The obsession to buy and sell domain names has gripped so many online merchants and savvy web users. Why not? Most transactions nowadays occur online. Some people may prefer buying at the brick and mortar stores but wouldn’t it be more convenient to simply sit in front of the computer, visit the Walmart website, and click “Buy” on the products in your shopping list? The more popular a domain is, the more likely it generates customers worldwide. Here’s a bit of trivia you can use: Almost all words from 0 to 9 and a to z that ends with a .com extension have already been registered!

What is the significance of this? Unfortunately, if you can no longer register domains with the .com extension, you got your choices. Basically, if it ends in .net, .org, or .biz, the better. Most two letter domain extensions are also popular. Your best choice is to either sell your old domain for a new one, or buy another domain name through a broker. Brokers are helpful in buying and selling domain names because they can give value and help you through the domain registration process, as this can get tricky.

Domain registration should be simple as simple as it is, if not for hacks and possible frauds. There are hordes of unscrupulous domain registration services out there that are suspiciously aiming to take your money without giving you the best service they have promised. For example, you can get your domains registered but they won’t ask for your name. In reality, they would ask for a fee but register domains under their names. This results in your loss of control on the domains. Remember that as domain owner, having full administrative control on your registered domain is your right and privilege.

These scammers exist, no matter what. That is why it’s fairly important to keep domains protected as soon as it is registered. But first, it is essential also to know who are the people behind the domain registration service. You should also take note of the information that they require you to give, such as your postal address. You might think that they are pushing the rules of domain registration a bit too far, but providing the right information can serve you well, especially when your domain ownership is legally challenged.

If you are aware of the protective measures on your domains, you can sleep soundly at night. A well-preserved domain name with existing clients will be extremely profitable the moment you decide to sell them. For instance, Business.com during the dotcom bubble was sold at $7.5 million! Much more expensive domain sale transactions have occurred of course, but they were not recorded. The bottom line? If you take care of your domains from hacking and outside administrative control, your domain retains its selling value and even increases in time.

So how do you protect your domains after it has been registered? As I have mentioned in the beginning, you reserve the right to have the total control on the domain. You should monitor your “Whois” tool to make sure it lists your name as registrant, along with the history of the domain’s owners. Take this step a little further and keep a Whois hard copy, so you have proof in case someone challenges your domain ownership.

Now, let’s go into the more technical details. A cryptic password is probably your best tool to shield domains from hacking. It would have to be an unrecognizable jumble of words and numbers so it won’t be easy to decode. You should also keep an active and accurate email account, where updates and renewals on your domains will be sent to you. If you use an email account that simply wipes off your name after a month that you have not opened your inbox, you’re in trouble. Either the domain registrant has done something to the domains, or some hacker is already owning your previous email account.

Some things are beyond the domain owner’s control. For this reason, you should be proactive enough to consider things such as domain monitoring service — reporting suspicious hacking activity and seeking further protection given by your domain registrant. If you could find a free service that monitors domain names, it would be excellent, but far more excellent if you check your email for notifications and renewal updates. In case you suspect something malicious has been going on, for instance, your domain ownership record has been changed, you should report it as soon as possible to the domain registrant.

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When you browse for websites on the internet your browser communicates with web servers via their IP address. Methods have been devised to assign human readable names or hostnames to ip addresses. On a local windows or linux computer this translation can be accommodated in what’s called a host file. On most windows systems the hosts file is located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ directory; on Linux or Unix servers the hosts file is commonly stored in the /etc directory.

If I asked “Have you ever been to Disney World?” more than likely you would associate Disney World with the theme park in Florida and you would know would quickly be able to respond either yes or no. But if I said “Have you ever been to 3111 World Drive in Orlando, Florida?” It would not be as easy for you to identify that I was referring to Disney World. You might be able to figure it out, but which is easier to use? In the internet world, 3111 World Drive would be the same as an IP address and Disney World would be the hostname. If you were to equate this to how the internet works, web hosting would be the equivalent of the real estate that Disney world sits on. When you purchase a website domain name, you must have internet real estate (website hosting) for your website to reside on, and conversely if you had website hosting without a domain name then no one would know where to go to access your website.

If you wanted your computer to look for www.npsis.com using the ip address 192.168.20.34, you would make an entry in your hostfile. The hostfile contains entries that look like this: 192.168.20.34 www.npsis.com. When you access the website www.npsis.com using your web browser, your computer would look for the ip address 192.168.65.14.

For hostname to IP translation on the internet the DNS (Domain Name System) is commonly used. When you type www.npsis.com or the name of your website design store or the website name of your company, your computer contacts a DNS server to find out what IP address goes with the domain name or URL that you entered. Whether you are setting up website on a webserver or an email server you need a domain name.

It is important when selecting your website address that you pick a name that is easy to remember. The domain name should also reflect what your business does. For example the website address tomsgarage.com gives you a pretty good idea of what tom does for a living and its very easy to remember. You can also reserve multiple related domain names and point them at your website address as well. Have your website design store help you to incorporate several relevant key words into your website design and point all of your relevant website addressees at your website (i.e. wefixtires.com, bestlocaltireshop.com, toms-tires.com).

Website domain names are reserved on a first come, first serve basis. So if you have an idea for the perfect website address, you should reserve it before you’re your good idea is taken by somebody else. There are many companies and individuals who potentially popular domain names and resell them for a profit.

If you are dealing with a website design store or a web designer you will want to absolutely make sure that you own the domain name and not them. When you purchase a domain name yourself you better protect yourself from predators looking to take advantage of you.

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