Internet Marketing and eCommerce Expert – Nigel Burke's Blog

Domain names are currently based on the Latin alphabet. This is great for English speaking countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Australia but what about countries that have their own characters.

It is estimated that more than half of the 1.6 billion Internet users online today use non-Latin characters in their language. These people will be able to register domain names in their local language very soon.

Will this just be another revenue raising exercise where companies have to register more domain names to protect their intellectual property?

Support languages
There is 17 languages to be introduced include Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese and Chinese plus more.

I think it’s going to be very confusing when advertising these international domain names. They will obviously be geographically targeted but also towards the locals only.

English people understanding the new domains
I’ve seen many different character sets when using keywords in cybercafes while traveling around. Sometimes you are only in a country for a few days before moving on. I just do not know how outsiders will be able to use these domains. Having an English domain name as well is just going to double up on everything.

English people have been very lucky on the Internet. Imagine if the Internet was all in Chinese? Everyone would have to learn Chinese otherwise they would not be able to do much on the Internet.

Conclusion
The technical work involved to accomplish this is a bit like introducing IPv6. These are both mighty tasks which I think need to be overcome to continue the growth of the Internet and open it up to more communities.

You’ve setup your online store and your selling lot’s of products. But are your product descriptions up-to-date? Are they accurate? Are the products exactly as they described in the product description on your website? What about the warranty and refund information?

Word-of-mouth can be one of your most effective mediums for spreading the word about of your services. The problem is that if a customer has a bad experience, the bad news is going to spread even faster ( 10 times faster!) and you’ll have to work hard to repair the damage.

Deals Direct Example
The online department store – Deals Direct, are in trouble with the ACCC this week. The ACCC has received a large number of complaints about bogus savings claims, and inaccurate or misleading product descriptions on their website. They promised to clean their act up but is the damage already done?

This got me thinking about our customers and other online stores. Too often I see online store managers who copy and paste information about the products they sell from other online sources. But is the product information correct, up-to-date and accurate?

The same rules apply
Online retailers often forget that the same rules apply to them as do the brick and mortar retailers. Online retailers need to check their refund and warranty policies for the products that they offer and stand by them when required.

The costs of complying with the required law is offset by the reduced risk of the ACCC taking action against you and help with the goodwill you will give your customers.

Conclusion
Spending a few minutes ensuring that your product descriptions including warranty and refund policies are correct will ensure a good relationship with your customers. Customers will know where they stand if there is a problem and the relationship can continue on with problem resolution is clearly documented.

Australian domain names are gaining in popularity as the total number of domain names exceeds 1.5 million.

This indicates the strong growth of websites in Australia. The number is increasing with 1,500 domains registered everyday.

The total number of .com domains has reached 184 million. China is the second largest extension of domain names and it continues to grow as China’s Internet gains in popularity.

AuDA to publish domain expiry list
Some domain name insiders have had access to lists of domain names that are due to expire. They are then able to register the domain names before they are made public. To create a level playing field, AuDA will now be publishing a list of domains that will expire and specify the exact time that the domain name will be available to register.

Register your domain name today
If you are thinking of registering a domain name that is available, I strongly suggest you register it as soon as possible. Once the domain name that you want has been taken by someone else, acquiring that domain name could be a very expensive option.

Domain names are affordable and easy to register. There’s no excuse for not registering the name that you are thinking about.

If I am talking to a customer and their domain name is available. I suggest to them that they should urgently register the domain name with any of the domain registration companies available out there. I don’t care who they register it through, be it us or one of our competitors, I just tell them to register it. Even if they are only thinking about using the name.

Have you ever checked who owns your domain name? Do you own it? Does your webmaster own it? Maybe even your hosting company owns it!

I am writing this post today because we had a victory today. A customer has regained control of her domain name. She was in a very bad position and nearly lost it. She did not own the domain name, it was registered through her original web designer who was now uncontactable. After a number of threats and no replies from the web designer, he finally replied and released the domain name to the proper own. She has now regained control of her domain name. That’s a happy ending.

How can you check who owns your domain name?
You can check by doing a whois search on your domain name and check the contact details. This is something that many businesses know that they can check and hence why many businesses don’t know who owns their domain name.

In Australia, it is better management because domains need to have the customer’s Australian Business Number (ABN) on the registration form. If this is wrong or needs to be changed, the domain needs to be deleted and then re-registered. This costs the customer time and money.

You can check your domain name using one of the two links -

• Australian Domains – AusRegistry
• Global Domains – Whois.org

Why should you care who owns the domain name?
You will not be notified if the domain name is up for renewal or if it is transferred. If your domain name expires, your website and emails will go down. This problem is often overlooked and the hosting company normally gets the blame because the customer thinks their servers are down. This is not the case. A simple WHOIS search would indicate problem.

Your website could be transferred to a third party without your acknowledge. If this happens, you’ve may have lost your domain name and you need to contact the domain registry (AuDA or ICANN) to investigate.

How can I update my domain name contact details?
You can log in to the domain management interface and update the contacts details. These details should be provided to you from when you registered your domain name.

I hope this will help people understand the importance of owning their domain name.

Please share any stories you may have about your domain names that you did not own or any other horror stories that you have heard about this.