As of December 2009 more than 84 million .com domain names alone existed, meaning that those new to the game are finding all of the best words and phrases long since squeezed out.  The desire to find an work around this problem may seem tempting.  Here’s why, for the most part, you don’t want to fall for such tactics.

Beware of new formats

Now and then you’ll get some exciting piece of spam mail or other advertisement talking about the new top level domains that exist and how you need to register. “Register www.oh.yes right now before someone else does!”  The businessman in you may want to beat other people to the punch, but hold your horses.  This is almost always a mirage.

If the exciting solicitation is over a new top-level domain, know that the adoption of these is a slow, agonizing process that often takes years to extend over the web.  Even if the new top-level domain does exist, often its zones are not picked up by everyone, meaning that not everyone will see your site even if the domain is otherwise operational.

Even worse sometimes only alphanumerics and dashes (“-”) are allowed.  The reason this is worse than the top-level domain problem is that in addition to your domain not necessarily propagating, server software may not be setup to handle this new syntax, and with the potential security problems inherent to it no host would change this setting just for you.

Stay away from the reselling racket

You might instead get an offer to purchase a domain name.  These aren’t scams: they are domains which are valid, correctly registered, which work and which can be safely transferred to your name for operation.  That doesn’t, though, mean that it’s worth the price.  It’s now commonplace for domain names to be simple combinations of words and numbers that are easy and catchy to remember but which aren’t yet taken (example: westernsaturn.com).  Domains are cheap enough now that paying more for someone’s leftovers usually just isn’t worth it.

Don’t even think at this point about trying to get into this market, either.  As stated, most good names are taken, and there are tons of people fighting for the expired ones.

If it becomes obvious that some top-level domain is well supported, such as .CO, and is being used by the business world in a serious capacity, only then should you consider jumping in.  If not, there’s no reason not to stick with what works for everyone else, and just go with modernmachomanlyman.com (indeed, that’s available too).
If you have number of domains think of choosing multiple domain hosting and host unlimited domains on one account.

Related posts:

• December 23, 2008 – The In’s and Out’s of Domain Names
• December 19, 2011 – Top 10 Domain Registrars
• September 30, 2011 – Picking up Expired Domains – Not Always Fun, but There’s a Way
• September 27, 2011 – Common Web Hosting Terms And What They Mean
• September 5, 2011 – Premium Domain Names: What Are They?
• September 2, 2011 – Domain Names – Do You Still Need One
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
• August 30, 2011 – Additional Branding Woes in the Domain Name Game
• July 18, 2011 – Domain Name Expansion Expected to Create Major Problems
• June 10, 2011 – How to Prevent Domain Hijacking

In the Beginning

Domains first surfaced back in 1985, starting with only six.  The popularity of today’s internet and World Wide Web has lead to several types of domains, many of which are still intended to identify certain entities and make it easy for users to find specific content.  When introduced by the World Wide Web, both .com and .org where intended for different purposes. .com was intended to represent commercial entities while .org was to be used by organizations.  The second-level domain was meant to identify a specific entity or business with the third-level usually specifying the location of the host server.  The high demand of .com resulted in a number of non-commercial entities seeking to own website addresses under this TLD.

Domain Abuse

Domain names have been a hot commodity for sometime and are widely abused.  Cyber squatting is one such exploit which describes someone trying to generate traffic to their site by leveraging the name of a well known company.  While laws have been set in place to protect prominent internet companies, another ploy known as reverse domain hijacking emerged and brought forth a slew of new problems.  Reverse domain hijacking refers to a company or individual claiming a domain as their own trademark when someone else actually has legal rights to it.  Despite the internet’s growth and the phenomenon behind domain names, there is still no one organization designated to govern this huge system.

Because domain names have been around for years, many of the good ones are no longer available.  This has caused many people to resort to complicated names or those that don’t necessarily suit their business.  It has also lead some to register unique domains by taking the name of any existing third-level domain and adding different symbols to mimic popular companies.  This is a strategy often employed by scam artists and malicious code writers looking to compromise visitors.

Availability

Domain names are widely available these days, typically sold by companies known as registrars and even web hosting providers.  The price for a domain varies from company to company but the cost is significantly cheaper than past times.  Well known domain registrars such as GoDaddy may sale domains at anywhere from $5 to $10 per year while a web hosting company might offer a free domain and registration for purchasing a monthly plan.

With so many companies offering service, buying a domain is easy, though you may not always get the name you want.  If you have something clever it mind, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to secure it now before its no longer on the market.

Related posts:

• August 12, 2009 – Reverse Domain Name Hijacking on the Rise
• September 16, 2011 – Avoiding Domain Name Scams and Dead Ends
• September 5, 2011 – Premium Domain Names: What Are They?
• July 18, 2011 – Domain Name Expansion Expected to Create Major Problems
• June 10, 2011 – How to Prevent Domain Hijacking
• September 7, 2010 – How to Pick the Right Domain Name Extension
• February 18, 2010 – The Cost of a Domain Name – Registering Your Domain
• July 28, 2009 – How to Invest in a Domain Name
• July 14, 2009 – What Do You Get with a Cheap Domain Name?
• July 7, 2009 – Choosing a Keyword-rich Domain for Your PPC Campaign