Domain Name Variations

You should consider registering any variations of your domain name(s) that your visitors may possibly mistype in their browser when searching for your site—the cost is minimal, but the return on investment can be tremendous.

Start by registering the most common alternatives to your chosen domain name: such as misspellings, alternate spellings or other names your business may be known as. These are simple variations or misspellings of your domain name, such as “yourepersonaldomainname.com” or “yourpersonaldomanname.com.”

While you can’t anticipate all of the possible alternatives, starting with the simple and obvious alternatives can save your customers hours trying to figure out why they can’t locate your site. You can forward these variations of your domain name to your actual Web site so that your customers or visitors who mistype your domain name will still find themselves at your Web site.

Devious Domain Names

Whether you’re new to domain names or a seasoned veteran, you should consider registering any under-handed versions of your domain name(s) to protect your personal and professional identity (harmful domain name alternatives can include, but are not limited to, “ihateyourpersonaldomainname” or “yourpersonaldomainnamesucks”).

While you can’t anticipate all the possible alternatives, starting with the simple removal of the more obvious domain names can save you legal hassles and frustration in the event a third party attempts to use these names in a way that is harmful to you or your business.

In the event that someone else does own a harmful version of your domain name, consider backordering that name and getting it off the market the second it becomes available.

Private Domain Registration

When you register a domain, your name, address, email address and phone number are made available to anyone who wants to see it. Your personal information is exposed 24 hours a day, everyday, to anyone, anywhere. You have the power to change this. With a One Website Solution private (unlisted) registration, registering a domain name doesn’t mean sacrificing your privacy.

Your new or existing domain is registered in the name of Domains By Proxy® (a One Website Solution affiliate company) so their information is made public, not yours. Your information stays private, but you retain full benefits of domain registration. You can cancel, sell, renew or transfer your domain; set-up name servers for your domain; and resolve disputes involving your domain.

padlock photo by dcJohnPublic WHOIS Listing:

Registrant: John Smith
1234 Elm Street
Hometown, CA 94000

Private WHOIS Listing:

Registrant: Registration Private
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260

To find out more about private registrations, visit us at http://www.1websitesolution.com/private_reg.php.

Top-Level Domains

A Top-Level Domain (TLD) is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot (“.”). The most common TLD in use today is .COM, closely followed by .NET and .ORG. There are several other popular top-level domains, including .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME, .WS and .MOBI.

Top-level domains have certain guidelines attached, but are generally available to any registrant, anywhere in the world. Exceptions are restricted TLDs (rTLDs)— which include .BIZ and .NAME—that require the registrant to represent a certain type of entity, or to belong to a certain community. For example, the .NAME TLD is available strictly to individuals.

A top-level domain can also be of geographic significance and only available to registrants in the locale defined by the TLD. These are called country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) and include such top-level domains as .US (United States), .EU (Europe), .TV (Tuvalu), .CC (Cocos Islands), .DE (Germany), .JP (Japan), .BE (Belgium), .UK (United Kingdom), .NZ (New Zealand) and .CN (China).
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