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web domain names

  • 10-06-2009 11:49am
    #1
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭


    I went to register a domain name for a small company i am looking to set up only to find it is already owned but not used as such. It is not being used as a website as the name of the domain would suggest. This would suggest that the company are sitting on this domain name in order to make a profit.

    Does anyone have any idea how much they usually charge to release a domain name?? If they are not using it directly can i request the domain name so as to use it for its intended purpose.

    cheers

    frag


    edit: just been looking at other domain names we could use. does anyone know where i can find out their viability when it comes to search engines optimisation so as to get max results?? I was told there is a google website that allows you to input your domain name and it will tell you how many hits or how high on the listing it will be??

    anyone??


Comments

  • #2
    Pixelcraft
    Registered Users Posts: 742 ✭✭✭Pixelcraft


    frag420 wrote: »
    This would suggest that the company are sitting on this domain name in order to make a profit.

    Not really, could be using it for email addresses or other things.
    frag420 wrote: »
    Does anyone have any idea how much they usually charge to release a domain name?? If they are not using it directly can i request the domain name so as to use it for its intended purpose.

    Completely up to them, and no - it's their domain, you have no rights over it whatsoever.


  • #3
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    frag420 wrote: »
    I was told there is a google website that allows you to input your domain name and it will tell you how many hits or how high on the listing it will be??

    You've been told incorrect information. While keywords in domain names are important, there are many, many other factors which determine listing rank.


  • #4
    D.W
    Closed Accounts Posts: 218 ✭✭D.W


    tricky D wrote: »
    You've been told incorrect information. While keywords in domain names are important, there are many, many other factors which determine listing rank.

    Perhaps what they meant origionally was what you could expect with regards positions and clicks using Google Adwords-not natural rankings?

    With regards viability for max SEO results with a domain there is no magic trick-however if you can get a domain with your main keywords-the ones you want to rank for in the domain its a good starting point. First rung on a big ladder!


  • #5
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,557 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    I presume you're talking about a .com domain?

    A client of mine paid €1,000 for a four-letter domain a few years back, and I thought they got it cheap.

    If it's something longer or more obscure there's no harm in mailing the domain to see if they are interested in a deal.

    Have you considered a .ie?


  • #6
    Mick Regan
    Registered Users Posts: 67 ✭✭Mick Regan


    I'd second that suggestion about a .ie domain.

    Google for example uses geographical criteria when returning results, and if the company is trading predominently in Ireland it will give you a slight advantage.

    Regarding your note and SE / Domain-name relevance, yes it counts.
    For example do a search for 'pianos' in Google.ie, first site returned is a .ie domain, and just about all the results on the 1st and 2nd pages have 'piano' in the domain name itself.

    Other SEO aspects like keyword strategy etc need to be considered, but plan the domain name first and build on it from there.


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  • #7
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,280 ✭✭✭jmcc


    frag420 wrote: »
    I went to register a domain name for a small company i am looking to set up only to find it is already owned but not used as such. It is not being used as a website as the name of the domain would suggest. This would suggest that the company are sitting on this domain name in order to make a profit.
    Possibly. If it is parked with just Pay Per Click advertising then it may well be making money, especially if it is a good generic term. It may also be that someone has registered the domain but has not got around to developing it yet. A lot of domains are registered and never used.
    Does anyone have any idea how much they usually charge to release a domain name?? If they are not using it directly can i request the domain name so as to use it for its intended purpose.
    If it is a valuable generic term or is making money, the registrant may not want to sell it or may want a large sum.

    edit: just been looking at other domain names we could use. does anyone know where i can find out their viability when it comes to search engines optimisation so as to get max results?? I was told there is a google website that allows you to input your domain name and it will tell you how many hits or how high on the listing it will be??
    The site in question is http://www.google.com/trends but it only shows the search volume for various search terms. If you consider search terms to be the words in your domain name then it can be very useful. However it takes a lot more than just a good domain name to get to the top of the search engine results pages for a popular search term.

    Another simpler method is to check the use of a domain in various extensions (ie/com/net etc). If you need to check the history of any domain name in ie/com/net/org/biz/info/mobi/asia/eu/co.uk/de you can use www.hosterstats.com to check it. It also shows the cross extension history of domains which can be used to check if a domain has been registered in other extensions. The most popular domains tend to be registered in all extensions. If you register the .ie of one of these popular domains then you may well lose traffic to the .com variant as the main domain extensions in Ireland are .ie, .com, .net, .co.uk. The .ie is very much the default extension for Ireland and if your market is Ireland then get the .ie domain.

    Regards...jmcc


  • #8
    Mickswizard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭Mickswizard


    Hi guys,

    I didn't want to start another thread about a related issue so I hope its not a problem that I ask a question here. It is inversely related to the OP.

    Our company owns a domain name which we are not using at the moment but plan to as the company develops. A guy in the UK contacted us offering to buy it for €400. The managing director thought this was paltry and kind of wanted to keep the name anyway and told the guy we wanted €40,000 to release it. He didn't reply.

    However, he put a hyphen in the name and went ahead anyway. So where ours was 123ABCDE.com (Not the actual domain name), his is 123-ABCDE.com. Is this kosher? Surely it will cause problems when we want to use our name? Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.


  • #9
    Eoin
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 21,238 CMod ✭✭✭✭Eoin


    Have a read of this:
    http://www.icann.org/en/udrp/udrp.htm

    For what it's worth, I think hyphens in a domain name aren't a good idea, as I want to be able to say a domain name or email address with a minimum of explaining dashes / hyphens and so on. If anything, I think you're likely to get more of his traffic.


  • #10
    Liam Byrne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,163 ✭✭✭✭Liam Byrne


    Mickswizard wrote: »
    Is this kosher? Surely it will cause problems when we want to use our name? Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

    Perfectly kosher.

    If you wanted the variation, then you should have registered it too.

    Unless a name is a registered trade mark, you've feck-all comeback on this.

    There is some added "too-similar names" protection for a .ie, but for a .com you don't even have to prove you're entitled to it.

    I'd reckon that your boss added to this by the bull**** request for €40,000; unless it's a very popular name with a high level of investment gone into promoting it, that's just pathetic attempt at extortion.

    If he'd said "no, not for sale", then fair enough - it's your domain name.

    But if someone had replied to me like that I would have been VERY tempted to get the closest name legally possible - not just because that was the name I wanted, but also because your boss was being an ass about it.


  • #11
    Mickswizard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭Mickswizard


    Thanks guys. I think he over-estimated how much this other guy was making turnover-wise and didn't want to be ripped off. I think there was a LOT of scope for negotiation on the issue but as you say, he probably just pi$$ed the off. Oh well. we still have our domain and as Eoin says, we might get some of there traffic.

    EDIT: Just thought of something else, could he register it as a trade mark if we have not done so and then demand that we hand it over or prohibit us from using it?


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  • #12
    mneylon
    Registered Users Posts: 7,739 ✭✭✭mneylon


    Mickswizard wrote: »

    EDIT: Just thought of something else, could he register it as a trade mark if we have not done so and then demand that we hand it over or prohibit us from using it?

    Not easily - no
    It's what's called a "reverse hijack"

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