Domain Name Registration As an Investment
A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Nuno Rolinho
Parking a Domain Name after Registration
A parked domain is a domain name which registration was successfully done but it isn't active as a website. Parking is great for people who don't plan to use the domain right away, but want to reserve a specific domain name for a near future before it is taken by someone else. Another positive point on parking a domain name is that you don't pay extremely high fees, such as the ones that are payed for a normal domain name registration.
Parking a domain will result in a domain name achievement only, no web space or email will be provided, that's why there are some companies that offer free parked domains before a normal domain name registration, they make it free because they expect these domain owners to activate the domain names; after activation the domain name will be payed periodically.
Making Money with the Registration of a Parked Domain Name
When you apply for a new domain name registration and you decide to park it, you're investing! Let's imagine that someone registers a domain of an amateur band that he/she saw playing last night at a small club. This band can turn into a big band next year, and they will probably need a website; but that person already registered a website with their name and with the most desirable domain extension: ".com".
The band or their label will either choose another domain name or most likely offer a good proposal to the person that registered the domain name. The next step is to transfer and "unpark" the domain, this can be done in a couple of minutes. There are lots of computer "geeks" that buy lots of domain names and park them so they can sell them afterwards through, for example, online auctions websites.
The most selected names for parked domains are music bands, online shops, future events and misspelled known sites. The misspelled known sites domains are domains that people buy in order to obtain more visits; for example: someone already parked a domain name called "goooogle.com" (with four Os) because someone will buy it one day or another, "google.com" already bought "gooogle.com" (with three Os), but they weren't fast enough to buy the four Os domain name.
Every day people misspell websites names and discover these new websites thanks to that misspelling, besides that advertising a 4 Os google.com is easier than a new domain name. One of the most famous parked domains is "slipknot.com", the well known American band Slipknot tried to buy the domain but the parker didn't want to, and he stills refusing a great amount of cash for the domain name.
Identifying a Parked Domain Name before Registration
Parked domains are easy to identify. When you visit a parked domain you will see a website with some kind of search/informational portal featuring the domain name. This portal can be seen by potential buyers and when it's visited, a secure and easy way to submit an offer is visualized. When a domain isn't parked or active an error page displaying: "The page cannot be displayed" will appear (this happens when all connections are OK).
