most domain owners respond to the expiration and renewal notices their various registrars may send. Timely and repeated notifications of domain name renewal are a sign of a conscientious registrar. Godaddy.com, Networksolutions,com, Enom.com and other have a history of reliable “expiration period” pre-droplist domain notification practices.

Yet the domain name of value may yet slip through the the cracks and debut on the drop list to a sea of interested domain name bidders. the challenge for domain main investors is to seed their portfolios with enough anterior names, traffic domains, and lucky finds to increase value in the domain portfolio overall.  Original domain names take longer to seed into the existing SEO vocabulary than established domains with search engine traction.

The domain drop list market is opportunistic and highly competitive. One day a hundred thousand domainers might peruse the domain drop lists and fuel frantic domain name bidding. On a holiday or Sunday many domainers skip the list one domainer might find a fistful of PR treasure and SEO gold for very modest resale amount prices.

Droplisting can save time for the domain name investor because  instead of inventing a new name and taking the associated risk, they can get a known domain name. Instead of guessing via WHOIS domain name data for the entire pantheon of existing and available keyword combination terms and domain names they can simply select to buy or not to bid for existing names.

Many domainers construct cognate domain name clusters within their portfolio as a strategy to capture traffic for a certain subject, hobby, term, or keyword combination. They can resell these names to new project investors or other domainers looking to consolidate an existing position among top terms, keyword base names, and words.

A side benefit of the droplist treasure hunt is that the domain name already has a “presence” within Google and other search engine entities. Bidders can check the rankings themselves using SEO evaluation sites and PR site ranking reports online. Such finds can happen, especially when the drop list techniques for scanning become rote and efficiency rises.

Droplists continue to serve as a way for a domainer to augment an existing portfolio by watching for keywords or terms very similar or cognate to the existing owned domain name the domainer already has. A domain name speculator can vary his “bet about certain technologies or terminologies becoming robustly searched by allotting key resources of investment to the same group of keyword names or related “traffic” urls.

The various email addresses, changed contact numbers, and new addresses can prove a challenge for the registrar to finitely contact the domain owner. This is why WHOIS registry data is so explicitly gathered at the time of the original domain purchase. The administrative and other contacts are used if the registrar feels their customer is somehow not responding. Conscientious registrars guard the domains of their customers.

But if they miss a notice and the renewal period stretches on with no action, the registrar takes control of the “abandoned” name. The registrar may elect to keep the name rolling through their domain name base, or try to vend it for sale in the next chronologically occurring auction. International website owners and domain name brokers can play a part in this process as well.

Shopping the domain name auctions as the names expire and move through the hopper can be fun. Many domainers scrutinize the droplists just to see which trends in domain name buying are being sold off. A bulk selloff tips them off that a name type or lexicon of names is “over”. These maturations of names, especially trendy or “buzzword” names, happen in cycles.

But scanning drop lists, running search scripts, and searching by TLDs and country codes can save time for the busy domainer. Pool.com is one such site, Sedo.com is another.Some domainers specialize in finding keyword names for other domainers. Many registrars feature a droplist augmented service and auction events.

If domainers can identify their niche market or likely keyword dependent domain name for development, they can shrink the cycle of their time spent searching for names of interest online. Tools, scripts,  and droplist sites can save searches to expedite the droplist scan. And they can save their time for domain development, the meat and potatoes of the domain world.

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Think you’ve got what it takes to be a domain name professional? A domainer starts the day early, or “urly” as the case may be. Yet the true domainer’s day is packed with conflicting needs and time traps. Evaluating media, reading blogs, writing content and designing sites is absorbing. The time seems infinite, yet by the end of the day, it’s all gone. It happens in the blink of an eye, every day.

The domainer day must be navigated with key efficiency for multiple tasks. Managing business plans for websites, building site plans, choosing domain name, and checking auction sites takes time. Domain site bookmarks and favorites are natural time savers. Anything that shortens a task completion cycle, like a domain auction service, data reporting tool, domain forum, or tips update form a domain industry source is valuable.

Domainers must always be referencing their chosen domain news platform, or reviewing their hosting functionality and related discounts and offers. Domains come up for sale every day. Keeping competitive while managing existing domains is tricky. Budgets and timelines are the religion of true domainers. Rapid execution of these domaining tasks  is key across many different domain name sale, promotion, marketing, and development objectives. The reward is the profit.

Here is a sample agenda schedule in the day of a domainer:

6:00 a.m. Conference call between domain name investment partners.

6:30 a.m. Check email and review pertinent notifications and messages.

7:00 a.m. Login blog #1 and administrate comments & build new blog entry.

7:45 a.m. Check domain forum #1. Read messages and respond.

8:00 a.m. Review daily Pool auction and aftermarket drop listings.

8: 45 Log best picks from drop and deletions lists. Make min and max offers.

9:00 a.m. Peruse Droplist keyword lists and budget 2nd and 3rd offer ceilings.

9:30 a.m. Take call from domainer contact with bulk portfolio sale.

10 a.m. Register for a new topical forum for new domain name. Post 10 threads and then establish link to url of domain name in signature.

10:30 a.m. Check domain auctions and drop list bids between forum posts.

11:00 a.m. Make 3 blog entries with url link and domain name trackbacks.

12 noon. Munch lunch while listening to domain radio shows. Watch domain SEO information videos from live streaming or attempt some halfhearted cardio exercises and stretching hardworking neck and back muscles.

1 p.m. Open domain portfolio report and check date files for tickler spreadsheet with passwords and user names and visit 5 domain keyword related forums and make three posts in each one. Mark date of visit and adjust spreadsheet to next “tickler” sites for the next online development domain link promotion session. Print out report for domain portfolio notebook update.

2 p.m. Brainstorm new domains to buy, forming potential domain names from keywords and terms from clipped media reports. Use the Network Solutions WHOIS,  Godaddy, and other resources to verify if domains already exist and how much they might cost. Scan for current Godaddy coupon codes and determine if a bulk buy is in order.

3 p.m. Collect text files of custom content ordered form members of online domain forums. Evaluate keywords in Textalyser, and verify originality using Copyscape.

4 p.m. Make custom logo for new domain minisite using Cooltext. Experiment with textures, colors, fonts and sizing.

5 p.m. Submit Google and Adsense data for a new domain. Compose the minisite file with text content files collected and test the new site appearance in your resident browser or HTML viewer.

6 p.m. Proof marketing email for key domain site and send to broadcast list from registrations at the site. Submit new articles and graphics to the open source application and jot in a notebook the most viewed recent articles.

7 p.m. Review domain expiration report in domain portfolio software. Submit two domain names “for sale” threads for BIN auctions in two domain forum auction categories.

8 p.m. Sign up for streaming video webinar from trusted consultant in the domain world. Download videos from archive to review offline. Log into domain forums and change signature link to newest domain venture.

9 p.m. Review email bids and counter offer for bid domains. make payments to content authors, domain owners, and graphic artists for custom logos and themes for new partnership site. Browse SEO blog for reminder tips.

9:30 Stream favorite TV show on one LCD screen while adding keywords and doing text searches on the other. Use commercials for ad hoc keyword and meta tag addition in window with open source application site login in the article editor administration interface.

10 p.m. Review Alexa ranking for each domain in the portfolio spreadsheets. . Perform domain name and website analysis & compose review charts. Determine priority tasks for the next day.

[Rinse, lather & repeat.]

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