"Profit in business comes from repeat customers; customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them."

The above quote by W. Edwards Deming author of "Out of the Crisis" (1984), is relevant to my discussion on Domain names. It is I believe also relevant to anyone in any business. OK, now I have got my pontificating off my chest let me get started with my discussion on domain names.

Contrary to what another writer has published, no reputable Domain name registrant, who intends staying in business will sell you a domain name for $2.00. The Registrant has to pay a much higher wholesale price than this for the domain name in the first place, and would be making a big loss by selling for a mere $2.00. The Domain name market is very competitive, and if you shop around you will be able to purchase a Top Level Domain (TLD) name for under $10.00, but certainly not for $2.00.

Now, I have seen advertisements for Domain names for under $2.00 for $1.99 actually. But the firm in question was making this offer on the proviso that some other product or service such as a hosting account was purchased with the domain name. So the domain name part of the purchase for this particular firm would be a "loss leader", but they would be more than compensating for this with their profit an the other products or services.

What some firms may be selling for $2.00 are not domain names, but sub-domains of someone else's domain name. The ethics of selling these even for $2.00, I personally would find very questionable.

Earlier I mentioned Top Level Domain (TLD) names and sub-domain names. I shall explain the difference.

A Domain Name consists of several different parts. The first part is generally "http://" , for secure sites it may be "https://". The "http" is an acronym for "hyper text transfer protocol". The next part of a domain name is "www.". The "www" part of course stands for the "World Wide Web". Then there is a bit in the middle "IanMcKenziesLinks". This middle bit can not have any spaces and needs to be written as one word, as I have done above. It is this bit that you choose and complete the appropriate searches for availability, before you plan to register a domain name. Now, the final part of a TLD name is the suffix at the end of course. This traditionally is ".com", but it could be several other suffixes in addition, such as, ".net", ".org", ".biz", ".name" and so on.

Now, I know that some article sites do not like domain names listed in the article, so I won't do that. But, if you put the first two bits "http://www." and the middle bit "IanMcKenziesLinks" together and add the suffix ".com" at the end, you have an example of a Top Level Domain (TLD) name.

Top Level Domain names such as I have exemplified above, can have any number of sub-domains. For example, you could have the "http://" part and replace the "www.' part with for example "iansblog." . This would then become a sub-domain of the Top Level Domain described earlier. There could also potentially be thousands of others.

So, if you purchase a "domain name" like the first example in the paragraph above, you are not really purchasing a domain name at all, but a part of someone else's Domain Name over which you really don't have any control. If the owner of the TLD name of which yours is a part for example chooses not to renew their domain name registration, then too bad,all of the "suckers" who purchased sub-domains of this TLD will lose their sites.

Why would anyone purchase a sub-domain, when Top Level Domain names are so inexpensive?

On the issue of money and costs, I would like to pick up on one other point another writer has made. This writer slammed free hosted sites. Why? I ask?

The TLD site above, in addition to the sub-domain "blog" site associated with it are both hosted free of charge. The only financial cost involved was the two year registration of the TLD name costing me a total of $17.64. That fee also includes the ICANN fee. In exchange for the free hosting there are some unobtrusive advertisements across the top of each page. Now, these ads., are related to the content on the pages of my site. There is amongst the ads a Google search bar on each page also, which i think can be quite handy. In my opinion, it certainly is a small price to pay in exchange for totally free hosting.

I reckon having both a web site, and a blog site published and "on air" for two full years for an all up cost of $17.64 is pretty good value. What do you think?

Ian McKenzie is Director of Ian McKenzie's Domains, and Professional Performance Australia. He has a work history background in education, motivation and health promotion. His web site [http://www.ianmckenzieslinks.com] contains links to his various company and personal web sites.

Domain names are how people find your nonprofit on the internet. Determining your domain name is a very important decision. You domain name should be something easy and memorable. Something like [http://www.chicagocatshelter.org] is easy to remember and instantly communicates where you are and what you do. Good domain names all have a few things in common:

Short Nonprofit Domain Names

As a rule of thumb a good charity domain name should not be more than 30 characters. A domain name like [http://www.chicagocatshelter.org] is a perfect size. As always, the shorter the nonprofit domain name the easier it is to remember.

Describe Your Charitable Organization

A perfect domain name should describe what it is you do and where you do it. Here are a few examples of domain names that do just that (these are fake nonprofits domain names):

utahbirds.org

savejonesbay.net

floridamanateerescue.org

helptallmanpark.net

501c3 Domain Name Extension

The .org domain name extension is used primarily for nonprofits, .net is also an acceptable extension. The .com extension is used primarily by for-profit organization but can be used in the case when the .org or .net extension is unavailable. There are no legal laws that say you have to use a certain extension for your nonprofit website.

Easy To Remember

When trying to make your charity domain name easy to remember think about the person seeing it on a billboard while they are driving 60 miles per hour, you only have a couple of seconds so make it count. Also, when people are talking about your charity your domain name should not need explanation or to be repeated on the phone.

Here is a test. Which domain name is easier to remember?:

tampacares.org
OR
100best-free-web-space.com/FL-Users/TampaNonprofit%09.html

The answer is easy, tampacares.org is a lot easier to remember and communicate with people. As an example, one of the easiest nonprofit domain names to remember is http://www.one.org.

Make Sure Your Charity Domain Name Is Available

No matter how good the domain name is, if someone else owns it - you can’t use it. To find out if the domain name you want is available, you can visit http://www.godaddy.com and type your desired domain name in the search box and hit the “GO!” button. This will query the domain name and let you know if it is available or not. You can also buy your nonprofit domain name at GoDaddy.

BONUS TIP: If you have brainstormed a lot of domain names and want to see which ones are available – you can use the “Bulk Register” feature in GoDaddy to query them all at the same time. You can query up to 500 domain name choices at once!

Bad to Good 501c3 Domain Names

Below are a few fake charity domain names with better domain name alternatives. Use this to evaluate your (good and bad) charity domain name choices:

protectthetexasblackspottedhawk.org

Much too long. People will have a hard time remembering all of that. Here is a better alternative:
texashawkprotection.org

blackmanateesaredying.org

You should stay away from having negative words in your domain name - such as dying, death, murder, toxic, etc… give it a positive spin instead:
perfectmanatees.org

donatetothesickchildren.net

Try not to beg for funds in your domain name. It might also help if the location of these sick children were in the domain name. The word “sick” could mean different things to different people. “sick” could mean “brain cancer” to some people or it could mean runny nose” to other. Use something like this instead:
helpbostonsfuture.org

Your Charity Website

Now that you have a great domain name that is memorable you’ll need to create a nonprofit website for it. Your website should educate the general public about who you are and what you do. Your website should also be able to accept Donations to your charity, process online ticket sales to your charitable events and allow people to join/renew your Membership.

Ian Anderson is co-founder of Intersection360. Ian specializes in hosted application architecture and GUI design. Intersection360 offers a wide range of non-branded web applications for the small business/non-profit markets. Some of Intersection360 products include: CharityHelper360 - secure forms processing for non-profits (Get a 7 DAY FREE TRIAL - limited time offer), WebEdit360 - an online website editor and more.

Learn more about how you can sell Intersection360 products as your own with the Intersection360 Partner Program at [http://www.intersection360.com/partners/index.htm]

Domain names are the new real estate. They are cheap, which makes them a low risk investment, and they are unique, which makes them valuable. This is a great reason to jump on bandwagon and sell domain names. To start investing and then sell domain names successfully, you need to go out and register a domain name first, and base this registration on keyword research and domain valuation techniques (I suggest that you read an informative ebook). But the one thing that most people wonder is where to sell domain names. In this article I will go over some of the most popular places to sell domain names.

The large majority of high profile domains sell on domain brokerage sites. These are specialized sites which sell domain names in exchange for a share of the profits. This commission generally ranges between 2% to as high as 18%, depending on the services that you use from the brokerage. So what services do these brokerages offer in order to justify their commission? Firstly, they make it easier to sell domain names by putting buyers in contact with sellers. Your domain names will be included in a searchable database of domains. The high prominence of these sites attract many high profile buyers and big investors, who are attracted by the large selection of domain names and the ease of finding domain names through search. Secondly, brokerages make it safer to sell domain names by providing escrow services.

Escrow services are an important element of the process to sell domain names, especially for large transactions. The way that escrow services work is that when you sell domain names, the buyer sends the money to the escrow company, instead of sending it directly to you. Upon receiving notification from the escrow company that it has received the money, you then transfer the domain to the buyer. After informing the escrow company of the transfer, the money is transferred to you. This is an important process for anyone wanting to sell domain names at high prices.

Once you are comfortable with brokerages, you should look for other, less formal places to sell domains. Domain name forums will help you sell domain names while gaining knowledge on the industry at the same time. But beware: domain name forums offer no escrow services, and scams are pulled off often. When you use forums to sell domain names, never transfer your domain before receiving your money. Always check the domain forum to grasp an understanding of the buyer's attitude: does he post informative posts? Is he a constructive member of the forum? Has he scammed anyone before? Finally, favor forums which offer a rating system for domain name transactions. Most forums do, but stay away from those who don't: if you sell domain names, you need to be sure of your buyer before starting a transaction.

Where ever you sell domain names, you need to invest in the correct domain name from the start. There is no point in selling bad domains, no matter where you plan to sell them. In order to be sure that you chip in on the best opportunities, I highly suggest that you invest in, and obviously read, a domain ebook. Good Luck!

Check out http://www.DomainCashSecrets.com and you wont be disappointed.

Zach Bastick is an administrator of a major domain forum and an active investor. He recommends http://www.DomainCashSecrets.com as a good ebook for learning how to sell domain names. Check out http://www.DomainCashSecrets.com now!

Probably, you have heard about making money online. Also, you have seen lots of different programs and systems that help you earn cash on the Internet. It could be selling stuffs, being an affiliate, running a website, etc. Now, there is another surprising concept: making money with your own domain names. But, is it really true?

Shortly, I have to say that it is possible to earn a living with domain names. Today, there are lots of people starting their own businesses based on this kind of opportunity. But, first of all, you will need to know how it works.

Basically, there are 3 different ways to make money with your own domain names:

1. Buying domain names at low prices, then selling them higher:

Believe it or not, one of the most important secrets of a powerful and popular website is having a good domain name. Thus, many website owners are looking for such domain names and willing to pay a lot in order to own them. Suppose, you had registered that domain name earlier, so you are the person who sets the price and win the deal. That´s it. You have purchased the domain name at a very low price and have sold it many times higher. But the secret is that how you could get those good domain names. Actually, several years ago, it was not difficult to register a good domain name. But, today, it has become harder and harder. Yet, there is one promising solution: buying expired domain names. Everyday, thousands of domain names are being expired due to forgetting the payment of annual fees. After a while, the expired domain names will be deleted and then be available for everybody who wants to purchase it. Among those expired domain names, you can find some valuable, well-established and attractive domain names.

There are some sources on the net where you can find the needed information about expired domain names. On the other hand, you can find some sources to put your domain names for selling. At those auction places, you will see how the customers are bidding and competing in order to grab your domain name. Doing this business properly with working carefully can bring you a lot of profits.

2. Selling advertisements on your parked domain names:

Another way in this approach is to put advertisements on your parked domain name. You register a domain name, then park it on a specific marketplace. Besides, most of them allow you to choose some keywords related to the topic of your domain name. Afterwards, you can see the related advertisements on your parked domain name as sponsored links. These ads are often based on pay per click action and you will get paid whenever someone clicks on the ads. This way is a good idea, even if you intend to sell your domain name later. In fact, the earnings depend on the amount of your visitors. So, it would not be a huge amount of money. However, it could help you earn extra money with your own domain name.

3. Redirecting your domain name to a specific page:

The third method is actually an accessory way. For example, you are an affiliate, a person who sells the others´products or services. In most cases, you, as an affiliate, have a web page like the seller´s, but the difference is your URL address, that is to say your domain name. It is too long and full of various numbers and letters. Sometimes, it would be difficult to market or advertise a page with the URL address like that. Thus, you may need a better web address. So, it is time to register a related domain name and redirect it to your affiliate page. It means, whenever someone types your domain name in the address bar, the page will automatically be forwarded to the affiliate web page. In this way, you send traffic to that web page and if a sale is made, you will make money. So, it could be another way to make money with your registered domain name.

The above mentioned methods are the main ways that help you make money with your own domain names. But, naturally, it is business and there is always risk with any businesses and don´t forget that the whole process of making money depends mostly on your ambitions, individual capacities, expertise, business experiences and desires.

Good Luck!

Hooshmand Moslemi is the Author and Owner of "Make A Website Now", (Make-A-Website-Now.com) a very helpful guide full of information, tips and resources for creating a web page in easy steps.

1. Introduction and Meaning.

For selecting the best domain name suited for your web business you need to first understand the meaning of domain name and the types of domain name available in Internet. Domain names are actually URLs used to identify particular Web pages. A domain name is divided into three parts: the second section is kown as domain separated by a "dot" and the third section is a TLD. TLD means Top level domain i.e third section and thus the second section is called as second level domain. Every domain name has its own TLD. TLD differs according to the categories and types of websites.

Most common top-level domains:

com - Commercial, for commercial websites & profit organisations.

net- Networks, for organisational websites.

org- Organisations, for non profit oganisational websites & individuals.

edu- Education, for educational websites, degree granting colleges & universities.

info- Information- for informational websites.

gov- Government, for websites ruled by Government, federal government agencies.

uk- for United Kingdom websites.

us- for United States websites.

ca- for Canadian websites.

2. Selecting the correct TLD.

.com TLD is the most popular and common domain TLD used today nationwide. You can select a particular domain extension according to the category of services offered by your websites as mentioned above. However .com TLD is the best for commercial websites looking ahead for online profit making businesses.

3. Domain names are preferred to be small.

Domain names are usually preferred to be small as short and snappy domain names just explaining their product brands or categories are easy to remember and to pronounce. You should make sure yourself while selecting a domain name that the name is clear enough to spell and make sure that it can be easily pronounced over the phone calls or on the radio.

4. Seo friendly domain names.

The most important search engine i.e. Google gives lot of weight to keywords in the domain names. So it is more efficient if you select a domain name which is small and explains the name or category of your product or if the domain name is the name of the important keyword itself. On the contrary I would prefer that you keep your domain name elegant and user-friendly. When page ranks come into priority Google gives higher ranks to Domain names having TLD as gov, in, info, org, and then com. The reason after this is that search engines gives importance to websites offering enormous data even termed as guide, dictionary, webopedia or encyclopedia as this helps visitors to study things online thus hitting huge traffic on their serach engines.

5. The domain name sholud be checked by trademarks.

Many times customers are fooled by the web hosting companies by giving them domain names which look similar to trademark rights and protection but actually are not the registered trademarks. The second level name in the domain names are many times copied or similar to other names. So before selecting a domain name make sure yourself if the domain name offered to you is of registered trademark. You should not buy domain names of recognized brands or trademarks that actually does not belongs to you, even if they are available in the market. It's a violation of copyright law and you might owe an punishment for this in court of laws.

6. Check the domain name availability.

Your web hosting company is a very important part of your online presence in Internet. Check availability of domain names from here..

Log on to www.domains.creativewebhosting.net
for booking your domain names & web spaces.

http://www.creativewebsols.com/web-hosting-articles.htm

http://whitepapers.creativewebsols.com/seo-tips.htm

The creation of the .eu domain was endorsed by the European Parliament back in March 2000, but took 5 more years to become a reality. The motive for introducing a European TLD was to "accelerate electronic commerce" in the EU; it was also part of the effort to promote Community-consciousness, both within the EU and without. The domain has certainly been a success, quickly becoming one of the world's most popular TLDs; but with that success has come conflict.

Institutions

In May 2003 the European Registry for Internet Domains (EURid) was selected as the .eu registry, and was entrusted with the organisation, administration and management of the new .eu domain. EURid is a not-for-profit organisation whose fees are intended only to cover its costs.

EURid has appointed the Arbitration Court attached to the Czech Chamber of Commerce as its provider of .eu ADR services. In principle it could appoint more providers in future.

Procedures

Under the .eu Regulation, ADR proceedings may be initiated by any person: you do not need to be the owner of the trade mark or name upon which a complaint is based.

The ADR proceedings will usually be conducted in the language specified in the registration agreement, and in practice that usually means English.

The complainant files a complaint in the requisite form and pays the up-front fees. The fees vary with the number of domain names at issue and the number of panellists chosen, and range between Euros 1990 and 5400+. After the complaint is filed and the fee paid, a block is put on the domain name preventing transfer for the duration of the proceedings. The respondent's case is set out in its response, which must be filed within 30 working days of the date of receipt of the complaint. If no response is received, the expert is empowered to consider this as a ground to accept the complainant's arguments. In most cases there will be no opportunity for the complainant to reply to the respondent's response.

However, the ADR panel does have the power to request further information and/or documents from the parties. Oral hearings may be ordered in "exceptional circumstances", but in practice that is likely to mean almost never.

The remedies available are revocation and transfer or the domain name(s) at issue; the remedy will be implemented by the domain registrar. There is no appeal from a panel decision (unlike, for instance, at Nominet). However, an aggrieved party is free to initiate court proceedings

Substantive rules

The substantive rules governing .eu domain name arbitrations are set out in Article 21 of the .eu Regulation:

"A registered domain name shall be subject to revocation, using an appropriate extra-judicial or judicial procedure, where that name is identical or confusingly similar to a name in respect of which a right is recognised or established by national and/or community law ... and where it: (a) has been registered by its holder without rights or legitimate interest in the name; or (b) has been registered or is being used in bad faith."

Providing there is identity or confusing similarity between the domain name and someone else's name or mark, you only need to establish one of the other criterion - a lack of rights/legitimate interest upon registration or bad faith – to succeed in the ADR proceedings.

The UDRP contains much the same criteria, but under the UDRP both need to be established to ground an action. It is unclear why the Commission decided to treat these criteria as disjunctive, given that the Recitals to the Regulation highlight the UDRP (as administered by WIPO) as an example of best practice - and given the trenchant criticism from many quarters that the UDRP is (or has been applied in a way that is) excessively pro-complainant.

Respondent's rights and legitimate interests

How can a respondent demonstrate rights or legitimate interests in a domain?

"Rights" usually means trade mark rights, registered or unregistered. An issue here will be whether names used in a non-commercial context can give rise to relevant rights.

"Legitimate interests" is a more nebulous concept. In order to demonstrate a legitimate interest, a domain name registrant will need to show: (i) commercial use of the domain name (or demonstrable preparation for such use), (ii) "legitimate and non-commercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent to mislead customers or harm the reputation of a name on which a right is recognised or established by national and/or community law", or (iii) that the domain name designates the registrant. So, the "legitimate interest" criterion is a low hurdle, but it is a hurdle nonetheless, and can be expected to trip up some registrants.

The two main problems with this definition, in our view, are that demonstrable preparations to make "legitimate and non-commercial or fair" use of a domain do not constitute a legitimate interest; and that any "harm" to a trade mark undermines a claim to legitimate interests notwithstanding a fair use. Don't hold your breath for [http://www.euridsrulessuck.eu].

Bad faith

The Regulation says that bad faith "may be demonstrated" in the following circumstances:

(1) “circumstances indicate that the domain name was registered or acquired primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name to the holder of a name in respect of which a right is recognised or established by national and/or Community law or to a public body”; or

(2) “the domain name has been registered in order to prevent the holder of such a name in respect of which a right is recognised or established by national and/or Community law, or a public body, from reflecting this name in a corresponding domain name, provided that: a pattern of such conduct by the registrant can be demonstrated; or the domain name has not been used in a relevant way for at least two years from the date of registration; or in circumstances where, at the time the ADR procedure was initiated, the holder of a domain name in respect of which a right is recognised or established by national and/or Community law or the holder of a domain name of a public body has declared his/its intention to use the domain name in a relevant way but fails to do so within six months of the day on which the ADR procedure was initiated”;

(3) “the domain name was registered primarily for the purpose of disrupting the professional activities of a competitor”; or

(4) “the domain name was intentionally used to attract Internet users, for commercial gain, to the holder of a domain name website or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with a name on which a right is recognised or established by national and/or Community law or a name of a public body, such likelihood arising as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of the website or location of a product or service on the website or location of the holder of a domain name”; or

(5) “the domain name registered is a personal name for which no demonstrable link exists between the domain name holder and the domain name registered”.

The circumstances are presented as little more than guidance, but there is a tendency for panellists to interpret these in the same way at they would an ordinary legislative provision. In particular, it is a rare panellist who will find that a case falling squarely within one of the examples of potential bad faith does not involve bad faith.

Some of the circumstances which are indicative of bad faith have been carried over from the UDRP; however, several are new. Most interesting is the suggestion that a declaration of an intention to use a domain name "in a relevant way" might protect that domain name from an allegation of bad faith (at least one based on there having been no relevant use) for a six month period from the date of initiation of the ADR procedure.

Conclusions

The .eu domain name dispute procedure is in its infancy. At the time of writing there is a steady stream of decisions coming out of the Czech Arbitration Court. The majority of those are complaints about EURid's failure to properly apply the Regulation during the sunrise period. Our reading of the EURid rules is that they are more pro-complainant than the UDRP. If that is right, a higher level of complaints can be expected than under the UDRP.

Hagit Ben-Artzi is principal at Sequitur IPS, a consultancy specialising in representing individuals and companies in domain name arbitration proceedings. The Sequitur IPS website is at http://www.sequitur-ips.com.

Believe it or not, even thieves are already high-tech these days. Browsing the net and reading through online forums, I came across a startling story about how thieves have found their way to infiltrate the world wide web. I read about a lady who was planning to put up a web page of her own. As the normal process dictates, she first thought of a domain name for her website. She chose her own name and had it checked in CNet Domain Search page for domain registrations and found out that it is very much available. A couple of days later, she checked it again and was shocked to discover that her name is already taken. She found out that her name is already a domain name registered to a firm with the name Chesterton Holdings.

The helpless lady brought the matter to the attention of Larry Seltzer, a columnist of eweek.com and a staunch critic of cyber crimes. Larry Seltzer investigated the matter himself. He checked the website whose domain name is that of the lady's. He immediately came to a conclusion that firm who "owns" the website and its domain name is a domain squatter, one among many domain squatters scattered all over cyberspace. Seltzer saw that the website is full of advertisements all domain squatters are associated with. He even claimed that the advertisements were syndicated through information.com. In Seltzer's column in eweek.com, he followed the next events regarding the theft of the lady's domain name. He reported that after a number of days, Chesterton, the bogus owner, has already let go of the stolen domain. He said this could have been prompted by the low hits or very few visits the site had. Apparently, silly domain squatters do not stay long in a domain, which is not lucrative for them. Squatters are somehow wise, at least in that sense.

The question that was immediately formed in my mind that Mr. Seltzer also posted, is how in the world was Chesterton able to register someone else's name to be its domain name? Moreover, why was the squatter allowed or given the permission to have ownership of a domain that is obviously not theirs? Anyway, I think my questions are unanswerable as of the moment. Even big companies and other established domain owners cannot exactly explain how domain theft is being successfully done. I bet you have also heard of the stealing of panex.com's domain. Well, if you have not, the bottom line is that even the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), whose mandate is to police the world wide web, failed to fully account the culprit behind the theft.

Curious about how rampant domain theft is, I made a little cyber investigation and probed on my own. I logged on to search.com, a property of CNet domain, and searched for the availability of my own name. I guess you've already guessed the result. Yes, my own name is already a registered domain name. With whom is it registered? Bingo! It is with Chesterton Holdings. My possible domain is already stolen. But I am confident the squatter will leave sooner than I think. My name is unpopular nor does it sound good to generate thousands of hits and visits. There is no way that notorious domain thief can make profit out of my unpopular name.

Though my stolen (domain) name is not much of a big fuss for me or for others, domain theft is an issue of great concern for other web owners. It is alarming that theft incidence can happen so easily and victims cannot do anything to account for the theft done.

Who is behind this syndicated theft? I do not think we can answer right now. Who is to be blamed for the proliferation of cyber thieves? We can go on pointing fingers but still not quell domain theft. I guess the only question we can answer as of now is who is already registered in a particular domain and who is not -- thanks to whois, a *querying database*. Whois is a transmission control protocol(TCP)-based query or a response protocol. It is utilized to identify the owner of a domain name, an IP address, or an autonomous system number on the internet. But then, it is also very probable that domain squatters are using whois to know which domain, in the form of people's real names, can they squat in.

Domain theft and squatting is really a complex and alarming matter. This issue is a concern for current domain owners but more so to those planning to put up a website. This issue is most especially pertinent to those who are planning to put up an online business and use a website for marketing. I guess the best that people can do is to seek only the services of trusted web servers and hosts for domain registrations to ensure the security of their domain.

For more valuable information on domain registration, affiliate program(s), please visit http://www.businessanalyst.com

The domain name registration process is not too difficult, but it can take some time (usually 24-72 hours) before your domain name "propagates" throughout the internet. I find that it normally takes less than 20 hours, so keep that time in mind.

"Propagation" is simply the fact that it takes a while for your site to become visible on the internet due to a process called DNS (domain name server) transfer and various databases that have to be updated.

Although the domain name registration process is fairly easy, there are a few things that you should be aware of:

Steps to follow before registering your domain name:

1. Don't just register any domain name that you like or that sounds good to you, except if your company name is well known. Do a bit of keyword research and see if you can incorporate your main keyword into the domain name.

2. Get your hosting account first, since you'll need the DNS information during the domain name registration process. If you register the domain name first, the DNS information will point to your registrar's servers until you transfer it.

3. Don't just go for the cheapest registrar. Remember, you normally get what you pay for... however, you shouldn't have to pay more than $10 a year for a domain name.

Steps and tips to follow during the domain name registration process:

1. Choose your favorite registrar and register with them to get yourself a username and password. Each domain name registrar will have their own policies and procedures, so make sure that you read everything carefully before you register your domain name. You'll also learn a lot by doing that.

2. Log into your account and type in your domain name to check if it's available.

3. Always register the .com version of a domain name wherever possible. If the .com extension of a domain name is not available, then register a .net or .org extension. However, try your best to register a .com domain by adding words like 2u, 4u at the back or words such as first, best or anything else that will fit in front.

You can also use domain name spinner software to help you choose your domain name.

4. Make sure that you register your domain name for at least 5-10 years. Wow! I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but it helps to establish credibility with the search engines. Just don't ask me where I got this information from, since it's extremely valuable.

I normally register my domain names for 5 years, but 10 is better. I know that it's a bit expensive, but if you make a great site, you'll easily recover your investment.

5. Don't register domain names with dashes. There's too many of them around already and it looks silly (uhm... just my personal opinion). The main advantage however is that domain names without dashes also establishes credibility with the search engines. Avoid dashes at all costs.

6. Try and make your domain name as short as possible or at least something that can easily be remembered. After you have registered your domain name, make sure that the registrar lock function is activated otherwise someone else might be able to transfer your domain name without your permission.

This is extremely important, since you don't want to loose your domain name... and your shirt when someone else steals it from you.

7. Once the domain name registration process is complete, you should transfer your DNS information to your host. The sooner the better. When you sign up with your host, they'll normally send you the DNS info along with your activation email or you can go to their forums (if they have one) and have a look around.

If all else fails, use their technical support. Most registrars require two DNS addresses and it looks something like this: ns1.cowboy-server.com, ns2.cowboy-server.com

While this is by no means a comprehensive guide to the domain name registration process, it's more or less what you should do and be aware of.

James B. is the Webmaster and Content Writer at Web Site Domain Names 2u.com

Domain Name has various meanings. It could be the name entered by the users in their address bar of the computer and then looked up in the global Domain Name System-DNS to visit the particular site. All domain names have their own assigned IP address and the DNS translates the IP address into words. It could also be a unique address on the Internet referred to as Internet address. Domain names are also referred to as Uniform Resource Locaters or URLs.

In DNS a label could be the digits, hyphens and each string of letters used between the dots. There are certain rules that are applied for these valid labels which have been changed with time. Before labels had to begin with a letter and end with a letter or digit .Any intervening characters may be letters, digits, or hyphens. They must be between 1 and 63 characters long. Now they can begin with a digit and can have internal underscores but no domain name can be all numeric. These rules depend on the domain level. Some top level domains have more rules.

URL and Domain name:
The difference between a URL and a domain name:
URL: http://www.xyz.com/
Domain name: xyz.com

A domain name can have more than one IP address and more than one domain name assigned to an IP address. At the same time one server can have multiple roles, and one role can be applied for multiple servers. One IP address can even be assigned to several servers. The IP address and the server name are interchangeable. This makes it impossible for the server to know which IP address was used. But with the help of HTTP- hypertext transfer protocol, you need to specifically tell the server which domain name is being used. So, one server with one IP address can provide different sites for different domain names.

Say, the server particular server covers all these sites:
xyz.com
xyz.net
xyz.org

When you put a request, then you will get the data corresponding to the host name requested.

Domain Levels:

Top-level domain

The end of all domain names is called top level domain. Say, xyz.edu or xyz.net or xyz.org etc where edu, net and org are all top level domain. This could be a list of generic names or a 2 character territory code like .ac or .ad or .in which are country code top level domains.

Second level domain

Second-level domain names are directly to the left of .com, .net, and the other top-level domains. For example: en.xyz.net where xyz is the second level domain.

Third level domain

The next level i.e. the third-level domains are to the left of a second-level domain. Here en is the third level domain.

Jeffrey Meier at Jam727 Enterprises at http://www.thearticlehome.com blog offers even more detailed information on a wide variety of topics.

When you launch a new website you must register a unique domain name with an authorized registrar. When the internet was first starting, all domain names and IP addresses were registered through one organization, Internic. Eventually Network Solutions took over the role as "keeper" of the internet domain names. Today, there are hundreds of websites where you can register your domain name but Network Solutions still maintains the main database of domain names. Some websites charge as little as $2.95 per year for your domain name while others charge as much as $35 per year for the exact same service. Some even offer one year free if you register your domain name with them and host your website on their servers. Why pay $35 when you can register your domain name for much less at another website?

So why does Network Solutions charge $35 a year if they are the keeper of the database and their resellers charge a fraction or even nothing? Who knows and who cares! Register your domain with one of the cheaper providers and you'll be fine. A word caution - be care who you choose to host your website. Getting a free year of your domain name isn't worth it if your webhost is unreliable and your website is down more than it's up.

You pay for your domain name on a yearly basis. It's a separate charge from your webhosting bill. When you register your domain name choose the autorenewal option if it's available. This way your domain name will not expire if you forget to renew it. If your domain name expires, it's free for anyone else to register so you need to stay on top of when it's expiring. Also registering your domain name for a 3 to 5 year term will often save you money. For example,  GoDaddy charges $8.95 a year for your domain name but only $7.25 a year if you register for a 5 year term.

When you register your domain you can create different contact names. The three contacts are Administrator, Technical and Billing. Most of the time the same person is all 3 contacts. If you web designer registers your domain name for you, make sure you are designated as the Administrative contact. This gives you control over the domain name and you must be notified if someone is trying to make changes to your record. If you aren't one of the contacts then someone can transfer ownership of the domain name without your permission.

To see a record of your domain name, go to networksolutions.com and use their WHOIS utility which is located in the bottom left corner of their home page. Simply enter your domain name and click Search. You'll see the complete record of your domain name, where it's registered and where your website is hosted. 

When you register your domain name you'll have to the option of making it a private registration. I highly recommend paying the additional fee to make your information private. If you leave your registration public anyone can look up your domain information which includes your home or business address and your email address. Many spammers scan public domain registration records to find valid email addresses to spam.

I always use a yahoo or hotmail email account when registering my domains. This way if spammers to find my email address, I can just get a new "throwaway" email address and I won't receive spam at my primary email address.

Always make sure your domain record remains locked. Locking your domain name is a feature implemented a few years ago. When you want to transfer your domain name to a different registrar you must unlock it. Once it's unlocked the new registrar can "pull" your domain name from your current registrar. Once the transfer is complete, the domain name will be locked to prevent anyone else from "pulling" your domain away from you.

About The Author
Ted Prodromou spent over 25 years in the computer industry working for IBM, Digital, and Cellular One. Today he's the owner of NetBizExpert, Inc, a consulting firm that provides personalized web design and small business marketing solutions. Download your free report Click Here For More Customers at http://www.netbizexpert.com/clickhere

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