So the website IP address is mapped to a domain name via a database system called DNS - more on that later. This gave businesses and individuals a way to market themselves globally, and make their website accessible to all, without being confused by IP addresses and all that techie stuff. Google hadn't been invented until 1997, so to access a website, you had to enter the domain name URL into the browser address bar, rather than search for it.

The Domain Name Goldrush Phenomenon

So around 1996, many savvy entrepreneurs jumped on the internet bandwagon and set out to make their millions. Back then, all you had to do was select a good domain name, choose a niche, set up your site with merchant payment facilities and viola! You're earning a fortune. There were very few that knew how to set up a good website back then, and everyone was on a slow 56k dialup connection.

So the solution then to quick internet cash was to flip domain names. So everyone went mad and bought up all the one - two word domains available and some made millions overnight - business.com went for $7.5 million in 1999. In those days, domain name length was limited, but nowadays you can have a domain name of any length. So again around 2003 when longer domain names and new extensions became available from registrars, the gold rush repeated itself and lasted about a year. Most of the good three to four word domains were bought up to be resold.

Selecting Your Domain Name

 

So with all this talk of all the good domains being taken, what does one do to get a good one that relates to the site content or business? Having a short domain name just makes it easier to remember, but not essential. It's more important to use your top keyword for your market. So do some quick market research. Use the free Google keyword research tool, and choose the one with the highest searches. Next go to a domain name suggestion site and enter your keywords and you'll get a list of all the available ones. The suggestion site I use is domainsbot.com but there are many others you can use also.

.com,.net,.org or.info?

So you've got your eye on a good domain, but which extension should you choose? Always go for the.com if it's available because it's the default used by web browsers. But if it's not available, the second best is.net, then,org. These are the top three, but over the past few years, more have became available, such as.info,.tv, and country specific ones like.co.uk and.co.us. I advise only to use those ones if your business is only serving your home country.

Here's what each one stands for:

.com - company
.net - network
.org - organisation
.info - information
.co.uk - country - United Kingdom
.co.us - country - United States
.tv - television

 

(Please click red arrow to see full text and site)

"It's time," I thought to myself this morning, "to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9."

To find out where to get it from, I Bing!ed "IE9".

As avid readers of Naked Security, we all know that bad guys are experts at search engine optimization. Tailoring page content to appear as highly-ranked results to trending search terms is an often-exploited way to ensnare unsuspecting victims.

So I was immediately wary of the first link on the page:

It rang all the bells for me.

Dong: my search term "IE9" is definitely a high-profile topic right now.

Ding: the link was to a domain that looked like it had been made up in an attempt to look genuine.

Bong: there was a much more official-looking link immediately underneath it.

Bing: it was offering an 'enhanced' IE9 - a blatant tactic to make me click it in preference to the boring, ordinary IE9 link below.

But still, I wondered how something linking to a fake Microsoft product download could have become a sponsored link on Microsoft's own search engine. I resolved to dig deeper.

The page immediately required me to download a new version of Flash. This didn't inspire confidence! However, the download link pointed back to a more recognizable Microsoft domain. Maybe it was genuine?

A whois search revealed that the domain ie9enhanced.com is in fact registered to Microsoft, and that the DNS records point to Microsoft's own DNS server. In short, all the real evidence suggests that this really is a Microsoft microsite, designed to use the launch of IE9 to promote MSN and Bing as well. So no problems, then?

Well, not entirely. If you get a page full of results from a reputable search engine, you can be pretty sure that if you pick a URL from a recognized domain you'll end up on the right site. But domain lookalikes and typo squatting mean that you always have to be on your guard, particularly when links lead to file downloads.

The brief lines of text provided in search engine results make it hard enough for us to identify good sites from bad ones. When special-purpose domains for campaign microsites appear, it becomes even more confusing. At best, people might ignore the microsite domain, keeping themselves safe but making the marketing dollars a waste. At worst, the protection and reputation offered by use of known domains is lost and people end up infected the next time they follow an unknown domain.

Of course, Microsoft aren't alone in this - even Sophos has done it in the past - but maybe it's time marketers thought again about the real value of using cute campaign domain names. They're great when using other media to communicate a memorable web site address. They're not so great when they start to appear in search engine results.
.....

 

(Please click red arrow to access full text and site)

only search Your Health And Tech Friend

Technology Gateway

 

Common Website Errors

 

Submit To A Search Engine

 

Web Hosting Tips

"Tailoring page content to appear as highly-ranked results to trending search terms is an often-exploited way to ensnare unsuspecting victims.

So I was immediately wary of the first link on the page:

It rang all the bells for me.

Dong: my search term "IE9" is definitely a high-profile topic right now. ..." this article below.

Click on any heading or picture graphic to get to the next page or topic!

Home Page        Sources        About The Editor      Index         Disclaimer