The Sunrise registration period for .XXX domain names commences today (7 September) to allow registrations from those in the adult entertainment business (Sunrise A) and to assist brand managers from other industries who want to protect their trademarks ahead of wider availability (Sunrise B).

Both Sunrise periods will run concurrently for 50 days, finishing on 28 October. The extended period will enable ICM Registry to receive and process all applications from existing domain name and trademark owners who have applied to either opt their brand in or out of the .XXX registry.

“We believe the Sunrise period offers businesses a comprehensive rights protection mechanism where they can protect their brands and trademarks,” said Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry. “We are advising businesses to either opt-in or opt-out and want to give them the best opportunity to do so at the launch of our new TLD. Given the high level of interest in the domain, we see that many businesses wish to be proactive in avoiding any brand conflicts.”

After the close of Sunrise, a Landrush period will run for 18 days where businesses from the adult entertainment industry will have premium access to remaining .XXX web addresses, following which general availability will ensue. Sunrise applicants using registered marks to qualify will be required to own a subsisting trade or service mark registration of national effect.

When a name is transferred one of year domain registration is added.  No time is lost. Your current domain expiration date is extended by one year.

For example on September 15, 2007 you transfer your domain name to another registrar. If your domain expires on December 1, 2007 your new expiration date after transferring will be December 1, 2008.

Transfers are seamless. Your name servers are not altered anytime during the transfer process. Your domain will not face any downtime during this process.

Check for special pricing on transfers that registrars may offer. If you own several domain names just saving a little on your domain registrations can save you a lot.

Common reasons why a domain transfer may fail are:

Names cannot be transferred if it has not been more then 60 days since the name was initially registered.

Domain names cannot be transferred if they have expired.

The domain name is locked at the registrar.

The auth-code is incorrect.

The administrative email contact is outdated.

The transfer will be completed in 5 to 7 days.

Many registrars keep you updated of the status of your domain transfers by a daily email or by a webpage in your account manager.

There are many reasons to transfer a domain name to another registrar.

I often transfer my names to save money on renewal fees. With some registrars still charging as high as $35 per year for domain registrations it makes sense to move my names to lower priced registrars. There are many registrars that only charge $5.95 to $12.99 per year for domain registrations and renewals.

Another reason to change is that you are unhappy with your present registrar. You may have experienced slow or poor customer service.

If you own a lot of names you may want to switch to a registrar that offers better management of your domain names.

Regardless of your reasons for changing follow these instructions to successfully transfer your domain name to another registrar.

Step 1 – Go to the Sponsoring Registrar

This is the website of the registrar where your domain name is currently registered and log-in to your account.

If you do not know who your registrar is do a whois search at BetterWhoIs or WhoIsQuery. A whois search will tell you the name of the current registrar and their website address.

Before transferring a name make sure your whois contact information is correct. A confirmation may be sent to the administrative contact e-mail address on file for the domain name. This address is also used by the registrar to send lost account passwords.  It’s important to always keep your contact email address updated.

Step 2 - Obtain the Authorization Code (auth code) for each domain name you wish to transfer.

The EPP transfer code or auth code is found in your account manager at your domain registrar. Registrars have different control panels to manage names.  If you cannot locate the auth code in your account use the site’s help section to find or contact the support department.

The authorization code is a 6 to 16 character code assigned by the registrar.

An example of an auth code is:s0MfhhGxn8IaAVAQtPHBpA==

If the auth code is missing or incorrect (does not authorize a transfer) you should contact the support department of your domain registrar and request it. Registrars are required to provide the auth code upon the request by the registrant. If a registrar fails to provide your auth code in a reasonable time contact  Icann.

 You cannot transfer a name without the auth code.

 Step 3 - Unlock the Domain Name if it is locked.

If you are not sure if the name is locked do a whois search. It will tell you if the domain is locked or if a transfer is prohibited. The domain status must say “ACTIVE” to be eligible to transfer.

Unlock names from your domain management account at your registrar. You cannot transfer a domain name if it is locked at the registrar.

Step 4 – Go to the Gaining Registrar

This is the new registrar you want to transfer your name to.

Create an account and log-in to your account.

Step 5 - Initiate the Transfer

Transferring a name is similar to registering a name. Find the link to “Transfer a domain name” in the registrar’s main menu and follow the instructions.

You will enter the name of the domain name you want to transfer and the auth code to begin the transfer.

You must pay for the transfer at the time you request the change. Most registrars offer a risk free transfer and will refund your fees if the transfer fails for any reason.

Many registrars allow you to transfer more then one domain name at the same time. You may be asked to enter the domain names one per line with a comma between the name and the auth code.  For example:

myname1.com,HMArcw7zZbYMY6HSIriTtg==

myname2.com,tZgFza9xctp9wizqQaVdvg==

myname3.com,FZgXza5xcvbaCidbbaBrvv==

Some registrars may allow a bulk transfer of names by by email if you contact their sales department.

Step 6 - Approve the Transfer

For security purposes once the transfer order is placed, the gaining registrar sends an email to the administrative contact of each domain name for which you have placed a transfer request asking for confirmation of the transfer. You confirm the transfer by clicking on a link in the email to verify the transfer.

If you do not have access to the administrative e-mail address for the domain name contact the support department at the gaining registrar. They will be able to confirm the transfer for you.

If you receive a domain name transfer request in error follow the instructions to cancel.

The losing registrar may also send you emails asking for confirmation or cancellation of your domain transfer requests – you can choose to ignore these emails.

Selling and Management Tools for Domain Names

• Domain Name Portfolio - Free script to sell and organize your domain name portfolio. List your domains by category with expiration date registrar, status, price and potential buyers can contact you about your domain names. Uses PHP and MySQL.
• Domain Name Portfolio For WordPress – Free WordPress blog plugin to list all your domain names for sale. Buyers can send offers and contact you.
• Domain Seller Pro – Website system for domain sellers. $25 includes installation. Customize on your own.
• DName Follow – Sell,organize and track your domain names. Automated domain portfolio site. Buyers can make offers on your domain names. $50.
• dnzoom - Domain name portfolio managment tool. Manage many functions you do by logging in to each of your registrar and domain parking accounts.

Make sure your whois contact information is correct as many potential buyers will use this information to inquire or make offers on domain names.

Do you have domain names to sell?

Or are you a buyer looking to purchase names?

A good place for domain buyers and sellers to connect are at a Domain Name Forum. At the forums you can sell names for a fixed price or ask for offers. If you are looking to purchase specific types of domain names you can post at the forums and may get replies from domain owners. Most forums limit you to one domain name for sale posting per day.

Which are the best marketplaces to buy and sell domain names? We suggest listing your domain names at several domain marketplaces. Submit your best names for premium listings or feature them for sale to get the most exposure.

DOMAIN MARKETPLACES

• Afternic – The web’s leading domain names marketplace with over 2,000,000 domain names for sale. Afternic sells more domain names then any other site. Standard membership is free to order appraisals.AfternicDLS membership is $19.95 a year to sell unlimited domain names and access to DiscussNames forum and Afternic’s expiring domain names auctions. $1 fee for domain buyers.

• Bazaar - At Afternic’s Bazaar domains are auctioned and the listing prices automatically decrease every hour. Maximum listing price is $600. No commission fees to sell. Listing fees cost between .24 cents to $1 per name depending on the number you list. Escrow services are available but not included. Only open to registered users with AfternicDLS membership.

• eBay - A lot of domain names are listed for sale at eBay. eBay charges fees to list each domain name you place on auction plus there are selling fees if the name is sold. Domain names are listed at eBay in the category “Computers / Other-Hardware-Services/ Domain Names”.

• Fabulous Domains - Over 500,000 premium domain names for sale. Names must be registered at Fabulous and can be sold through the Domain Distribution Network. Fabulous was the first registrar to participate in this new aftermarket sales program. Names are instantly transferred to buyers.

• Great Domains - Marketplace for premium domain names. You can use your Sedo account to buy or sell domain names. No fees for listing names. 10% commission if name is sold.

• Moniker Marketplace - Commission fees are 10% if directly sold through Moniker and 15% for Moniker’s popular silent or live auctions. Get higher prices for your names by using Moniker’s auction services.

• Premium Domains - Your names must be valuated before you can list them at Premium Domains or Mocus. Generic English domain names only with no digits or hyphens. IDN format not accepted. If your score is over 400 you can list for free at Premium Domains from your Sedo account.

• Mocus - Domains with scores over 150 can be listed for free at Mocus.

• Name Drive - Park and sell domain names at Name Drive. Shows traffic and revenue statistics.

• NicIt - Multi-language site to buy and sell domains. No fees for listing names for sale. NicIt also offers domain appraisals, domain parking, domain registrations and other domain name services. Established base of domain buyers.

• Sedo - We have sold more of our domain names through Sedo then any other marketplace. If an offer is made on a name you can place it on auction and others may bid on it. Many of our domain names have sold for higher prices when placed on a live Sedo auction. Sedo is free to join.

• SEO Bidding - Online marketplace for selling domain names and websites.

• TDNAM - The Domain Name Aftermarket – GoDaddy’s marketplace. Selling options include Buy Now, Offer/Counteroffer and 7-Day Public Auction. Plus membership gets you access to GoDaddy’s expired domain auctions.

• Zuho - Marketplace to swap or sell domain names. Free to swap names, 10% brokerage fee for selling names includes escrow.

• Make it as short as possible
• Make it memorable
• Make it easy to spell
• Make it pronounceable
• Make it a name you can brand
• Make it non-confusable with another domain name
• Make it not conflict with an existing trademark
• Make it easy to say
• Make it trust-worthy, not obscure (i.e. a .com, .biz or .info
  if at all possible, instead of a .to or .ws)
• Make it directly related to either your business name or
• Make it directly related to keywords from your industry or
• Make it descriptive of your site’s content
  • Consider multiple domain names:
  • obtain similar names to avoid competitors confusing your customers
  • obtain misspellings of your domain name to keep competitors from taking
    advantage of misspellings
  • obtain names for future offerings (services or products)
  • link to your main site from additional domains to aid in your search engine
    ranking
    (major search engines use link popularity in their ranking
    algorithms)
• Possible descriptors to add when your name is not available:
  • Deluxe
  • Premium
  • Best
  • Superior
  • Cheap
  • Discount
  • Online
  • Universal
  • Quality
• Possible prefixes to add when your name is not available:
  • The
  • A
  • My
  • Our
  • Your

Should you get a hyphenated name? There are a few things to consider here:

• Disadvantages

  1. It’s easy to forget the hyphens when typing a name. Many users are used to typing things like freecpluspluscompilers.com but not free-c-plus-plus-compilers.com. They’ll probably leave out the hyphens and end up at your competitor’s site.
  2. When people recommend your site to their friends verbally, having hyphens in your domain name leads to more potential errors than when the name does not contain hyphens. For example, how do you think your visitors will refer to your site if it is named “acme-books-and-videos.com”? They might say, “I visited Acme Book and Videos dot com yesterday. It was fabulous.” Their friends, remembering that comment later, might type into their browsers “acmebooksandvideos.com”. Oops.
  3. It’s a pain in the neck to type. Enough said.

• Advantages

  1. Search engines can distinguish your keywords better and thus return your site more prominently in search results for those keywords occurring in your domain name.
  2. The non-hyphenated form may no longer be available. At least this way, you still get the domain name you want

Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters. You don’t have to settle for an obscure domain name like avab.com when what you mean is AcmeVideosAndBooks.com.

Having said that, there appears to be some disagreement about whether a long or short domain name is better.

Some argue that shorter domain names are easier to remember, easier to type and far less susceptible to mistakes: for example, “getit.com” is easier to remember and less prone to typos than “connecttomywebsiteandobtainit.com”.

Others argue that a longer domain name is usually easier on the human memory – for example, “gaepw.com” is a sequence of unrelated letters that is difficult to remember and type correctly, whereas if we expand it to its long form, “GetAnEconomicallyPricedWebsite.com”, we are more likely to remember the domain name.

Some of these arguments are actually academic. It’s increasingly difficult to get short meaningful domain names. I have not checked, but I’m fairly certain that names like “getit.com” and “good.com” have long been sold. If you manage to get a short domain name though, the key is to make sure it’s a meaningful combination of characters and not the obscure “gaepw.com” in my contrived example above.

Long domain names that have your site keywords in them also have an advantage in that they fare better in a number of search engines. The latter give preference to keywords that are also found in your domain names. So, for example, if you have a site on free C++ compilers with a domain name like freecpluspluscompilers.com, it might fare better in a search for “free C++ compilers” than my other site, thefreecountry.com.

Which would I go for? I’d go for the shorter name if I can get a meaningful one, but I’m not averse to longer names. However, I would probably avoid extremely long names verging on 67 characters. Aside from the obvious problem that people might not be able to remember such a long name, it would also be a chore typing it and trying to fit it as a title on your web page.