On December 4th a new Internet domain name authority, Internet Domain Registrars (IDR), opened its doors for business. For those of you who have been around for awhile, you'll remember that Network Solutions has held the monopoly on domain name issuance since 1993. IDR is the first independent to open doors. Soon there will be many more.

The major difference between IDR and Network Solutions is the fact that Network Solutions has only accepted domain 
registrations for 22 characters while IDR accepts registrations for up o 67 characters.

This FAQ (frequently asked question) page should  clear it up for you.  If not, contact us at:  E-Mail
 

Q. What happened?

A. Domain names up to 67 characters in length can now be 
registered. Previously, the limit was 22 characters.

Q. Why are long domain names important?

 A. Long domain names are important for at least three reasons:

1) You can register names that are more descriptive of your 
company's products or services and slogans. For example:
american-cancer-society

general-motors-corporation

dell-computer-corporation

western-digital-hard-drives

over-ten-billion-hamburgers-served

Remax-Realtors-Washington

Remax-Realtors-Dallas-FortWorth

2) You can create a domain name that will help you achieve a higher position in the search engines. This is a well-known search engine positioning technique. Simply put, key words in your domain name can help you to achieve a higher position in many of the search engines.

With that in mind, maybe you can see what effect these domain names might have  on your positioning:
beachfront-and-waterfront-lots-and-properties-on-lake-dallas.com

cellular-phones-and-wireless-accesories.com

3) You can create a domain name around a trademarked slogan or jingle:

pontiac-we-build-excitement.com

over-ten-billion-served.com

Q.: How can a long domain name increase one's position in the search engines?

A. Danny Sullivan, a search engine expert, reported the 
following: "Inktomi said that it tries to list a site first in its results if the domain name matches the query and if the term is unique.
For instance, look for Quokka, and it's likely Quokka.com will be
first in Inktomi's results, as it is a unique word."

Q.: Can I use all 67 characters for the name?

A. No. The 67 character limitation includes the ".com",".org" or ".net". Note that each of these is 4 characters in length, including the dot. Subtract 4 from 67 and that leaves you 63 usable characters for the length of your name.

Q. What characters can be used in a domain name?

A. The only allowable characters are: The letters "a" thru "z"
dashes or hyphens ("-") numbers zero thru nine (0 to 9)

Note: even though zero is allowed, it's best not to use it because 
of its confusion  with the letter "O".

Q. Is there a limit to the number of domain names an individual can register?

A. No there is no limit.

Q. Where can I register these long domain names.

A. Register here:
http://long-domain-names-register.com/index.htm

The fee is only $30 per year which is about 15% cheaper than the fee charged by Network Solutions.

Q. how many domains are registered daily?

A. 30,000 domains are registered each day.

Join the gold-rush for choice domain names. It's very important 
that you get your  registrations in NOW! Once these names are 
gone, they are gone forever!

If you have any questions not answered here, please contact us 
by email.