Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest defense contractor famous for manufacturing fighter jets, rockets, radar systems, and a wealth of high technology products in use around the globe.

The company is operating off of websites at Lockheed.info and Lockheed.com. Actually, the .com site is LockheedMartin.com and Lockheed.com forwards to that whereas Lockheed.info is a self-standing site on its own. Some of the links there track back to the LockheedMartin.com site particularly in regard to the jobs availability page.

The .info and .com sites appear to mirror each other. Lockheed Martin have also registered variations on their name in the .US, .biz, and .mobi extensions. Most likely to prevent trademark infringement by cybersquatters.

However, it is nice to see a multi-billion dollar global corporation actually using the .info version of their company name. Afilias.info are the official registry and overseer of the .info web address which currently totals 5,595,978 domain name registrations worldwide.

.INFO Domain Names .info, airliners, lockheed

Afilias have released their 2009 report outlining the growth of the .info web address since its introduction in 2001. Currently, there are 5,497,143 .info domain names registered around the world.

Over the years, Afilias have occasionally used several promotions to boost .info registrations such as free first year registration and the 2009 .INFO Website Awards contest.

North America presently accounts for 61% of all .info domain registrations and European countries comprise 23%. The United States and Germany are # 1 and # 2, respectively, for registration numbers by country. Rounding out positions 3, 4, and 5 are the U.K., France, and Canada which demonstrate broad international appeal and global support of the .info web address.

A beautiful .info geo domain profiled here earlier in the year was Spain.info. There are many interesting and well developed .info sites across the internet such as PropertySlides.info, MutualFunds.info (owned by Time Inc./CNN), and Encompass.info.

Since .info represents “information“, the domain works extremely well for a wide variety of applications including many general topics, health & science, business & industry, and city or state websites. 

Having become the 7th most registered domain in the world, .info has established itself as a very significant player on the internet world stage.

.INFO Domain Names .info, Afilias

It is an interesting exercise to sometimes visit a domain name that was sold years ago to review how that domain was eventually utilized. As one might guess, the domain is sometimes developed, often parked, doesn’t resolve at all, or is possibly redirected to another operational website.

LowerManhattan.info was sold around 2003 by Dr. Tariq Ghafoor, an experienced and successful domain name developer and speculator. The domain went for 4-figures back then and was acquired by The Lower Manhattan Command Construction Center (LMCCC).

The LMCCC are the primary information resource for a multitude of Lower Manhattan construction projects aimed at revitalizing the area in a 20+ billion reconstruction. LowerManhattan.info is the LMCCC’s official website.

The site is very well designed and contains a wealth of information including construction advisories, air monitoring, manhattan downtown news, rebuilding & traffic/transit info, as well as maps and pictures of Manhattan reconstruction.

* Related domains from the PremiumDomains.US portfolio include: ManhattanRealEstate.info, and ManhattanRealEstate.biz

.INFO Domain Names manhattan, nyc, real estate

The domain name, InternetLawyers.info, will be auctioned off in a one hour (no reserve) auction held at Bido.com on Tuesday December 1, 2009.

Internet-related law has become a specialty area as commerce has moved online over the past decade. Internet lawyers have special knowledge of intricate internet laws & regulations stemming from multiple jurisdictions.

Similar past sales of comparable domains include: InternetLawyer.net $1300, HoustonLawyers.biz $1000, Lawyers.biz $2500. For more choices in the legal domain name category, visit the Legal Domains section of PremiumDomains.US.

.INFO Domain Names auction, bido

The Afilias Registry, who administer the .INFO web address, recently held a contest and awarded cash prizes for the top three developed .INFO websites. Ron Jackson wrote on DNJournal.com that Afilias received over 50 entries from 18 different countries.

$7,500 was awarded for first place to Thueringen.info (a travel site serving Germany). Second place, with a prize of $5,000, was awarded to GPS-Tour.info (a website where individuals can share and download outdoor GPS tours). In third place was Turkel.info, a travel & tourism marketing site, taking $3,000 for their efforts.

There are currently 5,428,453 .info domain names registered around the world. Fully developed sites and services are being launched on a daily basis due to the gradual adoption and popularity of the .info web space.

For those of you who are interested in the .info domain name, check out Spain.info. It’s a beautifully designed website & portal for the country of Spain that exemplifies the logic behind the .info domain name extension.

.INFO Domain Names, Site Development .info, Afilias, Spain

DevHub is a website development platform which was introduced to the public within the past year. Based on my experience working with the software, it appears to be a step well beyond the typical “minisite” concept. 

DevHub was created by Evo Media Group and its goal is to provide easy content creation (and editing) with less complexity than is normally required for custom html coding.

I have found that one can put up a basic, somewhat generic site with relative ease and which provides some desireable user functionality. However, you can introduce custom graphics and more sophisticated features if willing to invest more time in the development.

Development itself is a process which often evolves in stages. DevHub allows you the option of working effectively within time constraints since you can start off with a basic website that can grow. For a large portfolio owner, developing all of one’s domain properties can be a time intensive process.  Premium domain names deserve quality attention & development, but often must begin as a simple concept that will become more complete with future development.

Charlotte.US is an example of a time intensive website that takes many weeks to complete (even on the user-friendly Wordpress format). By contrast, a website like Raleigh.info can be built with DevHub in about 5 to 8 hours. Below (and pictured right) are a variety of websites I developed in the last few weeks. All of them were done on DevHub. None of them are in their final stage …

More DevHub developed sites …

• NorthCarolina.info
• CaliforniaJobs.info
• AutoRacing.biz

.INFO Domain Names, Geodomains .info, development, DevHub

PremiumDomains.US is home to the Menius Enterprises domain name portfolio. This domain collection is separated into distinct categories that represent popular areas of business.

The website also divides domain names into various price points, geographical locations, and domain extensions (such as .com, .biz, .info).

In selecting domain names for development, resale or other monetization strategies, I typically look for several key characteristics before adding a domain to the portfolio.

These key “ingredients” will include a combination of the below:

• Is the domain clear, descriptive, and easy to communicate?
• Does the domain relate to a common business category?
• Is the domain name a generic word or word combination?
• Does the domain specifically avoid trademark infringement?
• Is the web address a geodomain or geo-targeted?
• Does the domain have special appeal to an audience or group?
• The domain name fits the domain extension?
• Usually avoid hyphens, typos, and uncommon abbreviations?

The various categories of domain names featured on the site are: Business | Geodomains | Hotels | Jobs | Keywords | Legal | Medical | Real Estate. Each of these categories contain high-quality, premium domain names that meet all of the criteria listed above.

Below are examples of high quality domains in various extensions:

1. .US -> Charlotte.US | Portland.US | Indianapolis.US
2. .biz -> Miami.biz | AutoRacing.biz | NewOrleans.biz
3. .info -> Indiana.info | Knowledge.info | Memphis.info
4. .com -> ColoradoSpringsApartments.com
5. .mobi -> Manhattan.mobi | Tampa.mobi | ParisFrance.mobi
6. .TV -> Albuquerque.TV | BeachHomes.TV
7. .net -> ManhattanCondo.net

Visit this link for more on Domain Portfolio Strategies & Approaches

.BIZ Domain Names, .INFO Domain Names premium domains, premiumdomains

Forbes publishes an annual list of the “Best Places for Business and Careers“. Raleigh, NC was ranked the #1 city on the list because of the ”strength of strong job growth, low business costs and a highly educated workforce”. The study looked at the 200 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Other North Carolina cities ranked in the top twenty nationwide including Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Wilmington, and Durham. That’s six (6) North Carolina cities in the nation’s top twenty!

Two years ago a CNBC study ranked North Carolina as having the #1 workforce in the USA. High technology, health sciences, and banking & finance are leading industries here in North Carolina.

Raleigh is the state capitol and the second largest city. North Carolina is now the 10th most populated state with around 9.2 million people. The economic climate varies across the state as some areas have been hit a little harder due to the exporting of textiles and furniture manufacturing.

However, newer industries are moving in to take the place of those that were ultimately oursourced to cheap labor. Dell, FedEx, IBM, Cisco, and Honda Jet are among a few of the newer additions having established a major presence. Bank of America is headquartered out of Charlotte.

I’m glad to be a resident of North Carolina. The state has always offered a wide variety of attractions –> beaches, mountains, quality academic institutions, sports dynasties, moderate cost of living, and great people.

Incidentally, Raleigh received this honor each of the previous two years making this year’s recognition an exceptional, enduring achievement.

.BIZ Domain Names, .INFO Domain Names forbes, North Carolina, raleigh