Ron Jackson, editor and owner of DN Journal, writes on his blog today about various new domain addresses he has sold in the past couple of weeks. .BIZ, .US, and .INFO domain extensions in particular.

I remember meeting Ron online around 2004, and bought a .US domain name from him several months later. Funny how time flies. He, myself, and a seeming handful of domain investors liked the newer top level domains in biz/us/info and assembled deep, high-quality portfolios in these newer addresses.

I have written for quite some time about the shifting tide having watched on several levels the growing adoption of .biz, .us, and .info domains. All of these have a substantial footprint not only in America, but also globally. They are growing as expected.

Each of these three offer a unique identity separate and apart from .com. I recently was negotiating on a high quality .com domain and the first question asked of me was did I have the .BIZ as well.

Small businesses have been using the alternatives for awhile. Now, larger businesses are looking to biz/info/us domains as illustrated in the Ford auto dealership example discussed in Ron’s blog entry for today. Ron writes that he’s glad he placed his bets years ago on the newer tld’s. I’ve known for a long time that biz/info/us would define a critical place on the internet, and watched the concentric circles of use get bigger and bigger with every passing year.

If you would like to read Ron’s thoughts on the subject and about his recent sales, check out the blog article here …

–>  http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2009/dailyposts/03-17-09.htm

.BIZ Domain Names, .US Domain Names .info

There are several steps you should build into your schedule when developing a website. In the old days, you would design a website on your local PC and save html files on your local hard drive before uploading to a remote host site. And maybe backing up to recordable cd or a second hard drive connected to your home PC.

Today, it’s customary to use an internet dashboard for remote design & editing (like you might find with a WordPress Blog or the popular Noah’s Classifieds). The files are still stored in various directories on your host site, but chances are that much of your original content is now housed in a database owned & managed by your chosen hosting company.

This is where you need to make an investment of time in learning to back-up your databases. I have several sites hosted on various servers (Windows & Linux) each with various software versions and user interfaces. To be blunt, none of them are particularly intuitive or user-friendly. Which means that you spend considerable time trying to figure out how to navigate their unique interface and perform basic functions.

Periodically backing up your site files and database is critically important. If you are embarking upon a new project, I want to emphasize to you how important it is that you positively back-up your site content in at least two separate locations.

I have recenty adopted the technique of running a mirror site for several of my primary websites. These mirror sites are exact duplicates of my primary websites and I use them for experimentation and design/layout changes. This allows me to perform a direct A-B comparison between the newly altered mirror site and the primary website. A secondary advantage to comparing layouts in this way is the peace of mind I have knowing that dramatic coding rewrites are being performed on the mirror site, and not the primary site.

In other words, you work out the kinks and problems on a practice site. If there’s a major malfunction and the website crashes, then it’s the mirror site that goes down while the primary website remains online, operational, and safe.

I also recommend when installing and working with new software that you specifically talk to tech support and inquire as to the software’s vulnerabilities. I purchased some rather expensive software last year that had several inherent weaknesses that made the software vulnerable to hacking. Of course I did not know this when I bought it. However, there was a fix for this, but the software company never bothered to mention it. Only after being hacked, and having to reconstruct my site, did they tell me there were several options for reducing their software’s vulnerability via changing a few settings. Amazing, huh? Yes, I know.

When a site goes down, it hurts business. Visitors are not served, and search engine ranking can be negatively impacted depending on how long the site is offline. With a fully backed up database and site files, chances are you will be back up & running good as new in perhaps an hour or less. Priceless!

Internet Domains development, hosting, website

There are many niche areas in which to build a website or invest in related domain names. Education is a leading one. Online schools are becoming increasing popular, and are presenting a new age alternative that allows the student to study from home. This offers many advantages financially and otherwise.

University of Phoenix and DeVry are two of the most heavily marketed and well-known schools offering online degree programs. University of Phoenix, at Phoenix.edu, draws over 3 million visitors per month and has experienced a 168% increase in site traffic over the past year (as reported by compete.com).

Related to this increase in online education are some recent transactions of high quality domain names. It appears several entities are actively accumulating premium education domains. Within past months, these sales have occurred …

• Degree.info ($1170)
• MastersDegree.com ($48,000)
• BachelorsDegree.com ($62,500)
• PsychologyDegree.com ($25,000)
• BusinessAdministrationDegree.com ($2800)

These are all very nice quality names that can become popular education portals. Increasing numbers of people are looking to further their education, and the internet is the perfect vehicle for accomplishing this goal while still working & raising a family. Not to mention the pure convenience of studying from home which many of us have been doing for years.

Additional education domains recently sold include: CounselingDegree.com ($11,000) and Degree.TV ($325) which appears to have been a huge bargain given its development potential and media-centric .TV focus. Many online schools provide live online classroom instruction as well as mentoring, advising, and tutoring via webcam. .TV fits very well with this type of model.

Education Domains (currently available): Knowledge.info and Sciences.US

Internet Domains education, knowledge, science, university

While I won’t go into a detailed explanation here, suffice it to say that ICANN are trying to push a poorly conceived, and costly, proposal in which an unlimited number of new tld’s could be released into the internet market. This is the equivalent of dumping a bucket of chum into a fishbowl.

ICANN solicited comments some weeks ago from the public, and there was an overwhelming response & consensus against flooding the market with new top level domains. First, there is no need for more domains, and introducing large numbers into the existing market would create massive consumer confusion. Secondly, there are far-reaching, potentially damaging costs to 1000′s of corporations around the world who are already struggling to fight back the never-ending tide of trademark infringement. ICANN don’t seem to care enough. Literally.

ICANN have no real, defensible rationale for pushing new tld’s except for the lure of massive, unprecedented self-compensation which would reward ICANN via charging new tld applicants $185,000 per application and an estimated $30,000 – $70,000 per year in annual renewal costs. ICANN want huge amounts of money, and are willing to roll the dice with other people’s livelihoods, internet stability, and corporate budgets in order to get what they want. This is not a joke, and not an exaggeration.

PremiumDomains.biz categorically reject this proposal by ICANN. In the final analysis, their proposal would introduce a myriad of serious problems into, and ripple effects across, the internet economy, as well as spilling over into the general economy! ICANN receive practically no oversight, and have historically acted often against the best interests of domain investors, web developers, and general internet businesses.

If ICANN continue to push this potentially harmful and unnecessary tld proposal, then there will be an aggressive response from many factions, and the larger internet business community will bypass low level channels in lieu of directing focused attention (and resources) to appropriate State & Federal representatives. ICANN have amassed a record of poor performance and questionable competency in a number of areas. Their continued administration of the DNS can be challenged, and stepped-up public scrutiny applied to the impartiality, dedication, and judgement of each and every individual voting board member. 

Advertising Age have an interesting and enlightening article regarding ICANN’s ridiculous, and dangerous, new tld proposal. The article is worth reading. Thought provoking. Do not forget that you fund ICANN with most every domain name purchase and renewal you make. You fund the registrars that provide domain name registration. And you fund the registries that manage each separate tld. 

ICANN are a non-profit (emphasis on ”non profit”) who are contracted to coordinate the internet DNS in a fair, impartial, and objective manner. You pay their salaries and have a voice. Like it or not, they will be held accountable for their decisions, and the effects of those decisions on innumerable companies and individuals. I invite you to join in making your voice heard, and your actions count.

ICANN

Just over one month ago, I informed readers of the decline of American newspapers and the reported $661 million debt of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which led to their declaration of bankruptcy (article here). Ad revenues had fallen off dramatically as a result of advertisers channeling their dollars to the internet.

Today, the Associated Press reported that McClatchy Co. (owner of the Sacramento Bee), have cut another 1600 jobs in their ongoing push to reduce staff numbers. McClatchy Co. have eliminated nearly one-third of their workforce in less than a year! A significant reason …

Classified ads have shifted to the Internet in recent years, and the recession has been siphoning away more revenue in all ad categories since last summer.

The publisher owns 30 daily newspapers, including the Miami Herald, and have let go of 4150 employees since June 2008 consequently saving around $300 milllion in total. It is noted that McClatchy Co. have also reduced wages across the board, including the CEO, whose annual salary has been trimmed by 15%.

Even more alarming, the company’s stock has plunged by almost $40 per share closing recently at just 41 cents. Unbelievable! This is evidence that eyeballs are looking elsewhere for news & information. The internet is the new medium of choice, make no mistake.

The AP writer notes that McClatchy Co. have adopted a bare-bones approach for sustaining their hardcopy newspaper, and alternatively refocused efforts toward building their online format. The problem, however, is that there are now many internet portals for both global and local news. The monopoly is over. The game has changed.

I wonder where traditional newspapers will be in another year or two?

Interestingly, the Sacramento Bee appear to be utilizing a yellow pages only search function for Sacramento.com. No news, no sports, no headlines, or other content is provided there. I find this very odd. However, they have their online news site still located at SacBee.com, an obviously inferior domain name to Sacramento.com. There is no reason that the Sacramento Bee cannot consolidate their yellow pages search & news site all on the superior Sacramento.com domain name.

I’m wondering who’s making strategic decisions for the Sacramento Bee. Time will tell the story. Some companies can have a major asset right under their nose, and yet fail to properly utilize it.

Internet Domains advertising, newspaper, sacramento

I now have my complete domain name portfolio moved to PremiumDomains.US, which is a great generic domain name I acquired years ago (a companion to PremiumDomains.biz). I always wanted to solidify my plan for expanding premium domain sales into the U.S. market.

It’s taken 10 days (or 60+ tedious hours) to learn the software, customize the site, expand its functionality, and load domains one by one into the database. Sitting, staring, and concentrating have become my new talents! And my expletive skills have been honed to a fine point. Actually, I may have developed an irreversible case of Tourette’s syndrome.

There is a convenient “Buy now” link for launching a domain purchase through Escrow.com. The search functions are just right, and have been scaled down since my portfolio is way smaller than an Afternic or Sedo.

The good news is that ccTLD’s continue to reach outward and upward globally. Various blogs and forums are currently discussing what appears to be a new growth curve building for ccTLD’s. I suspect we’ll be hearing about, and seeing, much more attention given to the ccTLD market.   

PremiumDomains.US will undergo upgrades and enhancements moving forward. Feel free to check out the site & offer suggestions for improvement. Have a good day!

.US Domain Names .us, America, business, United States

I love a majestic city skyline. Could be any major city around the world. There is something special about the unique architecture, angles, and composition of a city that gives it a distinct personality and individual appeal.

I am an avid geodomain enthusiast and investor. For those of you who are examining geodomain investment opportunities, you may find yourself a bit puzzled as to the most appropriate choice when it comes to “city abbreviations”.

Which is best? StLouis or SaintLouis, FortWorth or FtWorth, FtLauderdale or FortLauderdale? This is where the internet really shines and can provide good information on which to base a decision. For a variety of reasons, some cities gravitate to the common abbreviation while others opt for the full name (non-abbreviated). Before moving forward, let us agree that both versions (abbreviated & non-abbreviated) will generate traffic and user recognition.

Using our friend, Google, let’s compare the number of indexed web pages to find our answer.

• St Louis (101,000,000), Saint Louis (27,500,000)
• Fort Worth (52,700,000), Ft Worth (5,630,000)
• Fort Collins (12,300,000), Ft Collins (984,000)
• Fort Lauderdale (27,500,000), Ft Lauderdale (10,700,000)
• St Paul (45,400,000), Saint Paul (19,700,000)

Both varieties in the above examples produced ample web pages with “St” and “Fort” seeming to be most in use. I remember being somewhat indoctrinated to “St. Louis” while growing up due to seeing lots of TV ads for products that would be ordered out of St. Louis, Missouri.

So “St” became quite familiar particularly in reference to the St. Louis Cardinals (StLouisCardinals.com) and eventually the St Louis Rams (StLouisRams.com). My conclusion is that this same logic holds true as well for geo-targeted domains like StLouisJobs.biz or StLouisRealEstate.com.

Internet Domains cities, geo, geodomain

I recently wrote about viewing Tena.US on network television and being pleased that the United States domain, .US, was getting some real play in the mainstream.

Another company now marketing under the .US domain is Aldi on Aldi.US. Aldi are a supermarket department store who carry approximately 1400 items. The company has over 1000 stores in 29 states located between Kansas and the East Coast.

Aldi appear to operate a developed website in many languages and have registered their company name in a number of ccTLD extensions. The .com acts as a global portal and delivers the visitor to a country specific website fitting his or her language of choice.

Most impressive is that each Aldi website is customized to offer unique products native to the country that is selected. This is the new angle in modern day marketing. I first saw this in a CNBC piece on Walmart (who are expanding into China). They don’t sell the same products in a Chinese Walmart that you would find in America. The products are selected based on the particular culture and tastes of the indigenous population.

Aldi.US –> bringing America’s products to America’s official website address. Note that TV advertising is still very viable in the USA and is a great platform for promoting the .US web address.

.US Domain Names .us, America, United States