VeriSign DNIB

The 5.9 million names added during the 4th quarter represent a 2.7 percent growth, and this is the fourth straight quarter with over 2 percent growth. This makes 2011 a huge year with a 10 percent domain name growth.

More than 20.4 million domain names have been registered since the fourth quarter of 2010. The high rate of growth has pushed the .com and .net TLDs to 113.8 million names, with a massive 7.9 million additions during the fourth quarter of 2011.

There was no change in the order of the top 5 biggest TLDs, which remain .com, .de, .net, .uk and .org. In terms of country code top-level domains (ccTLD), of which there are almost 300, the top 5 new registrations were for .de, .uk, .tk (Tokelau), .nl and .ru.

VeriSign estimates that 88 percent of .com and .net domain names actually resolve to a website. This is important because when a domain name resolves to a website, it makes a huge positive impact on the renewal rate.

Of course, there are nuances here to consider, such as whether it is a single page or multi-page site. Single page sites are often under construction place holders or brochure-ware, parked pages, and parked pages for generating ad revenue. None of this is of much help in terms of motivating renewals on a long-term basis.

But at present, it looks very rosy with fourth quarter renewal rates went up to 73.5 percent. Domain name system query load during the fourth quarter was 64 billion, with a peak of 117 billion. That’s 8 percent higher than the daily average during the same quarter in 2010.

In short, sale of domain names is booming, renewals are booming and the number of people visiting websites is booming. Can’t ask for more…

Read the full March 2012 DNIB for Q4 2011 at verisigninc.com.

The Fantasy Domaining Contest will run a little like a fantasy football tournament. The big winner will receive a trip to the 2012 DOMAINfest Global conference, including a $1,000 travel stipend and four nights at a hotel in addition to free tickets to the conference and a publicly-awarded trophy. The second-place and third-place winners will get free and half-off tickets to the conference, respectively.

The contest will help hone the skill of its contestants at the domain name game. From a list of 1,000 domains, the entrants to the contest will draft a roster, put domains “in-play”, substitute and trade domains with other users, and project PPC revenue. From an original list of 35 selected from the 1,000, 25 domains are put into play. The contestant must choose the domains that s/he thinks produced the most PPC revenue between December 1, 2010 and January 16, 2011, and the actual revenue recorded for the domains between those dates determines the contestant’s overall ranking based on his or her roster.

The contest began on December 1, 2011, but you can still sign up and play (if you’re a resident of the United States) through January 16, 2012. Signing up is free. Winners will be notified on January 18, 2012. For more details, visit http://www.domainfest.com/fantasy.

Afternic, a domain buy and sell site reported that Puzzle.com was sold to an staggering amount of $500,000. It is actually the same amount that Facebook got for its initial seed funding form a venture capital angel. The amount for a single domain is actually enough to come up a tech start up or internet company but in this case, we are just talking to a domain name. A domain with no contents, functionality or product and service to offer yet. Of course, the new owner of the domain will be utilizing it for  maximum profit and with the name puzzle.com, it is guaranteed to attract bandwidth and traffic.

Here is the top 10 Domain name sold with a high price:

Domain selling and buying can actually be a good business venture, with the promo codes and discounted domains, you can stack up domain names and sell it to buyers who needs the domain names for a higher amount and domain registration will just cost you a couple of dollars.

I discovered the promo codes and coupons when I am talking to a technical support of the hosting provider of one of my clients. The tech support asked me if I wanted to upgrade the account to a resellers account so that I could save in registering domains and hosting but since I am a freelance web developer, the hosting and domain name concerns usually is in the hands of my clients, I just populate their empty websites with designs and contents. Before my conversation with the tech. support ended, I asked him if there are other ways in which I could save on domains and hosting fees for my own websites since I am planning to also have my own websites that hopefully well have some revenues  and he advised me to use promo codes and coupons.

The discounts that you get can actually reach up to 50% and thats a lot of savings. The promo codes and coupons works when you register for a new domain or renew an existing domain. Just like the usual process, you purchase a new domain by checking if its available and before you check out, there’s a textbox there that asks for a promo code and voila! you just got a discounted domain and hosting fee!

Almost all of the top domain and hosting providers and even resellers have promo codes and coupons like hostgator, bluehost and network solutions but the hosting and domain provider that I found with the biggest discounts are in godaddy.com and some of their coupons does not expire which means its not just one time use and its a jackpot for freelance web developers like me.

Here are some valid and working godaddy promo codes and coupons.

I was checking out the discounts in godaddy for the .com domains and got overwhelmed in the bargain that I am getting but I was more ecstatic when I saw another bargain – Domain Sale in other Domain Extensions! You can start your domain name registration with this article.

Years ago, customized domain extensions like .info, .me, .tv, .us, .ca and other domain extensions that are not .com, .org or .net are expensive and can cost up to 10 X the cost of a .com domain extension but now some are actually much cheaper.

Why get a personalized domain? Simple, use it for better promotion. It’s an easy and affordable way of promoting whatever it is that you want to promote. If its about your personal life like your hobbies, your thoughts (blogging) then how about getting a .me or about a t.v. show then get .tv domain. For me, domain names are investments, with domain providers offers like the promos in godaddy, everyone can get domain names and reserve it for later use or once it gets lots of traffic and attention from web users, turn it into a money-making website or auction it.

So why not get a domain now or domains before the promo ends or your dream domain name got taken by someone else.

I actually just got my .me domain.

But just today, As I was exploring cPanel and the software / services section, I found out that “Site Software” is no longer an option.

Site Software has great tools that I used to use during my starting years as a web designer. I wanted to show it to my students but I got surprised with the message that i got.

Site Software is not actually an option anymore in cPanel. I dont know when it was removed by I contacted a tech.Support and they said that cPanel is not updated and that sitesoftware is not necessary anymore because it was replaced by QuickInstall and Fantastico.

My advice to web developers who still rely on Site Software, better get used to Fantastico and QuickInstall. I know some hosting companies still offers Site Software but dont wait till it got removed too before you decided to get familiarized with Fantastico and QuickInstall.

As a web developer and an owner of a website, I find this a little troubling, someone can know my identity just by getting the WHOIS information of my website. Well, I still prefer preserving my identity as a person and not exposing it in the world wide web. But the thing is this is under the law,  according to eHow.com, All domain registrars and Web hosts offering domain registration services must sign with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) an agreement to make available to the public the name and contact information of the domain owner.

So basically this means that if you own a nasty website or is planning to create a nasty website you better think again because you can still be traced.

I recently tried using www.uwhois.com to see if my identities can be found through the domain name of my website and to my surprise uwhois.com was able to show my infos. Although I find it troubling, I also find it helpful at the same time. With www.uwhois.com now I can know the person who owns the domain names that interests me. I could either send them email and ask if they are selling their website or remind them how silly their blog sites are.

There are ways in which you can hide or protect your privacy. Next time when you apply for a domain name make sue to read all the terms and conditions if you are open and comfortable with the ICANN agreement. The ICANN agreement for me is actually beneficial for it will provide restrictions in domain name registrations.

Next blog, How to hide your domain name identity. i havent tried it but I am excited to test it.

The best thing about hosting and getting your domain name from a prominent hosting company is that they provide you free software to ease up your daily web development activities. Almost all hosting provider provides a cPanel with loads of software at your disposal, if your hosting provider does not have a cPanel – dump them and replace them.

I personally love Fantastico De Luxe. It made my blogging life easier. But there is a new contender now – The QuickInstall.

The question now is whats the difference?

Well both Software offers pretty much the same function, which is to install script fast and easily – you probably have noticed it with their names – Fantastico (fantastic!) and QuickInstall which means obviously fast install.

Fantastico De Luxe offers top blogging scripts such as WordPress, B2Evolution, and Nucleus and the best CMS (Content Management System) available now such as Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, and PHP-Nuke and eCommerce sites such CubeCart, OSCommerce, and ZenCart plus dozens of other scripts for image hosting, project management, wikis, mailing lists and more.

QuickInstall offers virtually the same. Maybe a few added new scripts or a few missing less popular scripts – but basically, its almost like a clone of Fantastico.

As of now, I cant proclaim a winner but I am sticking to Fantastico De Luxe – it’s tested and it is giving me what I want. QuickInstall is still new and the developers admits that it still has bugs. Maybe I’ll shift to QuickInstall when it is already bug free.

Both Fantastico and QuickInstall are free software so why not try them and experiment and choose which software performs best for you.

As for me, Im sticking to Fantastico De Luxe for now. Yes. For now.

My answer is always the same, Domain Name Dispute.

Domain name disputes happens when a company finds that the domain name corresponding to their corporate name or product trademark is registered by others. The company can either choose a different name or fight to get the domain name and this is where the domain name dispute enters.

All domain registrars follow the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) policy. The ICANN helps regulate the internet’s unique identifiers such as domain names. Without ICANN and its policies, anyone can own a domain name even if it is a trademark of an existing company or product. For example, I can own www.microsoft.com even if its not my company or trademark.

When a domain name dispute occurs, the complaining party can always go to the court and file complains, although the courts and judges can award ownership of the domain name, the process is slow for both companies need to prove and submit supporting documents showing that they have more rights on the domain name. Usually, domain name dispute avoids courts and usually come up with a settlement for both parties.

Another speedy resolution for domain name dispute is the UDRP or Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, the policy allows domain registrars to cancel, suspend or transfer domain names if the domain-holder is proven to be a cybersquatter or those who register the company name of trademark products for malicious purposes.

So before you think of registering celebrity names and claiming them as yours, think again because cyberspace is also being regulated by laws and policies.

Cheap domain and hosting service providers are often resellers of big domain and hosting companies. They sign up for services and sells those services to other clients. You may encounter a web hosting company that offers domain name and hosting for only $1 dollar a month and you may consider yourself lucky.. but be warned.. check the specifications and features first because you might save a few bucks on the domain registration but you have no idea that you have been robbed when it comes to hosting services.

Here are some sad truth about “Cheap” Domain and Hosting Company:

1. Small Storage / Disk Space

Disk space are very important when it comes to hosting for it determines the amount of data and files that you can put in your website. Some resellers will only provide you 10 – 50 mb of diskspace. Remember, top CMS and other web development tools requires you to have more than 50 MB of free space just to install the software.

2. Low Bandwidth

Bandwidth plays an important role in the success of your website for it determines the speed your website loads in the screen of the visitors. Some cheap domain providers may offer you huge disk space but too little bandwidth.

3. Control Panel

Since your site is being hosted by a second hand service provider. Chances are the services found in Cpanel or control panel may be cheap too. Services found in Cpanel are very vital for your website’s strength because it gives you all the tools for better web management and administration.

4. It maybe a scam

Another sad scenario is that it maybe a scam. The web hosting and domain service provider maybe fake and just posing just to steal your credit card information.

So think before you register your domain and select a trusted web domain and hosting company. Who knows? your website or blog may just be the next big thing in the cyberspace.