With domain registration costing as low as $1.99 for some domain extensions, and the possibility of selling those said domains for $x,xxx, one could easily get into the habit of registering domains on impulse without much research.

But with that been said, you would be surprised to learn the number of people who buy domains on the aftermarket as well, purely on impulse, without any clear purpose or strategy.

Domaining can be a very deceptive business. This is even more so with aftermarket domains. You buy a domain name on the aftermarket thinking to yourself, well, from now on, its only going to cost me $8 per year for renewal.

Sometimes you just register or purchase domains because you have enough money on your credit card to successfully checkout or complete the transaction. This is fine if you have a clear and definitive intention and methodology to monetize the domain name, successfully.

However, some people spend today, and realise that rather than making sensible investments, they have instead accumulated senseless liabilities.

If you have had issues with spending frivolously on domain names, here are a few essential questions to ask yourself before you buy the next domain name.

1. Can I afford this domain name?
If you are buying domains at $1.99 (mostly for .INFO) or the average $8 (for .COM) then the answer will most likely be a resounding “yes!”. However this is a trick question. I believe the fact that you can afford the $8 registration for a domain name is the problem here. Registering one domain at a time or taking advantage of bulk registration deals will not be a problem. You will only start feeling the weight of your overspending when you have to settle the credit card bills or have to contend with huge renewal expenditure for your entire domain portfolio.

So perhaps the question that you really want to ask is, “Can I afford to maintain my domain portfolio if I buy one more domain name?”

2. Do I really need this domain name?
This is again another trick question, as the answer will depend heavily on your domaining strategies.

If you are investing in domains for development, you will need to be proactive in your buying activities, in that you only buy domains that you will have the time and resources to develop, successfully.

If you monetize domains through Pay Per Click (PPC) or domain parking, then you will need to gather enough data to help you determine if the domain will be able to earn enough revenues to cover its renewal fees and more.

One of the golden rules of domaining is never to buy domains for the sole purpose of reselling them later. This will help you eliminate loads of mistakes and to avoid errors in judgement. However, if you are in the process of buying and selling domains, simply buy domains that someone else would want to buy, without the need for any hype.

3. Will I use this domain?
This question was dealt with above. However you do need to have a clear purpose for every domain that you purchase. Each domain name should help you in some way or another in your domaining strategies. This can be brand protection, monetization or development.

4. Can I buy the domain name cheaper or find a similar domain name?
This is a multi-million dollar question, for people who are selling domains. Think of the choices that your potential customers will have. When you do, you will either decide not to buy a particular domain for re-sale purposes or know how to price the domain accurately.

For domain buyers, I believe the question is self-explanatory. Simply do some research before each domain purchase. Read blogs and follow up on the daily domain news.

5 . Can I wait to buy this domain name?
I think in 99% of all cases, the answer will be a resounding “NO”! If you have found a great domain name that is unregistered, the chances are that it will not remain unregistered for long. Quite a few times when I am researching domains, I find a few that are unregistered. By the time I settle down to register them, I realise that someone else had beat me to them, only within the last few hours.

The same thing applies with an aftermarket domain name. You have a little bit more luxury where time is concerned here, but you still want to get your domain name before your competitors do.

With such tight time constraint, you want to be sure that you really NEED the domain name.

6. Will this domain save me time or money?
This is really a question that is normally asked by end-users. Will buying and using the domain name help you to reduce costs, such as marketing and advertising? Will it save you time in trying to promote and establish your brand?

7. Will this domain help me financially?
This I believe is the most important of all these 7 questions. Except for the cases where you are buying a domain name solely for brand-protection purposes, you definitely want to acquire domains that will make you money.

If you develop the domain name, the website should give you a decent Returns On Investment, and provide you with a consistent flow of revenues. If you park the domain name, it should at least comfortably earn enough to cover the annual renewal fees.

Ask yourself those questions whenever you plan to make a domain purchase and I guarantee that you won’t regret wasting money on domain names that will prove to be liabilities rather than assets.

Need an affordable premium domain for your eBusiness?
Choose from over 500,000 quality aftermarket domains at eBusinessDomains.com!
Simply enter your keyword and click search in the Domain Search Box.
Instant domain transfer with most domains!

Domains | Domain Auctions | Premium Domains | Domain Newsletter | Domain Forum | Skull

In every industry there are fanatics. There are people are you fanatical about aeroplanes (airplanes), some about cars, some about bikes, some about software development, some about travelling, and the list goes on.

Domaining is no exception. The good thing about domaining is that people can make serious money while treating domaining as a hobby instead of a business. Of course, if one is not careful though, domaining could cost a fortune, rather than creating riches.

When you read certain blogs today, you will know the ones making pennies from their domaining efforts by how much they moan and criticise others. Some people have a “grand” way of preaching the doom “factor”.

There are still people who do not accept that the buying and selling of domain names is a legitimate business. People seem to think it is wrong to buy and hoard domain names for the sole purpose of selling them for a profit.

I am not going to argue much here as to what people think, as people are free to think whatever they want. Sometimes people’s opinions are influenced by blatant ignorance.

Some of those who think that domainers are all squatters will never bring themselves to the state of mind where they will buy a premium domain name on the domain aftermarket. These are the people that you see whining on forums about how they wanted some domain name to use for a project only to realise that a “squatter” had already registered it.

There are people who pour their life-savings into dodgy investment and pyramid schemes. They were sucked in by the promise of very high return. Sometimes greed got the better part of them, while sometimes it is their sheer ignorance. Any second thoughts should have caused alarm bells to go off.

Well, it is the same thing with domain names. Either you get domains or you don’t. Your level of education will determine whether or not you get domains. Period. Those that don’t get it, or those who are bitter because they were not the lucky ones to register certain premium domains will try to portray domaining as a disgusting and immoral habit.

So, if you were starting an ebusiness tomorrow, would you feel comfortable in buying a premium domain name on the aftermarket? Would you think it is the right thing to do? Would you consider it as a waste of money?

To get started with an ebusiness could be as little as $15, or even less. Just register a domain name for $8 and then pay for your first month’s web hosting. You could easily put a website together for yourself, cost-free. You are in business!

However, as they say, nothing in, nothing out. If it cost you nothing to go in business, it won’t even cost you a second thought to quit when you hit the first hurdle.

People who are aiming for success will ensure that they start their ebusiness with the perfect domain name, no matter what the cost is.

Of course, depending on your ebusiness niche, you may be able to find some very decent domains that are still available for registration. If you do, by all means register them. Yes, I said “them”. You want to secure as many domains as possible to protect your niche.

However, as most top quality domains are already taken, you may be better off searching the domain aftermarket for the perfect premium domain, buying it, and then register similar domains to protect your future brand.

Here are some other useful resources you may find interesting, if you are new to domains:

Learn the domain basics
Registering, buying and transferring domains
What is a premium domain?
Tips and choosing the right domain name
Tips on selling a domain name on the domain aftermarket

Need an affordable premium domain for your eBusiness?
Choose from over 500,000 quality aftermarket domains at eBusinessDomains.com!
Simply enter your keyword and click search in the Domain Search Box.
Instant domain transfer with most domains!

Domains | Domain Auctions | Premium Domains | Domain Newsletter | Domain Forum | Skull

There are now almost 183 million domain names registered around the world across all Top Level Domains (TLDs) according to the latest 2009 Domain Name Industry Brief from VeriSign. This represents a 17 per cent increase year-on-year and a four per cent increase over the fourth quarter of 2008. Registrations increased twelve per cent over the same quarter from last year while ccTLD registrations continued to increase at a faster rate than gTLDs.

Here is the official release:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — 06/03/09 — The Internet now encompasses more than 180 million domain names, according to the first quarter 2009 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.

The first quarter of 2009 ended with a total base of nearly 183 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs). This represents a three percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 12 percent increase over the same quarter from last year.

Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs) rose to 74.1 million domain names during the first quarter, a four percent jump from the previous quarter and an 18 percent increase year over year. Gauged by total registrations, .com remains the most popular TLD category, followed by .cn (China), .de (Germany) and .net. This composition remains unchanged from Q4 2008.

The first quarter is historically strong for registrations in the domain name industry, and Q1 2009 was no exception, with an average of 2.4 million new .com and .net registrations added each month. During the quarter, the overall base of .com and .net domain names grew to 92.4 million domain names. That total represents a two percent increase from Q4 2008, a jump of nine percent over the same quarter of the previous year, and an increase of 34 percent over the first quarter of 2007.

During the quarter, VeriSign continued its 11-year track record of providing 100 percent uptime for DNS queries. VeriSign’s daily DNS query load averaged 38 billion during the first quarter of 2009, resulting in hundreds of millions of Internet users accessing Web sites or sending email. This is an increase from the 35 billion queries in fourth quarter 2008.

Revealing Analysis of DNS Queries and Resolution

The latest VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief also spotlights VeriSign’s analysis of DNS queries and DNS resolution. In addition to provisioning domain names, a domain name registry operator enables users to actually reach those domain names by resolving the domain names to an Internet address that serves the content users seek.

VeriSign’s analysis reveals how the most queried .com domain names — sites like Google.com and Yahoo.com — are not necessarily the only domain names Internet users rely upon. Rather, there are infrastructure oriented domain names that support DNS servers, hosting farms or even advertising platforms and the number of DNS queries the infrastructure domain names receive can be in the same range as the many popular end user-oriented domain names with more familiar and recognized domain names.

“As the authoritative registry for .com and .net domain names, VeriSign has a unique view into the pulse of the Internet,” said Jill Corso McNabb, vice president, Naming Services at VeriSign. “DNS resolution truly comprises the backbone of what makes the Internet operate across the globe. DNS becomes even more critical to the overall infrastructure of the Internet not only as Internet usage grows but also as innovative products and services related to the DNS proliferate.”

VeriSign publishes the Domain Name Industry Brief to provide Internet users throughout the world with significant statistical and analytical research and data on the domain name industry and the Internet as a whole. Copies of the 2009 first quarter Domain Name Industry Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained at www.verisign.com/domainbrief.

Anyone starting an eBusiness will eventually get to the point where they have to choose a domain name for their website. For some companies, this is not really a hard decision. Simply use the name of your company.

I was travelling back to London today (Sunday) from a weekend business trip in another UK city, near the border with Scotland. While I was travelling on the Metro service to the main railway station, I was looking through the train window and viewing the architectural, residential and corporate scenery of the city’s sub urban areas.

The train travelled through residential, industrial and business districts. I couldn’t help noticing the different names of the companies, and how proudly some of these companies displayed their website addresses (domain names). All the signboards that I saw, except one, all displayed a company name as their domain/website name.

I literally saw dozens of companies using their business names as their website address. However, I can only remember one of the domain names that were similar to the business names of the respective companies. This company was Phoenix Steel, and used PhoenixSteel.co.uk as their domain name. The only reason why I can remember this domain name is because the building was right next to one of the Metro stations that the train stopped at.

There was one other company/store that displayed a domain name that caused my heart to skip a beat immediately. This store immediately stood out from the crowd. This store offered printing services, and was painted in and decorated in bright colours. However, what really got my attention was the fact that this store was actually using a domain name to label its bricks and mortar storefront.

This store was not sporting a signboard that said something like “Newcastle Printing” or “Phoenix Printing”. The store literally had the domain name (without the “www” prefix) as its business name on the signboard.

I was really impressed. But what really grabbed my attention the most was the actual domain name that they were using. Immediately, I asked myself “How did they get that domain name??!!!”

The domain name that branded the bricks and mortar store on the high street of a very popular and busy UK city was:

Printing.com

Yes, Printing.com. I checked out their website, and they do have stores all over the United Kingdom. It seems like they have stores in other countries as well, such as France and New Zealand.

Surely, I can still remember this store’s name hours after, and will do for days and even years to come. The owners of this company clearly understand the concept of branding, and the real meaning of a premium domain name.

They have truly positioned themselves to reach as many customers as possible. I may not remember the names of some of the companies that I saw, but I have surely remembered Printing.com. I may have been on a train, and did not have time to visit the store, but I did in fact visit their website.

The customers that they lost off the street will be reached via the Internet. Thanks to a premium domain name. This for me is a true testimony of the power of a premium domain name.

With regards to whether you should register a new domain name at a domain registrar; or purchase a premium domain from a domain marketplace such as eBusinessDomains.com, you can read some of the many articles that I have written and posted on eBusinessDomains.com. The following 2 articles will definitely assist you in your decision making process:

Choosing Domains
Buying Domains

If you are starting an eBusiness, and need advice on your domain selection, we would be happy to provide you with FREE domain consultation. Simply contact us by clicking here.

Domain Registration Chart. Source: Verisign

Verisign is reporting that Internet growrth renmains strong. The demand for domain names surged ever higher this year, according to the latest figures.

Data released by Verisign shows for the second quarter of 2008 showed that domain name registrations now stand at 168 million, four per cent up on the first quarter and 22 per cent up on the same quarter last year.

.com remained the most popular top level domain, followed by .de, .cn, .net and .uk.

The report reveals that Latin American countries had particularly strong growth, with .com and .net registrations increasing by nearly a third.