Domain|Subdomain Facts

Domain Names, Are They Important?

Domain names-Are they important? Yes. And what about subdomains, are they needed? Maybe. As you can see, it gets a little confusing if you are just beginning online. Determining without knowledge, what is important and what is not, can mean some costly setbacks that you do not want to have to experience.

I'll discuss some of the different issues regarding domains and subdomains, which you may find interesting and helpful with your own online business.

Purpose of a Domain

A domain name's purpose is to provide a recognizable name to human eyes, versus the unique numerical Internet address (IP address) that your website will be recognized by, by the search engines.

Even though you know you are recognized by an IP address by the search engines, be aware that the domain name is what is recognized by the people who will frequent your site. So, what rules should you follow with your domain name?

Domain Name Tips

If you are flippant about a domain name you may have a problem. Your domain name is your business name on the internet. If the name is easy to remember, and the products and or services are what people want, you may have a winner online. So what do you need to remember when creating a domain name?

It should be short and concise as possible
No hyphens
Should be relevant to your niche
It should be easy to remember

Now that you have a name picked out, you'll need to decide the extension that you want to use. The cost of buying your domain name is tied to the extension that you choose.

Domain Name Extension

The extension is your second consideration, after choosing your name. To begin, if it is at all possible, choose a name with a ".com" extension. This is the most commonly used extension and easier for people to remember.

Here are some of the popular extensions used and how they are defined.

1. com = Commercial
2. net = Networks
3. org = Organizations
4. edu = Educational
5. gov = US government
6. int = International organizations
7. mil = US Dept of Defense
8. pro = Professionals
9. biz = Businesses
10. inf = Informational
11. MOBI - mobilization of your website
12. CO - company, corporation, commerce
13. US - American
14. ASIA - Asia
15. WS - Website

What Is A SubDomain

A subdomain is "a new domain" under an existing standard domain. One example of a website that uses subdomains is About.com. Take a close look at the difference between a domain and the accompanying subdomain example below.

standard: http://www.mystandarddomain.com
subdomain: http://subdomain.mystandardomain.com

Do you see the difference? There are two noticeable differences? You will see below that the subdomain:

1) Does not have the "WWW" (World Wide Web) present
2) Name precedes the domain name, with a "period" separating the subdomain name from the domain.

SubDomain Pros and Cons

As with anything, there are always pros and cons, and it is no different with creating subdomains. In most cases, web hosting services do provide you with the opportunity to use subdomains, it is up to you to decide if it is appropriate for your needs.

Pros

A subdomain:

Can be submitted to a directory-in addition to your regular domain
Links to the main page( your domain)
Allows you to organize your content -especially helpful if you have different types of information.

Cons

A subdomain:

Needs to be optimized like a standard domain.
Will go through the same battles that you encountered with your main domain. Which would include possibly being in the Google Sandbox for six months, the need to create inbound links, as well as, working to increase page popularity so that the page is crawled and crawled often.
Ranking will begin at the beginning for those web pages that you move to, or under the subdomain

Note: Your subdomain is a subset of your domain. So if one of your sub-domains is banned by Google, you will find your whole website is banned as well.

Buying a Domain

Buying a domain in the usual sense is no big deal. You begin by registering a name for a website. This is just the first phase.

Your domain name is your identity to the Internet world. So choose wisely. Once you have a domain name registered, you will need to construct a website or blog. Sometimes, depending upon the hosting service, you may get a domain name for free for life, or for the first year. If this a first year free draw, be sure and know the price of the domain when you renew the domain.

The registration fee can begin as low as $5.00 and go up from there. The price is usually determined by the name and the extension used.

Domain Auctions

Domain Auctions is where people can go to buy and sell domains. People who want to get rid of their old website name will put a domain up for sale, and buyers who want the domain name can put a bid against the name. Sometimes an individual's whole site may be up for auction if the individual's is not interested in using the site any more or if they think they can earn a hefty sum.

There are different types of domain auctions:

Public Auctions - Public auctions is where anyone can put a bid in for the domain name they want
Private Auctions - Private auctions is by special invitation only.
Consignment Auctions - Consignment auctions start with a fixed starting bid. It the bid is below the requested starting bid, the auction will not go forward.

There is also expired domain auctions. Expired domain auctions include registered domains that have expired or are about to expire. Most refer to this form of auction as domain drop catching.

Domain Drop Catching

When you begin working on the Internet, the concept of your domain or website as "Internet Real Estate" is really hard to grasp. For many it does not seem to be that tangible. But trust me, it is.

Realize that your domain name is your business-it is Internet Real Estate that other people may want to take. And it is legally possible to get your domain name taken from you through the process called Domain Drop Catching.

Domain drop catching is a legal process by which people will quickly grab a domain name once it has expired or about to expire. If you forget to renew your domain you will possibly wake up to see:

Your business gone, with may ads replacing your content
Your income instantly loss
Loss of creditability if it turns into an adult site.-Imagine if you're a lawyer and you wake up the next morning and find your site taken over by an adult site. Won't happen? Think again. (This means, don't wait till the last minute to renew your domain or web hosting service or let your domain expire, and expect it to be there).

If you want an online business, you need to protect your domain name, which means paying your yearly domain name and website hosting service before they expire. (A month leeway is best, because domainers start looking at domains that may be expiring in a week.

Domain Expiration Process Overview.

The expiration process goes through two distinct phase:

1. 40 day grace period - If the domain name owner decides to not renew their name, the registrar will set it to "expired" status. During the 30 day grace period, services to the domain name is shut off. However, it is during this period that the domain name owner, can renew the domain name at the standard registrar price.

2. After the 40 day grace period - After the 40 day grace period, your domain enters the "redemption" phase. The redemption period last for 30 days. During the redemption period the owner can still get their domain name back, however, additional fees of around $100 will be levied against the owner to get it out of the redemption status.

3. After the Redemption Period - After the 30 day redemption period is up, the domain name will be locked. After the five days are up, the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will delete the name, and will put the domain name back into the database for anyone to buy.

Bottom line, a domain is a valuable piece of online real estate. Protect it!!

Note: People do make money buying and selling domains, some have made it there business. You just need to be savvy enough to know the value of a good domain, and learn the process.

Flipping Domains

Some people have made a living flipping domains. They will either buy the domain alone, or buy the domain and the contents of the website. If you are thinking about flipping domains/websites for a living, you should have ready cash on hand, and know the ins and outs of building a website. If not, you may find your business ending before it has even begun.

GoDaddy Auctions and Domain Registrar

GoDaddy Auctions: The smart choice for buying & selling domain names.
If you are looking to sell your domain name or you want to bid on a name that already exists Go Daddy Auctions may be the way to go. If you are not familiar with the auction process, I would advise taking the time to acquaint yourself with their FAQs.

GoDaddy.com - World's No.1 Domain Registrar
Go Daddy offers a wide selection of domain extensions, and as you might expect, prices vary according to the extension you want. If you want an online presence online, then you need a home, a piece of real estate that you can claim as your own.

Continue Reading...

Types of Websites To Build
Building and Designing Your Website