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Articles >> Vol.2 Issue 11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. What's a Domain name, URL, HTML, a link?
II.
What About the "Other" Domains (.us, .to, .cc, .tv)
III. Domains, Then and Now
IV. Do You REALLY Own Your Domain?
V. The Domain Selling Business (How much is your domain
worth?)
I. What's a Domain name, URL, HTML, a link?
A Domain name is the name/URL of an entity on the Internet.
(ie; www.yourname.com) When you purchase a domain name, it is important to make sure
that you are designated as the owner with Internic (billing and administrative
contact), otherwise you may be in for a big surprise when you try to move or
alter your sites location.
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) specifies the location (and
name) of a World Wide Web resource such as a Web site or an HTML document.
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is the rendering language that is used to create World Wide
Web documents which can theoretically be viewed on any platform. A users Browser
interprets the HTML in order to display the Web Page for the user. It is
important to note here that Different Browsers interpret the HTML code
differently.
A link is the text or graphic in an HTML document that cause
a web browser program to load another document or graphic.
II. What About the "Other" Domains (.us, .to,
.cc, .tv)
So you've gone through the list of available domains, using
all the search engines and keyword tools, and you can't find anything decent.
You've been wondering about all those supposed "new" TLDs you've heard
about, such as .tv and .cc. First, they're not new TLDs, they're country code
domains. The "experts" will tell you that the only domains that count
are the .com domains. A couple of years ago, that was probably true. These days
it's all about branding. The .cc domains, well, when I think of "cc" I
think of sending an email to someone other than the main person it was intended
for, not a domain or Web site, so to me, the branding for that domain will take
a while to sink into the public consciousness. .tv, that's another
story--everyone knows what TV is, and it won't take much to get folks to figure
out what a .tv domain is supposed to be. Of course, it all depends on your
site's primary business or concept. But, it's not readily apparent what you
would find at those sites.
What about all those other country code domains and the .us
domains? Again, branding. If you have sufficient resources to publicize the fact
that your business is at mybiz.to, then you stand a chance. If the site will
only be listed online, and you won't be advertising on the TV or radio, you can
probably get away with using a country domain, including a .us domain. Keep it
simple, and try to retain your own brand, whatever that may be.
III. Domains, Then and Now
In May of 1985 there was only one .com domain registered
(think.com).
In October, the second .com domain was registered. By October of 1991, there
were 165 .com, 22 .org, 20 .net, 285 .edu and 3 .us domains registered. Two
years later, there were approximately 600 .coms registered. By 1995, the number
of registered domains was at 6000, and two years later the number topped 22,000.
Now, fifteen years after the first domain was registered, there are more than 12
million domains registered.
IV. Do You REALLY Own Your Domain?
Picture this: You finally found the registered the ultimate
domain name for your business, and you've set the site up. Things are going
well, and you sleep at night, assured that your domain is safe forever (or as
long as you pay the yearly registration fee). Along comes unscrupulous domain
grabber Joe...he finds that the domain name he wants is already taken by you. So
he checks to see if you have a copyright on the domain name. You don't, so he
registers the name as a trademark. Two years pass, and then you get a note from
your domain registrar saying that someone else owns the trademark for the domain
you own, and they promptly pull you into a legal dispute, the outcome of which
is ultimately that you have to turn the domain over to the trademark holder, Joe
the domain grabber.
Could it happen? Yes it can. But you can do something to stop
it from happening--just trademark your domain before someone like
"Joe" does. It'll cost you about $350, and you can do it yourself.
Start by checking to see if the name is already trademarked, something you
should have done even before you registered the domain name in the first place
V. The Domain Business (Domain Sales)
In the last couple years, many domains have fetched some
amazing prices. Here's a list of some of the more impressive sales:
Business.Com -- $ 7.5M
AsSeenOnTV.Com -- $ 5M
AltaVista.Com -- $3.25M
Wine.com -- $ 3M
Loans.com -- $ 3M
Autos.com -- $2.2M
WallStreet.Com -- $ 1.03M
Drugs.Com -- $ 823K
Question.Com -- $ 175K
Vote.Com -- $ 250K
Rock.Com -- $ 1M
University.com --$ 530K
BlackJack.Com -- $ 460K
eFlowers.Com -- $ 1M
Computer.Com --$ 500K
internet.com --$ 100K
By Scott Clark, contributing writer
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