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How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

mikeindustries.com

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Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#31

Post by dschobel »

huherto wrote: post #30

Do you guys still think the name is very relevant? Every day I use more google search to go places rather than typing the url directly.

I think you need to own your company name.

The dropbox guys claimed to have done just fine when all they owned was getdropbox.com but I'd be curious to know if there's been any change in traffic from people going straight to their new domain vs referrals from google, et al.

"Dropbox" is becoming enough of a name-brand that I'd be surprised if they didn't see a significant spike in traffic.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#32

Post by redstripe »

huherto wrote: post #30

Do you guys still think the name is very relevant? Every day I use more google search to go places rather than typing the url directly.

I chose a pretty easy to remember domain name for my game site - two words that describe what it does and are easy to spell. Yet most of the visitors I get (80% who are frequent repeat visitors) actually come from google by typing the domain name into the search.

So no, I think domain names are pretty much worthless. Google is the URL bar. Scary.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#33

Post by philfreo »

qeorge wrote: post #19
martey wrote: post #2

This article is from 2005. Are its precepts still valid?

Yes and no. Here's how it works: If you buy a domain and don't renew, theres a ~45 day "redemption period", during which you can pay a fee to get it back (GoDaddy charges $80 for this). If you don't, the domain is released back into the wild by Verisign, and all registrars get an equal crack at it. The reason Pool has such a good chance is that they own 80 registrars, so they have 80 horses in the race. That's what t…

Any idea what happens with domains registered by MarkMonitor? Is there a place they go before they "drop", or are the services in this article the only chance of getting these?

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#35

Post by wensing »

This may come in handy as I'm in a bit of a quandry. I have stormpulse.net and stormpulse.org registered through Yahoo!, and they want $43.95 per year (!) per domain. I'm afraid of letting them lapse, but I feel completely gouged. I've tried transferring to GoDaddy but hit a dead-end last time I attempted.

EDIT: I just did more research and apparently this has to do with the private registration for which we paid Y! an extra $9/yr. Apparently, GoDaddy was sending emails to contact@myprivateregistration.com (the email addy Y! uses for private reg), which is a black hole! http://www.sarahpin.com/2008/07/19/recent-researches-why-yah... Ugh.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#36

Post by [deleted] »

qeorge wrote: post #19
martey wrote: post #2

This article is from 2005. Are its precepts still valid?

Yes and no. Here's how it works: If you buy a domain and don't renew, theres a ~45 day "redemption period", during which you can pay a fee to get it back (GoDaddy charges $80 for this). If you don't, the domain is released back into the wild by Verisign, and all registrars get an equal crack at it. The reason Pool has such a good chance is that they own 80 registrars, so they have 80 horses in the race. That's what t…

[deleted]

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#37

Post by mmorris »

jwarzech wrote: post #13
josefresco wrote: post #5

When shopping for domains it's best to start at a small WHOIS provider that you trust to give you a yes/no answer. If you shop at NSI or GoDaddy you will find that the domains you were searching might be registered a few days later. Only hit up GD if you're ready to buy (avoid NSI at all costs)

I've ran into losing domain names before when searching on GoDaddy, what are some small WHOIS providers that you trust?

Namecheap has whois lookup: http://namecheap.getwhois.net/

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#38

Post by mmorris »

tortilla wrote: post #25

Another method to snatch a good/great name is to actually contact the owner (if possible). You might get lucky and reach a person who is not a domain pro and is willing to do a fair deal. I'm currently buying a very brandable adjective word domain from an individual. When I did a bit of research before contacting, I found out the business was no longer a going concern. From a superficial glance, most people wouldn't…

This is absolutely true.

I was trying to pickup http://goalbot.com about a year ago when it was on the verge of expiration. When I did some research the whole auction process seemed unreliable and a bit overwhelming to me, so I contacted the owner and got the domain for a very reasonable price. He obviously wasn't planning on renewing, so it worked out perfectly for both of us.

I suppose if I had read this article first I might have put in the extra work, but I'm happy with how everything worked out.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#39

Post by mmorris »

davidw wrote: post #8

Ick... I think I'd rather just pick something no one would want (google.com, or yahoo.com, say) and build the brand.

Perhaps years ago names like these were "something no one would want", but now every possible five or six letter combination is in demand. Particularly anything pronounceable.

Something no one would want now would have to be much longer - and while it may not be as important as it once was to have a short domain name, it's still one more barrier to getting users on your site.

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