These are terms you’ve probably heard used, when talking about domains.
But what do they mean? What’s the difference? Although they sound
similar, they refer to very different things. When talking about
domains or reading articles about domains, these terms will often be
used, so it is important that you understand what they each mean.
Domains in General
What is Domain Tasting?
Domain Tasting is the practice of purchasing several
available domain names and then utilizing the five-day grace period to decide
which of the domains will be profitable to own and releasing those that are not
financially beneficial.
Misspelt Domain Names
Mispelt Domain Names are growing in popularity, as domainers realize they can capitalize on people misspelling domain names when visiting websites. When typing a domain into the search bar a customer may skip letters, double letters, reverse letters or not know how to spell a certain domain name. When an address is miss-typed the user may be redirected to the correct site, an advertising site, a completely incorrect site, or no site at all.
Domain Name Front Running
Domain name front running is the act of a domain registrar using insider information to register certain domain names for the sole purpose of re-selling them or to earn profit.
Often front running is conducted via popular whois searches; where some whois websites can track what you look up. (NOTE: the Above whois does not log whois searches)
DNS Errors
The Domain Name System (DNS)
is a naming system for computers or resources connected to the Internet, or a
private network. Its most important function is to translate domain names into
the numerical identifier (usually and IP address) of the computer.
The
DNS is a complex network. If any part of this network, between your computer and
the server you are attempting connect to has problems, you will receive a DNS
error. The problem can be with your computer, your Internet Service Provider
(ISP), the server you are trying to connect to, or any DNS server in between,
making the cause of DNS errors sometimes difficult to find.
Type in Traffic
Type in traffic is an example of direct navigation; it is defined as a visitor entering a keyword into the address bar of the web browser and then adding ‘.com’ or ‘.net’ (or any other code) to the end.
Internet users may choose to ‘type in’ their chosen term instead of following a hyperlink or searching the term via a search engine. For example if you wanted to purchase a mobile phone you may type ‘mobilephone.com’ into your address bar instead of searching a search engine for a ‘mobile phone’.
Remember to renew your domain names…
or be prepared for a lot of grief!
If you let your domain expire it becomes available for other domainers to purchase. If another domainer purchases your domain you will no longer have access to that particular domain name.
Unfortunately we see this happen every single day, someone trying to get back a domain that they let expire or failed to renew in time, in some cases it can be from years ago.
The Future of Domains
As dot com domains become more scarce, the value of generic domain
names rapidly climbs; many shorter generic domains selling for several
million US dollars.
I often wonder if this value increase will continue at this rate, or
if, as new TLD’s (top-level domains) are created, the focus on dot
com’s will decrease.
But, what if domain names become obsolete?
