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How To, IDN

Two Ways to Benefit from Domain Name Speculation

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There are many uses and benefits of IDNs and just one of these is domain name speculation. Domain name speculation is process of purchasing what are thought to be highly desirable names with the hopes that someone else will wish to use that name and then purchase it at a higher price. This process can be very lucrative, but there are some steps you must take to avoid cyber squatting and ending up in some muddy legal water.

Avoid Cyber Squatting

Once you know the difference between domain name speculation and cyber squatting its quite easy to avoid the latter. Domain name speculation is value speculating based on generic names. For example shoes.ws in Arabic: أحذية.ws is an okay purchase and may return big profits in the future. However, specific names such as SteveMadden.ws are off limits. This is because these are tied to a specific brand which would want to own that site. Purchasing sites like these can cause you to end up in some legal hot water and lose the domain with no return on investment and possibly pay a fine. Get creative in the generic names you choose and stay away from trademarked or branded names.

Get in Early

Domain name speculation can often evolve around current events and trends, but also around the launch of a new top level domain launch. That is just what the .ws IDN is. There are a large number of top domains available for purchase, so getting in early is key to having a return on investment. Once you have purchased these domains in the beginning, there is a chance you can quickly flip them. These domains will still be hot and in demand, but you were able to get them first. When you can rapidly purchase a domain and sell it, this is called flipping. So start buying those top domain names and flipping them for a great return.

Advice, How To, IDN

IDN Buying Tip: Follow the Trends

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Trends and fads come and go, and there are a number of ways that businesses and individuals can capitalize on them, domain names being one such way. The key to trends and domaining is the anticipation of a trend. For example when the iPhone first came out, those within in the technology world and those who followed the news, knew that smartphones were about to be huge. A domain like smartphones.com (or.ws!) was a great idea and surely enough sold for $95,000 and is now owned by Samsung. Follow the few tips below for how to pick the best IDNs based off trends.

Stick to What You Know and Understand

In order to anticipate a trend you need to understand it. Don’t try to search for trends in medical devices if you have no interest in them and don’t understand the industry. If you know cars or fitness, look for trends there Things can get a little tricky for IDNs as many time your will be purchasing an IDN in a language you do not speak. To avoid this, turn your energy to global trends, like the example above, smartphones are definitely a global trend.

Use Tools

You can also do your research in a foreign language by using tools like Google Alerts of Google Trends. With Google Alerts you can set a search term and have news and blog results sent right to your inbox. You can see what terms are getting a lot of news coverage and generating chatter across the world and decide on a domain based off of this info.

Google Trends similarly allows you to enter a word or phrase into a search engine and see the trends for that word or phrase. The results can show you where searches are happening, how often, in what language and some top stories associated with your search. This is a great tool for insight into country and language searches to take some guess work out of selecting your IDN.

Trends Come and GO

Some important advice for trend watching is that as quickly as trends start, they can end. Do you research use common and try to anticipate your risk with certain trends. Trend based domain purchases are not for everyone, but they can be a very lucrative investment.


Head over to WorldSite now to secure your IDN!

IDN, News

.WS Versus .COM

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We recently shared the power of .ws in this post about the transition away from .com. With the face of the internet and domain names changing .ws IDNs are poised to make a huge impact. In case some of you aren’t sold on .ws, take a look at how they work now.

.ws domains can be used globally and have no specific affiliation to any country or language, essentially keeping them open and not barring anyone from use because of language or country. .ws domains also allow the purchase of domain names you may never have a chance to buy or afford in the .com world. While other ccTLD domains are now seeing use outside of their original country, .ws has been an established and profitable domain for 11 years. Finally, .ws domains are indexed just like .com domains. Take a look at the photo below if you need more proof. That #1 search result and even those that follow are .ws domain. No special search, no tricks. .ws is just as powerful as .com and here to stay. When will you stake your claim in the newest .ws offering, .ws IDNs?