How to Apply for a Brand TLD/ gTLD program-How to get your own Domain Extension

 

f27c174d1ce73e6fe6e56a4883c74cdd

A Brand TLD is very similar to a gTLD except it is not offered to the general public. A major benefit in having a Brand TLD is to have 100% control of your domain. It provides greater protection for your brand because no one else can get that domain. When more companies switch to brand based TLDs it will create a higher sense of trust for non .COM domains. As of right now, a lot of companies are still using .COM, so having your own TLD is a great way to set yourself apart from the competition. Anyone can have a generic.com, but owning something like home.yourbrand will make your domain feel special.

Another major benefit of having a Brand TLD is controlling who is allow to use your domain. You can create partnerships and affiliate programs by having partnerfirm.yourbrand as a way to build a connection between the two companies. This will also ensure that your customers are going to the right place for an additional feel of security.

Major companies that have acquired their own Brand TLDs are:

The cost of registering a brand TLD is $185,000, but there are support programs that will help lower the cost from $185,000 to $47,000. This is still a substantial cost for newer companies so it still seems to be geared toward companies with a lot of disposable income. The window for new gTLD is currently closed and it is not an easy process to apply for your own brand TLD. The process will go through an application review, then there might be a dispute resolution and other process highlight in this chart.

program-timeline-911x626-17feb16-en
You can visit the ICANN website here.

Which Domain is the Right Name to Develop?

coming-soon_0.jpg

How do know the domain you are developing is the best opportunity? This is the first question that comes up when you decide to develop a domain. You may have hundreds or thousands of domains in your portfolio, so how do you know which one is the best to develop. If you are going to be spending time and money on website development and marketing, you want to make sure you are choosing the right domain for your investment. 

Hopefully you are at least parking your domains. Perhaps you are noticing a few of them are generating more income than others. We have written an article about domain parking here. Parking is a good way to discover how much traffic and revenue you can get with a new domain before development. Not knowing traffic levels is one of the common mistake novices domainers make when selling domains.

Other than parking, you can use a service that offers instant domain development. Instant domain development is a method of developing hundreds of domains as quickly and as cost effective as parking. 

Things you should consider before developing the domain name:

  • How much traffic does the domain receive?
  • What audience makes up that traffic? Is it existing traffic or type in traffic? Will people take action based on the name? Backlink traffic from an existing site?
  • What is the effective value on the audience? Is it healthcare audience with high CPC or general audience with a lower CPC.
  • What is the RPM(Revenue per thousand) per page?
  • Using keyword cost estimation and volume tools as the Google Keyword Planner Tool to determine which keywords will generate higher CPC and Traffic.

Using our tool, we have seen cases of developed websites with more general audience make less revenue per month than a high CPC instantly developed domain with a high revenue audience.

The amount of traffic, the quality of the traffic, the geolocation of the audience, and active audience is what you should focus your time and money on first. ToughDomains allows users to instantly develop hundreds of domains in minutes and start receiving traffic and referral data on those names. Before you spend any time or money, make sure you have all the insight data to choose the right name to develop.

How To Check If Your Domain Is Banned In Adsense

banned.jpg

Google Adsense is one of the most popular monetization service in the world. It is used by virtually everyone on the internet because of the quality of the ads, the timely payout compared to their competitors, and Google being one of the most famous advertising companies in the world. Many bloggers as well as parking companies will use Adsense as a way to generate income for the content they are providing. If you are planning on buying a domain or an existing website, it is a good idea to check if there is a ban placed on it from Adsense.

There are many ways to check if your domain is banned from Adsense. The quickest way to check is to go to the webpage and see if there are any ads. If there are no ads, there is a high chance the domain is banned from Adsense. There are websites that can check if a domain is currently banned from Adsense. One of my favorite sites to check for ban status is IsBanned. This site accurately told stated which of my sites were fine and which were banned from Adsense. I also tried other tools like CheckAdsenseBan and it was inaccurate. This site told me all my websites were ban despite only one of my site is currently banned. BannedCheck on the other hand told me all my sites were fine despite having a site that is currently banned.

If you are banned from Adsense, you can either try to fix your site to meet Google’s guidelines or move to a tier 2 ad network. You can read about Google’s Adsense Guidelines here. If your site does not meet the guidelines or Google never approved your account, you can try tier 2 networks like Zeropark or Media. There is a high chance that your domain revenue will not generate as much income as it did with Adsense.

Before submitting an appeal, take a careful look at your website for any violations to Google’s Guidelines. You can see the Adsense Terms and Conditions here. During the ban on your domain, take this opportunity to update and upgrade existing parts of you website before filing the appeal for a higher chance of being unbanned.

Link to submitting an Appeal for Adsense

TLD Domain Registration Analysis and Stats 2016

domain-names

What does TLD stands for? A TLD or gTLD stands for “Top-level domain or generic Top-level domain”. When speaking of a top level domain, you are referring to what comes immediately after the dot. The most commonly registered gTLD are (.)com, (.)net, and (.)org. These gTLD are completely oversaturated and finding a great domain name can prove to be a difficult task. Many domainers and entrepreneurs are looking to invest in great names with different TLDs. The most registered non common TLDs in 2016 according to NTLDStats is:

  1. .XYZ       (6,516,512 registered)
  2. .Top       (3,682,703 registered)
  3. .Wang    (1,052,040 registered)
  4. .Win       (1,039,849 registered)
  5. .Club     (814,467 registered)
  6. .Site       (492,023 registered)
  7. .Vip        (460,260 registered)
  8. .Bid        (425,776 registered)
  9. .Online  (418,190 registered)
  10. .Link      (417,178 registered)

There is a lot of hype surrounding some of the newer TLDs like (.)VIP. This TLD is quite the story in China with over $6million dollar in 30 days invested according to DomainNews. According to DomainNews, there was over 400,000 domains registered in the first month of registration with the average domain costing $23,000. This Domain is currently ranked #7 on NTLDStats and it is ranked #15 on RegisteredStats. Registered Stats does not have the most up to date numbers on the domains, but it does include gTLD on the set of data they provide.

Another big TLD to hit the market is (.)xyz. Google recently invested in this TLD with Alphabet over the past year. The domain they chose was abc.xyz which generated a lot of interest in this TLD. The success of this TLD was not immediate due to the TLD not showing up in organic search result, but that issue has now been resolved. This is the fastest growing TLD and is the biggest TLD in the market right now according the NTLDStats. There are over 6 million domains registered under (.)xyz. One of the biggest selling point of this TLD might be that it only cost $1 to register on godaddy. Daniel Negari is the entrepreneur who started (.)xyz and is the current CEO of xyz.com. 

However while all these new domains are making a huge impact on the domain market, (.)com is still the most registered TLD with 127,155,803 according to RegisteredStats. (.)com had the biggest gains in terms of domain registration with 37,198 domains registered out of 54,225.

With these numbers (.)com are still responsible for over 68% of all domains registered during this time period.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on or use our contact page.

General information on Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy

startseite

The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is a set of guidelines used resolve disputes due to the registration of similar domains. These policies were set in place for ICANN to protect the owners of a brand or trademark from a malicious third party. The UDRP applies to gTLDs like the common .com, .net, .org, as well as newer gTLDs like .asia, .biz, .info, .name, and many more.

To file a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, you must fulfill one of these requirements.

  • Not using the similar domain name or having any interest of using it.
  • The owner of the domain name is using the the domain name is damaging your trademark. (e.g. Using the domain name to advertise for a competitor, using the domain name to attract people to their website via redirect, and an attempt to resell the domain to the trademark owner for a large sum of money)
  • Using the domain as a way to confuse an individual that they are going to the correct web page. (Mimicking what the origin web page would look like)

This list of UDRP providers listed on ICANN’s webpage are the follow:

If you do not already have a trademark, you can apply for one at TradeMarkPlus. This webpage offers a trademark registration service.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on or use our contact page.

 

Genesis vs HashFlare vs Bitconnect Review- Crypto Mining Review 2017 with Promo Codes

Image result for genesis mining logoImage result for hashflare logo

Crypto Currency has been surging in popularity as a form of secured currency. This type of currency can be store online via a wallet or on your computers hard-drive. There mining companies out there that will help you mind for these crypto currencies for a fee. These online mining companies typically offer an annual service, a life time service, as well as ethash.

SHA-256 is the life timing mining service that is offered by both Genesis Mining and HashFlare. These two companies also offer X11 which is an annual service and Ethash. The one difference between these companies is that HashFlare offers a Script service. The biggest distinction between these two companies is that Hashflare will limit you to Bitcoin mining while Genesis Mining will give you more options on where to allocate your resources. We have created a chart that highlights the difference between each mining speed. 1 kH/s means it will mine 1,000 hashes per second.

  • 1 MH/s is 1,000,000 hashes per second. (mega)
  • 1 GH/s is 1,000,000,000 hashes per second. (giga)
  • 1 TH/s is 1,000,000,000,000 hashes per second.  (tera)

Genesis Mining Plans

Life Time Mining Service (SHA-256)

$190 for 1 TH/s or $19 for 1 GH/s

The following currencies are mineable with this plan are BTC, UNO, BTCD, DASH, LTC, DOGE, and ZET.

X11 Mining Service (2 Years)

$8 for 1 MH/s

The following currencies are mineable with this plan are DASH, BTC, START, LTC, Doge, BTCD, PPC, NMC, Cure and XMR.

Use this code to receive 3% each order:

Genesis Mining Coupon Code: 0yNPlk

HashFlare Plans

Life Time Mining Service (SHA-256)

$160 for 1 TH/s or $16 for 1 GH/s.

You are limited to bitcoin on HashFlare.

X11 Mining Service (1 Year)

$6 for 1 MH/s

We have been testing Genesis Mining with their SHA256 service and we were able to make $9 in the month of August with a $180 investment mining various coins. That is $108 dollars a year or a 60% return on our investment.

If your looking for a different kind of investment with faster returns you can try Bitconnect.

BitConnect Return Rates

Bitconnect uses a trading robot that trades crypto coins each day and generates between 0.75% and 3% per day.  Yes per day.  So your bank offers about 0.25% per year and some online banks offer 1% per year Bitconnect offers 0.75% each day.  It works a bit like a CD where you have to keep the money with them for 299 days.  Minimum investment is only $100 USD and from that you should generate about $0.75 per day which is about $22 per month.  So you double your money at that rate in about 4 to 5 months compared to around 18 months with mining.  There are many of these types of daily interest offers that are scams and we have tested a few which do not let you take your bitcoin back (bitmagnet is one of these scams) however bitconnect has about $35 million into it and we have tested it and found it to be legit.

Still no reason to dump your life savings in here but with a small $100 or $1000 investment you can make a nice return.  The more you invest the less time they hold the investment. Plus you get 7% of the deposit of anyone you refer.

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on or use our contact page.

What Is My Domain Worth? 6 Free Domain Appraisal Sites

Domain evaluation can be quite arbitrary and there is more than one way to evaluate a domain. These Appraisal sites will give you a a great deal of information on the domain from their search history to the site traffic. This information is very useful in determining if a domain is over/under priced. Domain appraisal sites is a great place to start for new domainers, However you should not base your decision to buy or sell solely from these sites. I have seen these sites give relatively low values to domains that can easily fetch for thousands of dollars.

DNPrices (Alexa Global Rank #158,758) is probably the weakest tool on the list. The only information this tool will give you is the price the current owner paid for the domain. The site is also missing a lot of information on smaller sales compared to the other valuation tools on the list.

Sedo (Alexa Global Rank #8,050) will give you a free appraisal on your domain name if you add it to their service. This service is great if you just want the value of your domain name.

Valuate (Alexa Global Rank #102,808) is a great tool if you are trying to track down the owner of the domain. This valuation tool will give you the information on the owner of the domain and their e-mail address assuming they do not have privacy for their whois information. This site also provides information like appraised value, CPC, site traffic, and information on the other extensions to the same domain name. This tool is free as long as you sign up for an account and verify your e-mail.

DomainIndex (Alexa Global Rank #86,080) is a useful tool for valuing a domain. This tool will give you a lot of information on search volume of the domain and possible trademark risk associated with the domain. DomainIndex will give you a value on the domain and a percentage on how accurate their valuation is. This website also have a limit of 7 uses per day for free users.

Estibot (Alexa Global Rank #41,515) is a great tool for getting background information on a domain. They provide monthly search information like DomainIndex, but their information is more in-depth. The webpage give similar domain suggestions that are available for purchase if the domain you are researching is not available for sale.

While these tools are a great resource, I would like to emphasis not to base your decision on buying or selling a domain based on one site. A domain can be worth $80 on Estibot while Valuate will appraise it for $3,800.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on or use our contact page.

ICANN amends its Transfer and Transfer Dispute Resolution Policies

Effective: December 1, 2016

Domain Name Transfer

The amendments to the Transfer Policy applies to ALL gTld’s and Registrars accredited with ICANN.

The amendments to the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP) applies to ALL gTLD’s, Registries, and Registrars accredited with ICANN.

Transfer Policy Updates:

  1. IF the Registrar implemented a 60 day inter-registrar transfer lock following a CHANGE of REGISTRANT procedure, and the Registered Domain Owner did not opt out of the lock, THEN, the Registrar must deny any inter-registrar transfer request.
  2. The definition of “Material Change” relating to a Change of Registrant has been clarified.
  3. The required information in the notification to the Prior and New Registrant has been modified.
  4.  In the event of a Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) proceeding that the Registrar has been informed of, Registrars must deny an inter-registrar transfer.

TDRP Updates:

  1. Any TDRP Complaints must be filed with ICANN approved Dispute Resolution Providers and not with Registries.
  2. The statute of limitations to file a TDRP Complaint has increased to 12 months.
  3. Added updated version of enumerated reasons for denying inter-registrar transfers in the Transfer Policy
  4. IF the Dispute Resolution Panel concludes that an invalid transfer occurred, THEN, any transfers to a Gaining Registrar and all subsequent transfers are not valid.
  5. IF the Dispute Resolution Panel concludes that an invalid transfer occured, THEN, the Registrar of Record prior to the Invalid Transfer will receive the domain name.
  6. ALL TDRP decisions must be published with TDRP Providers
  7. New definitions have been added.

All this has been done to further prevent the risk of fraudulent domain name transfers, an all to frequent common occurrence as of late.

 

Tools For Getting The Perfect Domain Name – Top Ten

perfect-undershirt

The domain name is one of the most important part of a new business. You want something that is memorable and will stand out from the competition. The best domain names are probably registered at this point, so purchasing one is not an option for most people. Unless you are willing to spend thousands of dollars on a domain name, we have some great tools you can use to find a great alternative.

BustAName (Alexa Rank 66,553) – This site allows you to put keywords and it will generate an available domain names with that set of keywords. This site is great for finding a domain with keywords you feel are relevant.

DomainsBot (Alexa Rank 43,850) – This name spinner will allow you to find similar domain names to the one you typed in. They also have a feature that will link to 3rd party registrars that will help you register the domain.

Domainr (Alexa Rank 35,135) – This search engine will find all domain names that are similar to the one you are looking for. This site will include name hacks as well as gTLDs. You also have the option to check if the domain is available and the ability to register the domain from this site.

DomainTools (Alexa Rank 1,372) – Another great site for name spinning, but unlike the other name spinning tools this one also has a whois feature. It will allow you to look up the information of the individuals who own the domain you are looking for.

Domize (Alexa Rank 126,428) – This tool will start searching for all domains the moment you start typing. It will indicate if the domain is available by the color green and unavailable by the color red. It will also provide alternative gTLDs if one is taken.

Dotomator (Alexa Rank 107,020) – This is another name generation tool, but you have to put in keywords at the beginning and the end. It will give you a list of available domains as well as domains that are already taken from your lists.

Impossibility (Alexa Rank 202,937) – This tool is great domain generator. All you have to do is provide a keyword, then you have the option of selecting adjective, noun, verb, and the placement of keyword. After you have decided, this tool will generate a list of domains that are available for registration.

LeanDomainSearch (Alexa Rank 29,082) – Like the other name generation tools on this list, this site will provide the biggest list out of all of them. All you have to do is put in a keyword and you will get thousands of alternate names that are available for registration.

NameStation (Alexa Rank 46,882) – This is another name generation tool. What sets NameStation apart from the competition is that it has a social platform to hold contests for original ideas from their users.

Wordoid (Alexa Rank 139,692) – This tool is great if you are looking for something brand-able. There is a list of made up words that will pass the radio test and are available for registration right now.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on or use our contact page.

Best Domain Tools in 2016 – Top Ten

Top-10-trophy2

Having the right tools is esstential to succeeding in everything. We noticed a lot of our favorite tools have died over the last couple of years including namethis, myipneighbors, dnzoom, collectionmanagers and many more. We created a list of essential tools that are not obivious to everyone to help you with your domain business.

Domainr (Alexa Rank 35,135) FREE – Domainr is a domain name search engine that doubles as a marketplace. Domainr will list if a website is available, for sale, or unavailable. You have the option to use any marketplace like godaddy for the purchase of the domain. This site will show the typical .COM, .NET, .ORG domains and domain hacks.

LeanDomainSearch (Alexa Rank 27,461) FREE – LeanDomainSearch is a great tool if you are looking for quantity over quality. This website will generate a list of domain names that are available for registration. While you are not going to find the next best domain here, you might be able to find something decent that contains your keyword.

Ahrefs (Alex Rank 3,095) $99/month – Ahrefs is an SEO and Domain analytics tool. One of the key differentiator of ahrefs is that it tracks the gains and loss of backlinks. These are great tools if you are planning to buy a website or domain.

Majestic (Alexa Rank 33,239) $50/month – This is the best backlinks tool in the market right now.

SitePrice (Alexa Rank 10,804) FREE – Everyone has heard of Estibot, but have you heard of siteprice? SitePrice takes into account website traffic the data is more relevant to current websites.

ViewDNS (Alexa Rank 33,239) FREE – This is the all in one DNS tool. You can use it for Reverse IP look up to China firewall test.

DomainsBot (Alexa Rank 43,850) FREE- This is a domain name spinner. It will provide domain names that are available for purchase after you type in a keyword you want included in your domain.

SimilarWeb (Alexa Rank 2,709) FREE – This site is very similar to Alexa where it gives you information on the ranking of a website. The difference between this and Alexa is that it is completely free so you can view a wide array of information.

DropCatch (Alexa Rank 55,422) FREE – DropCatch is a great site if you are in the market for expiring domains. There are quite a few gems that people forget to renew and this is the marketplace to use if you are looking for something pending deletion.

Wayback Machine (Alexa Rank 295) FREE – Need to know what a domain looked like way back in 2002? The wayback machine takes a snapshot of a domains history and preserves it forever in its archive.

ToughDomains Portfolio Manager is a great way to organize your domain portfolio. This tool will allow you to input data regarding your domain and it will pull in data like expiration data/domain age/name server/ and e-mail attached to the domain.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on or use our contact page.