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tips Tips on How to Hand Register Good Domains

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oldtimer

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Any experienced veteran domainer will tell you that it’s best to buy a better quality domain name on the aftermarket or on the drops than to hand register a lot of subpar and useless domains and I tend to agree with this considering that by buying domains on the aftermarket and on the drops you are actually tapping into the creativity and brain power of many people that have dabbled in to domains before you instead of just relying on your own perhaps limited knowledge and abilities to think of good domains.

But if you are going to hand register domains anyway at least you might want to sharpen your skills so perhaps you won’t just waste your money on collecting a lot of low quality and useless domains.

There are some websites that can help you come up with new domain ideas and perhaps those who have had good results with them can mention some of them in this thread, but it might take a little longer for automated websites to really understand every aspect of what they are suggesting, maybe in the near future AI can help us find some good domains, but until then I think that it might be best to rely on our own intuition and research to come up with some good domains or at least learn how to pick the gems in a long list of automatically generated domain suggestions.

Since most good domains are already taken it might be best to concentrate your efforts on new trends where there might still be some good opportunities left to find a nice domain, I personally like new technology trends and have noticed that a lot of good domains that were registered many years ago are becoming available again because the original registrants didn’t have the patience to wait for these new technologies to mature or that they just couldn’t bear the renewal charges and let their domains drop too soon, of course any domain that is worth its while is going to be grabbed by the bigger companies and those who have more resources available to them, but there might still be some good domains that fall through the cracks and don’t get noticed by anyone.

Another area of interest might be brandable domains in which you have to come up with a made up word or a variation or play on an existing word that can stand out amongst the thousands of other possibilities that are out there. There are a few threads about brandable domains that you might want to read first before getting involved in this category of hand registered domains.

As far as new trends go pick a popular keyword in a certain field which we can call the Root or Base, or Key element in your domain and then try to add words that complement it in the front of it or after it in order to come up with some RootElement+Word or Word+RootElement ideas for your domain (keep in mind that RootElement can be in the form of abbreviations like EV for electric vehicle and Word can be Noun, Verb, and Adjective or some of the more popular suffixes or prefixes in some cases) you shouldn’t be discouraged by the fact that many of your ideas might already be taken, after all if it was a good enough idea that occurred to you then you can bet that other people have also thought of it too, but if you check 20, 30, or 50 (or even 100) combinations eventually you might come across one that has fallen through the cracks and that has gone unnoticed by others.

When hand registering domain names its important not to go overboard and end up with too many domains that are hard to manage, ideally you might want to keep your portfolio very small and work on upgrading its quality by letting some of the lesser quality domains to drop and replacing them with better domains, but keep the size of you portfolio the same, because if you let it get too big then it will become very frustrating to sort it out and keep up with renewals.

Also don’t go too deep into a category that is only going to make sense to a small group of people, some technical terms even though might make sense to you in your field of expertise, but it might not make that much sense to the general public, so try to register domains that the average person can understand and appreciate.

When doing research to see if a domain is available be aware that there are a lot of prying eyes out there, some registrars and registries even give out the lists of domain and whois look ups and if you don’t register a domain name quickly someone might grab it before you have a chance to think about it or come up with the money to register it. This has been a problem in the domain Industry for a long time now and as unfair as it is for others to wrongly take advantage of your research (which amounts to insider trading), but apparently it continues to go in to this day.

Also don’t just give a Like for new hand registered domains just to please others, because you are not doing anyone a favor if you are not honest about the quality of their domains, and by liking the less quality domains you might be encouraging some to go down the wrong path and keep registering more useless domains.

If you have any tips concerning hand registering domains please feel welcomed to share it here, but keep in mind that this is not about whether hand registering domains is a good idea or not, this is more about teaching those who are wasting their money on low quality domains to be able to find better domains to hand register if they are going to do it anyway.

Thread Rules:

Everyone’s opinions, tips, and analysis are welcomed, but keep your comments constructive, professional, and on topic. Personal attacks and belittling of others are not tolerated. If your domaining model and strategy don't agree with hand registering domains and that you don’t believe that anyone should be hand registering domains then this thread is not for you, this is to help those who already are going to hand register domains by teaching them how to come up with better ideas so that they won’t end up wasting their money on a lot of low quality and useless domains. Also If you provide any stats or info concerning domains or anything else that pertains to this thread be sure that they are factual and please indicate the source, otherwise if it's just your opinion then put IMO at the end of your post. (In My Opinion)

IMO
 
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oldtimer...i feel that you've made a judgment call about me too, and that's sad:xf.frown:

I have not passed a judgment about this either way at least not yet, I only replied to your comment:

"I trust the Monster to understand the mutual benefit I'm creating, thus all the Epik domains are registered in the Monsters home. Make sense?....I hope and pray so"

It seemed to me that you were a little worried about what Rob might be feeling about this and I was wondering if you had reached out to him to find out.

This is a tricky situation where it might not be very clear as to whether you are doing anything wrong or not, but if Rob doesn't feel good about this, then you might want to reconsider what you are doing as a professional courtesy to another fellow domainer (Rob) who seems to share the same Christian ideals as you.

IMO
 
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My top tips for handregging:

1. Studying domain sales thoroughly and making decisions mainly based on that.
2. Using popular prefixes and suffixes to create new words, if you're into brandables.
3. Taking advantage of discounts whenever possible. This was easier in the past with absolutely insane deals that allowed mass registrations for as low as $1-$2, but occasionally you can still find decent deals.

As for Urban Dictionary- it's a crowdsourcing site with little oversight that's meant mainly for entertainment purposes. Anyone can submit a definition, anyone can vote, and suggested definitions are often accepted whether the term exists or not, as long as the submitter follows the guidelines of submissions. There are a lot of definitions there that people made up that no one ever used or will use. So unlike a proper dictionary, when seeing a definition there- it can belong to a teenager who was bored one day and felt like inventing something. Quoting from Urban Dictionary's terms of service:

"The Company does not and cannot review all Content published to the Website or created by users accessing the Website, and is not in any manner responsible for the content of any Content or the activities of any such users."


So basing any domaining related decisions on Urban Dictionary should be done with caution.
 
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'Shoot the Moon', 'Poke the Sleep', and now 'Build the Sky' - Nice ones - b.t.w what's epikiss?
btw Krish....BrandProdigy.com is that you? I'm guessing it is, and ironically this am I was looking to start another portfolio using "Prodigy" as the second word. Initially I was looking to register WordProdigy (which i did) to go with Wordvest and Wordinvestigator, and when I checked to see if BrandProdigy.com was available....it wasn't so I moved on. btw, great name for your marketplace Krish and I wish you all the best(y)
 
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I have not passed a judgment about this either way at least not yet, I only replied to your comment:

"I trust the Monster to understand the mutual benefit I'm creating, thus all the Epik domains are registered in the Monsters home. Make sense?....I hope and pray so"

It seemed to me that you were a little worried about what Rob might be feeling about this and I was wondering if you had reached out to him to find out.

This is a tricky situation where it might not be very clear as to whether you are doing anything wrong or not, but if Rob doesn't feel good about this, then you might want to reconsider what you are doing as a professional courtesy to another fellow domainer (Rob) who seems to share the same Christian ideals as you.

IMO
You were right Oldtimer....i should have checked with Rob first, but now that I have, he said something about imitation and flattery to which I assured him, he's a gentleman and a scholar and a domainer:xf.wink: Seriously, thanks for the push!
 
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Got another beaut...

was looking for an "easy.life" (already taken by some lucky person) and the kindly robot suggested an alternative, which now makes it into my top 10 of guesstimated appraised values. Incidentally, there are now only 2 dot.coms in my top 10.

I now own:

www. Easy.Photos

Say dot.cheese
 
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If you are talking about .COM, the extension has been around for 30+ years and has 140M+ registrations.

The quality hand registrations are slim pickings.

I am not saying you can't turn a profit, but it requires an extremely sharp eye and/or good business model.

Brad
 
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If you are talking about .COM, the extension has been around for 30+ years and has 140M+ registrations.

The quality hand registrations are slim pickings.

I am not saying you can't turn a profit, but it requires an extremely sharp eye and/or good business model.

Brad
Brad...i know i'm not your favorite person, but I thought you might enjoy this story. You may or may not recall I had purchased the domain StealthLegal.com last June, and you actually commeted complimented me on it. Just a few minutes ago, a lawyer Sandy Schwartz of NYC who I do business with confirmed he's sending me his 1099S to process for his firm for the year 2019. That's when I happened to notice his firms logo;
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I told him of course StealthLegal.com isn't nearly as cool as Schwartz Levine, but he may want to talk to me about it. This just happened a few minutes ago, and I thought I would share the story that involves hand registering two-word domains Enjoy!
 
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btw Krish....BrandProdigy.com is that you? I'm guessing it is, and ironically this am I was looking to start another portfolio using "Prodigy" as the second word. Initially I was looking to register WordProdigy (which i did) to go with Wordvest and Wordinvestigator, and when I checked to see if BrandProdigy.com was available....it wasn't so I moved on. btw, great name for your marketplace Krish and I wish you all the best(y)

Yes, I regged that name, and did the site myself a year ago, still refining it. Time is the constraint, due to my 10hrs factory work, I'm aiming to provide some real value to the entrepreneurs (end users) since I am on multiple startup groups, and also to make some small but consistent income, since I am not good at one-off/speculation businesses. Thanks... @ThatNameGuy
 
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Yes, I regged that name, and did the site myself a year ago, still refining it. Time is the constraint, due to my 10hrs factory work, I'm aiming to provide some real value to the entrepreneurs (end users) since I am on multiple startup groups, and also to make some small but consistent income, since I am not good at one-off/speculation businesses. Thanks... @ThatNameGuy
While I'm not sure, i think the "small but consistent income" you're talking about might be made by leasing/renting domains. I just hand reg'd StealthTire.com singular and plural, and I find it hard to believe it's never been reg'd:xf.rolleyes: With the definition of "stealth" being what it is and as large as the tire industry is, I would think any tire company worth it's salt would luv to own Stealth Tire or Stealth Tires. If I've learned one thing since I arrived on the domain scene, to just sit and hope someone finds my domain is truly absurd.

I did register one more domain this evening, and this is a fun one. It's Jeopar.com
I regg'd this while watching the prime time game show Jeopardy. What's a Jeopar? Well it's a Jeopardy contestant of course:xf.wink:. With over 8,000 episodes aired I figure there have been 24,000 contestants from the US and Canada since 1970. I figured it's about time these contestants have a name they can call themselves, and they do now...they're Jeopar's(y) Actually, I wasn't the first one to think of it for it had been registered 6 of the last 12 years, and it was just dropped in November.

That's enough of my domain pontification...Good Luck!
 
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I do hand regs in .com, .net, .org and other extensions using expired lists. I'm not sure does it classify as hand regs or expired :)

And for me .com is the worst performing extension in this context in terms of sales. I'm not English native speaker and I'm focused in two-words in .com.
Most of my sales are .net and .org with mid XXX price in averege (inbound only).

Here are my resent .com hand regs in appraisal section with some feedback.

It whould be nice to hear from someone who consistently sells hand regs in .com.
 
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It was just as satisfying to be honest. I enjoyed the thrill of racing to get them registered before someone beat me to it. I guess my future in domain name investing will be a little of both sides of the coin...in moderation of course.
Glad you have tried both. I think too many get in a routine of only one way to acquire, only hand-register, only in expired auctions, or in expired drops. There are many places to find domains at good prices, including on NamePros and the registrar marketplaces, and while more work the real pay-off is probably for those who track down the private places not listed for sale anywhere. I think a diverse set of ways to acquire domain names is all for the positive.

Best wishes for 2020! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Bob
 
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My best tip for how to register good domains;

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Unlike real estate where Location! Location! Location! is key, practicing your domain skills can be FREE!
Sort of like with golf, you can practice at home for free, or you can go to a driving range and pay to hit balls, or you can pay to take a lesson from a pro.

You can hone your skills anywhere anytime. I've mostly paid for my practice, but it's cheap. It cost me just $8.50 to buy a .com that's good for a year. In the US that's less than the price of eating breakfast, lunch or dinner out. I guess to some people it's like work, but it's play time for me, especially knowing the more you practice the better you get.

Finally...my wife teaches piano in her retirement years, and it's amazing for me to see the improvement for those who practice vs. those who don't. Then again, she has the occasional prodigy just like the occasional domain prodigy. However, even practice makes for a better prodigy.






 
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I do hand regs in .com, .net, .org and other extensions using expired lists. I'm not sure does it classify as hand regs or expired:)

I guess we have to come up with a new rule for that, a lot of the domains that we hand register might have been registered at some point in the past and then dropped sometimes several times over the course of time.

In my opinion if you register a domain immediately after it has expired and made available to register again then that might fall within the expired domain category especially if you have been monitoring that domain same as if you used a drop catching service, but if a certain time has elapsed (* lets say 5 days) for you to have registered a domain after it was expired and made available to the public again then that might qualify as a new hand registration.

In another words if other people have also had the opportunity to hand register the domain, but that you were the first one to do it manually then that should be considered as a hand registration.

* The 5 days is used as an example and is up for debate, but it's not 5 days after the expiration date, but rather 5 days after the domain has actually been made available to the public to register again and only if you register the domain manually and not through any backorders or automated means and services. Also a true hand reg might be when you have thought of the domain yourself and not to have found it through any lists or insider knowledge.

IMO
 
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I guess we have to come up with a new rule for that, a lot of the domains that we hand register might have been registered at some point in the past and then dropped sometimes several times over the course of time.

In my opinion if you register a domain immediately after it has expired and made available to register again then that might fall within the expired domain category especially if you have been monitoring that domain same as if you used a drop catching service, but if a certain time has elapsed (* lets say 5 days) for you to have registered a domain after it was expired and made available to the public again then that might qualify as a new hand registration.

In another words if other people have also had the opportunity to hand register the domain, but that you were the first one to do it manually then that should be considered as a hand registration.

* The 5 days is used as an example and is up for debate, but it's not 5 days after the expiration date, but rather 5 days after the domain has actually been made available to the public to register again and only if you register the domain manually and not through any backorders or automated means and services. Also a true hand reg might be when you have thought of the domain yourself and not to have found it through any lists or insider knowledge.

IMO
I'm curious, and ignorance at play here, where do you find newly expired domains you can buy for standard regulation fee before it's offered again to the world? Thanks
 
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Glad you have tried both. I think too many get in a routine of only one way to acquire, only hand-register, only in expired auctions, or in expired drops. There are many places to find domains at good prices, including on NamePros and the registrar marketplaces, and while more work the real pay-off is probably for those who track down the private places not listed for sale anywhere. I think a diverse set of ways to acquire domain names is all for the positive.

Best wishes for 2020! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Bob

Thanks Bob, it means a lot coming from someone of your esteem.

I know you're a man for facts and figures and that you're from a science back-round, but one thing that I have noticed in my short domain investing career is the swing from .com to alternative domain extensions. I know that mostly, opinion is formed after studying reams of facts but sometimes over a period of time there can be little indicators that no one else picks up on.

For example, when I started the .coms ruled my top 10 of GD appraised values. Now, only two of my top 10 are .com and the top accounts for a third of my total portfolio value. This means that the other 150 account for the other three thirds. Doesn't make sense to me, but if I could just figure it out it would make choosing domain names that much easier.

I guess, it is one of two things. Either I am getting better at picking names or there is a definite shift in the market towards .notcoms.

Only time will tell.

P.s...the next big thing will be.....................................
 
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I think that there is more probability of hand registering a better name right after it dropped. The more time elapsed after it was dropped - the more exposure it has to all the world and thus worst names are left unregistered as time flows after dropped.

This may not be true for invented or brandable two words. But this may be true for descriptive 2 words names.
 
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I'm curious, and ignorance at play here, where do you find newly expired domains you can buy for standard regulation fee before it's offered again to the world? Thanks

There are many domain suggestion tools and lists in addition to the many drop lists and drop catching tools and services that you can find on the forum, But I personally rarely ever use any of those, I think of new domains to register mostly by researching new trends and ideas.

PS: It's a lot more existing and perhaps a bigger achievement when you can think of domains to register yourself specially if a domain has never been registered before where you are essentially creating (inventing) it for the first time.

IMO
 
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Thanks Bob, it means a lot coming from someone of your esteem.

I know you're a man for facts and figures and that you're from a science back-round, but one thing that I have noticed in my short domain investing career is the swing from .com to alternative domain extensions. I know that mostly, opinion is formed after studying reams of facts but sometimes over a period of time there can be little indicators that no one else picks up on.

For example, when I started the .coms ruled my top 10 of GD appraised values. Now, only two of my top 10 are .com and the top accounts for a third of my total portfolio value. This means that the other 150 account for the other three thirds. Doesn't make sense to me, but if I could just figure it out it would make choosing domain names that much easier.

I guess, it is one of two things. Either I am getting better at picking names or there is a definite shift in the market towards .notcoms.

Only time will tell.

P.s...the next big thing will be.....................................
Redd...i think you're getting better. Remember what I said about "Practice". I do believe the more you do this the better you get, and there's never a dull moment. For instance, I just hand reg'd HoHoCasino.com that ultimately led me to the new extension .Casino. I already owned BoGoCasino.com and RamboCasino.com so now I have a decision whether to buy the new extension to match the .com's? So where are you going in Vegas Redd?....TheBoGo, TheHoHo or TheRambo? See what I mean about having fun:ROFL:
 
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Redd...i think you're getting better. Remember what I said about "Practice". I do believe the more you do this the better you get, and there's never a dull moment. For instance, I just hand reg'd HoHoCasino.com that ultimately led me to the new extension .Casino. I already owned BoGoCasino.com and RamboCasino.com so now I have a decision whether to buy the extension in each of the .com's? So where are you going in Vegas Redd?....TheBoGo, TheHoHo or TheRambo? See what I mean about having fun:ROFL:


Well, seeing as I have www. aztec.gold it wold have to be the Luxor first, then if it were Christmas I'd go to the HoHoHoCasino.

Actually, I was in Vegas in 2001. Best time ever. Memories for a lifetime. I'm not so sure about Heaven, but I'm convinced that when adults die they go to Vegas.
 
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