Tag Archives ⇒ TLDs

Site Creation – Domain Registration

· Brandon Hann

Today, domain names are everywhere and they aren’t always used for a company’s website such as HP.com or Apple.com. Domains are now registered to capitalize on all sorts of things like catch phrases, movie titles, personal names, marketing jargon and just about everything else. When it comes to registering your own domain, you’ll want to ask yourself a few questions:

  • What message will the domain convey to other people?
  • Does it make me sound professional?
  • Is it easy to remember?
  • Does it infringe on a registered trademark?
  • Does it have branding potential?

The most important question is: Is it available? There are millions and millions of domain names out there already, so finding one you like may be a larger process than you anticipated. However, there are plenty of after-market places to buy registered domain names for sale.

How do I decide what to get?

After answering the questions above, you should have a clearer path to finding the right domain. If this site is going to be your personal website, try using your name or nickname. If you’re using this domain as a business, obviously use your business name, or find something generic that relates to you business. As time goes on, more and more traffic will be coming to your site, so pick a domain that you won’t want to change a year from now. Your domain name is also part of building your brand name.

There are also lots of top level domains (TLDs) to choose from. You might know the top three: .com, .net and .org, but there are over 1600 TLDs worldwide! Each country has at least one like the United States (.US), Tuvalu (.TV), Montenegro (.ME), United Kingdom (.CO.UK) and Western Samoa (.WS). Picking your TLD can be a matter of geographical location, preference or necessity. Keep in mind that foreign domain extensions often cost more and might carry specific restrictions.

Where do I get a domain?

To search for an available domain name and register it, I recommend GoDaddy. I use them for all of my domain services and setting up an account is free. The best part is that, compared to others, they still offer the cheapest domains when you consider all the free services you get.

If the domain you want is already registered, you might be out of luck unless the owner is holding the domain for the “right price”. Yes, domains are sold as commodities these days and some can command millions of dollars. The best advice I can give in this situation is to contact the owner and see if they’re willing to sell. You can do this by finding out the registrant’s email address using Who.is.

Alternatively, you can search after-market domains on sites such as Sedo.com, Afternic.com, SnapNames.com, NameJet.com, BuyDomains.com, GoDaddy.com and Pool.com just to name a few!

Notes

Use your best judgement when registering or buying a domain. When buying, know that there are a lot of scammers out there that will try to steal your money or make a domain seem worth more than it really is. When registering, make sure you’re not treading on someone’s trademark. This can lead to you not only losing the domain name, but also paying huge lawyer’s fees and fines.

A complete list of domain extensions can be found on Wikipedia.

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Domain Hacking Using International TLDs

· Brandon Hann

Originally, I had my blog located on what they call a “hacked” domain. I acquired the domain ERIO.US (hacked into myst.erio.us) a few years back. The plan was to create a personal blog space and I liked the name because it sounded rather mysterious. The problem was trying to get people to the site via word-of-mouth!

More often than not, people didn’t remember the little periods and ended up somewhere they didn’t want to be. At any rate, domain hacks were kind of born out of the popular bookmarking site, del.icio.us which was then bought by Yahoo! and subsequently changed to just delicious.com.

Domain Hacks

Originally, domain hacks were simply single words that could be “split” at various breaking points with the final break being between the domain and the domain extension. For example, the domain inter.net is nothing more than the word inter, but because it uses the .net extension, it becomes the word internet.
Examples of domain hacks

Here are some other domain hacks that either were or are popular:

  • Who.is – The term whois is a networking term that describes a service used to display the ownership records of a domain name.
  • Blo.gs – This site was also purchased by Yahoo! and is a blogroll type of service that allows you to keep tabs on all your favorite blogs.
  • Goo.gl – Google’s own URL shortener service. Basically you take a really long URL and shrink it down to something more manageable.
  • E.xplo.it – This domain requires two hacks using a third-level domain (e) to make it spell exploit.
  • Cr.yp.to – Another third-level domain hack spelling the word crypto.
  • i.am – This hack uses two real English words.

More information about domain hacks can be found at WikiPedia.

International Extensions

None of the above domains would be possible without the use of foreign domain extensions. If you weren’t aware of the many types of extensions available, basically each country in the world has its own 2-character extension for domain registration.

These extensions are popular because they are generally made up of letters that are used at the end of many English words. Some of these extensions are also popular because the two letters actually might spell a word itself or be an existing acronym. A few examples of this would be .FM and .AM (can be used for radio broadcasters) or .IT (if used to mean Information Technology).

One of the most popular international TLDs comes from the country of Montenegro; .ME. Because .me can add a personal touch to any domain name, many people are registering these names for blogs, family websites and even businesses. In fact, I own Brandon.me for obvious reasons! Other uses of a .ME domain could be various phrases such as For.me, Help.me, Fix.me, Sell.me and Date.me.

Having a hacked domain like For.me can yield so many other options when you start breaking the domain further up the line. You could create something like: Jobs.for.me, Real.estate.for.me or Entertainment.for.me. The possibilities are only limited to the words contained in the dictionary!

Erio.us

I own the domain erio.us and from that, I was able to make myst.erio.us and s.erio.us. I haven’t decided how I want to use the domain, which is why if you type it in, you’re redirected to this page! I can promise you that one day, I will develop a project around one (or all) of the hacks I can create with this one domain.