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| Protect Your Domain Name |
| Posted: 14-03-2006 | Views: 221 |
| Author: Dave Starner |
Imagine you’re the owner of
a successful Web site, but when you logon one day all
you get is an error message. Or worse yet, the domain
name now points to a site full of advertisements. That’s
right. You’re out of business.
This happens every day because of a perfectly legitimate
process known as “drop catching,” where people quickly
snag the domain names owners have let expire and try to
resell them or use the links associated with the names,
which could be extensive, to create Web sites loaded with
advertisements. You can easily avoid becoming a victim
of a drop catcher by better understanding how the domain
registration system works to protect your domain name.
Your Web site, with all the content you have so painstakingly
added, sits on a computer with a unique address called
an IP address, which is simply a series of numbers. A
domain name is an address forwarding service that directs
visitors to the site using this IP address. Domain names
are used instead of numbers because most people find it
easier to remember a name rather than a bunch of numbers.
It’s as if you could dial your friend’s name into the
telephone instead of his phone number.
You can purchase a domain name by registering it with
a provider of domain services such as GoDaddy.com , the
largest on the Web, or any number of other registrars.
The name can be registered for just one year, for about
$10, or for as long as ten years, for around $80. Many
register for only one year because it’s cheaper, or they
only want the site for a limited time.
At the end of the year, the registrar usually sends an
email renewal notice to the owner. If the owner doesn’t
respond to the renewal notice, the domain name will eventually
be made available for purchase by someone else. Roughly
20,000 domain names become available every day because
the owners allowed them to expire, or the owners didn’t
realize that their domain name was up for renewal
According to the rules established by the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN), domain registrars
have 45 days after the expiration date to notify the owner
that their domain name is going to be dropped from the
registry. If the name is dropped, the guidelines then
call for a 30-day grace period during which the owner
can still claim the name. After this grace period and
then another five-day holding period, the name is dropped
from the registry and anyone can claim it.
Since 2004, however, a number of domain service providers,
starting with SnapName.com, have created an auction process
for expired names which bypasses the original drop process
and makes the names available in as little as thirty days.
GoDaddy.com begins the auction process even before the
names have officially expired, although it does warn the
auction participants that the owner could still claim
their name.
These providers of domain services each have tools on
their sites to make it easier to grab expired names. They
provide constantly updated lists of expired names, various
auction services, search engines, and other free tools
for anyone to quickly and easily find available domain
names. Some sites also offer software for sale that further
simplifies the search for expired and soon to be expired
names.
With the surge in online advertising, drop catchers will
continue to seek out domain names from sites with good
traffic, anxious to exploit the established links. Protect
your site and your business by checking the expiration
date of your domain name. Relying on the registrar to
send a renewal notice that could easily be sent to an
old email address or get lost in the spam catcher, could
cost you years of hard work.
Dave Starner is a former teacher and coach. Visit the
Net’s #1 infoproduct site at http://www.ebooksnet.com
Instantly download great ebooks and sign up for free bonuses
and money making information. Article reprints welcomed
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This article is free for republishing
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/ |
| Dave Starner is a former teacher and
coach. He markets ebooks and software through his ezine
articles and web site. Visit http://www.ebooksnet.com
for additional resources on marketing, advertising, education,
computing, sports, health, family, business, culture and
many other topics. |
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