The internet is still expanding at an exponential rate. The number of people online is expected to double again by the year 2016. This has caused a huge boon in the domain name business. Domain names ending in .com are naturally the most popular and are being snatched up at an exponential rate. This is probably why I recent study shows the average value of a .com domain name skyrocketing to over $2,595.
Not everyone who is grabbing up the available domain names have websites. The domain parking industry has become huge since the advent of Google as a primary search engine. Domain parking pages are those pages you find on the internet that feature a list of advertisements that link to other websites. The top 15 domain parkers last year made over $150,000 every single month. With the average parked domain netting over $100 per month for the owner.
Many times website owners are unaware of the value of their domain name and website. Unsuspecting site owners fall victim to domain parkers who wait for their domain name to expire and then simply snatch it up. The domain parkers love this because many times the original owner worked hard to build traffic to the site or get valuable search engine ranking but failed to realize the value of their online presence. Those unsuspecting site owners would've been better off paying small fees to maintain their website and parking it themselves or selling their site for a profit rather than abandoning it.
The good news is that there are still some good .coms out there. Many are related to tight niches like a geographical location while others are a bit long. None the less the number of domain names available is running out. When they do the prices are expected to skyrocket even more.
One way you can prevent your domain name from expiring and ensure you'll have a good quality domain name for years to come is to register it for multiple years. Typically domain names are registered on a year by year basis. The average small business that makes it - stays in business for 17 years. So it only makes sense to register the domain name for many years at a time. Furthermore domain names that are registered for multiple years get better search engine ranking and avoid being blocked by security software like McAfee and Norton who are constantly updating their database with suspicious looking websites.
If you're looking to get your site online and register your first domain name their is no easy way than WebStarts. At WebStarts you can also register your site for multiple years at a time ensuring your site will never expire and be lost to a domain parker or other cyber squatters. You can create a website with WebStarts.com by clicking here.