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Domain Names Industry Information

What Does Domain Proxy Mean?

Whether you are starting a professional business website or a personal blog, you also need to consider the impact that purchasing a domain name entails to your data privacy. For starters, you need to decide if you are willing to let your name, address, and other personal information be readily available online. If not, are you open to using a domain proxy service instead?

What does domain proxy mean? Domain proxy refers to both the role and the person assigned to act on behalf of the domain name’s owner or registrant. Any website owner can designate another individual or company (usually a domain proxy service provider) to act as a domain proxy. As the domain owner, you have the power to specify the actions that a domain proxy can do for you.

 Now that you know what a domain proxy is, the next question to answer is whether or not you need such a service. The following few tips will help you navigate the decision-making process, whether it’s a good idea for your business to get a domain proxy for your websites.

To Get or Not to Get a Domain Proxy

Domain proxy services are all about protecting your website and your privacy. But everyone’s priorities are different. That’s why we’ve shared below a short checklist that you can run through to help you determine whether getting a domain proxy is right for you or not.

Get a Proxy Domain If:

  1. You want peace of mind.
  2. You do not want to receive spam emails or calls from random people.
  3. You do not want your personal information freely available online.
  4. You do not want to deal with legitimate third-party correspondence.
  5. You want to maintain anonymity.
  6. You are under the Witness Protection Program.

Do Not Get a Proxy Domain If:

  1. You want the whole world to know that you own your website.
  2. You do not want to spend more on domain proxy or privacy service fees.
  3. You want to communicate directly with any legitimate third-parties who may be interested in your website.

Is Domain Proxy Worth It?

In terms of ensuring that your personal information and business details are protected from malicious prying eyes, domain proxy is definitely worth it.

However, we acknowledge that not all domain owners are in the same situation. Use the checklist above to get a better grip on what your goals for your website are.

What Does a Domain Proxy Do?

Choosing a brandable, short, and memorable domain is up to you, the domain owner, or registrant. However, if you are considering a domain proxy service, here is a list of functions that a domain proxy can do for you.

1. Replace Your Registry Details With Proxy Details

According to ICANN regulations, relevant personal data like name, address, and contact information should be sent to your domain provider’s registry. With a domain proxy service, any personal information is instead hidden, masked, or replaced with the domain proxy provider’s data.

2. Take Care of Correspondences for Your Domain

Now that your real contact information is replaced with your domain proxy service, all of your email or snail mail correspondences and texts or calls are forwarded to them. Some providers may give you a dedicated email address where these messages can be sent. This way, you do not have to deal with these solicitations personally.

3. Security Management

Domain proxy service providers also monitor your domain and prevent unauthorized access. Other domain privacy plans even include round-the-clock website monitoring to prevent and remove malware.

4. Billing Management

Domain proxies also serve as billing managers. Website owners can appoint them to make any billing-related decisions. In the same vein, registrants can also authorize different people or service providers to act as a technical proxy or admin proxy.

5. Prevent Domain Expiration, Cancellation, or Transfer

Another important function of a domain proxy is to ensure that your domain name stays your domain name. Domain proxy service providers will notify you if your credit card is about to expire and you need to renew your domain name. Domain proxies who have technical access can also disallow site cancellation or migration without the registrant’s explicit permission.

How Do I Protect My Domain Name?

Yes, you may have used a naming generator tool and secured a brandable and memorable domain name. But that is half the battle. Once your website is set up, you still need to protect your domain name. And here are a few things you can do:

Naming Generator Domain Search Image

1. Sign Up for Domain Proxy Service

Yes, sign up for a domain proxy service right away. These service providers will notify you a few days or weeks before your domain name expiry to prevent you from losing a good business domain name.

Some providers even step up their game and require your explicit permission before any changes (site transfer or cancellation) are made to your website.

2. Mark Your Domain Name’s Expiry on Your Calendar

Sometimes, nothing beats getting a task notification on your phone’s calendar. So, right after purchasing your chosen domain name, take note of its expiration date, and create a reminder on your calendars. You can do this on your smartphone’s calendar or the desk calendar. Also, just make sure to do the task right away when you receive the calendar notification.

3. Prepay Your Domain Registration Costs

Another method to protect your domain is to prepay the domain’s registration fees. Some domain hosts offer annual, biennial, 5-year, or even 10-year payment plans. Doing so also lets you save on the registration charges since you are paying ahead of time.

4. Update All Sites That Use an Expired Card

If you have recently changed or renewed your credit or debit card, remember to update the new card details in your domain host account. This way, your domain will not accidentally be canceled after unsuccessful payments towards an expired card.

What Is the Difference between Proxy Service and Privacy Service?

When it comes to preserving your privacy and protecting your domain name, domain owners can either use Privacy Services or Proxy Services.

With a proxy service, your personal or business information will not appear on the WHOIS database. Instead, the proxy service will replace your name, address, and contact information with their information. On the WHOIS database, they will act as the registered owner of your domain and all correspondences will be sent to the proxy service.

In contrast, a privacy service allows registrants or website owners to maintain their names as the owner of a domain, but they can use replacement yet still valid contact details. This means that the WHOIS database will reflect your name or business name, but you can designate different emails, contact numbers, and mailing addresses.

Now that you are armed with a good understanding of what a domain proxy is, you’ll be in a better position to determine whether you need it or not for your websites.

Related Questions

What Is the Difference Between Domain Fronting and Domain Proxy?

Registrant refers to the person or entity who purchases a domain name from a domain provider. Registrants can make changes to the domain name as long as timely payments for the domain are made to the domain provider.

On the other hand, a proxy refers to another person or entity who is authorized to act in place of the registrant. Proxies have varying levels of responsibility depending on the agreement between the registrant and the proxy. For example, there can be domain proxies for billing, admin, and technical aspects of a website.

What Is the Difference Between Proxy and Registrant?

Registrant refers to the person or entity who purchases a domain name from a domain provider. Registrants have the power to make changes to the domain name as long as timely payments for the domain is made to the domain provider.

A proxy, on the other hand, refers to another person or entity who is authorized to act in lieu of the registrant. Proxies have varying levels of responsibility depending on the agreement between the registrant and the proxy. For example, there can be domain proxies for billing, admin, and technical aspects of a website.

What Data Is Needed When You Register a Domain?

To register a domain, you will need to submit the following information: Name, Address, Email Address, and Contact Number. Other domain providers and registries may require more information depending on their rules and regulations.

Sources:

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/privacy-proxy-registration-2013-03-22-en

https://whois.icann.org/en/privacy-and-proxy-services

 

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Industry Information

How Many Websites Are Started Every Day?

Since the birth of the internet more than three decades ago, millions of websites have been created. But have you ever wondered how many sites are started every single day? You may guess that the number’s in the thousands, but let’s find out.

So how many websites are started every single day? A closer estimate is that about half a million new websites are created every day. This translates to roughly 547,200 unique websites daily or up to 380 sites each minute – bringing the total number of websites in the whole world to about 1.2 billion, according to a January 2020 survey conducted by NetCraft.

 With all these active sites, the need to set your own website apart from others is even more important. And if you are interested in more internet statistics, facts, and tips on how to create your own website, we’ve got you covered.

Who Created the First Website?

The first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee while he was at CERN (or the European Organization for Nuclear Research). The exact website was restored a few years ago, and you can access it here. The site is aptly called “The World Wide Web Project.”

When Was the First Website Created?

Tim Berners-Lee created the original proposal for the new global information system technology around March 1989. Together with fellow computer systems engineer Robert Cailliau, a more formal management proposal was submitted. The first website, web browser, and server were up and running by late 1990. And the rest was history.

How Many Websites Are Online Now?

Based on a 2020 NetCraft web survey, there are approximately 1,295,973,827 websites worldwide. This is a slight 3 million decrease from 2019 data. Note that the number of websites is not the total number of active sites since most sites are parked domains or are not updated. The actual number of active websites is only about 1.8 million.

How to Create Your Own Website

With all this talk about the history of the internet, it’s only logical that you get curious about making your website. Below, we’ve prepared a short actionable on how you can start your own website quickly.

1. Decide on a Topic or Niche

All websites start with a central topic or core niche. Do you want a personal website where you only share journal-like updates? Do you want to open a crafting supplies website? Or an online tool that allows site visitors to create their funny cat memes?

Choose a niche that you are already familiar with or a topic that you are willing to spend time on and learn more about.

2. Choose a Domain Name

Next, it’s time to choose a domain name. Whether you are starting a personal website or a company site, always keep in mind that the best domain names are short and brandable.

If you are overwhelmed with what domain name to choose, try out our Free Domain Name Generation Tool.

Naming Generator Domain Search Image

3. Select a Web Hosting Provider

A web host is a company who acts as the storage manager of all your website files. Hosting providers typically provide bandwidth, storage, security, and other resource allocations. There are different hosting plans depending on the type of site that you want to run, your budget, and your technical background.

If it’s your first time starting a website, you may choose a WordPress Hosting service that will give you Control Panel access.

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4. Get a Customizable Website Theme

Now that you have purchased a domain name and a web host, the next step is to get a website theme. Most web hosting providers will include default site builder or theme upon subscription. But if you want your site to stand out, purchasing, downloading, and then customizing your theme is the way to go.

If you opt for a self-hosted WordPress site, it is even easier to download free or premium theme templates. When customizing your site, don’t forget to add your own logo, color scheme, and brand or website name to make the whole site more memorable.

5. Create a Content Plan

To ensure your website’s success, it pays to create a content plan from the get-go. A website content plan lets you decide what kind of content to post, when to publish these posts, and how to promote them. This content plan can be a simple spreadsheet with Topic Ideas, Post Title, Keyword, Date, and Status columns.

Remember, your website’s content will depend on your chosen topic or niche. For example, if you want to start a cooking website, your content will mostly be articles talking about recipes, diets, or meal planning. On the other hand, if you want to start a photography website, your content can be a mixture of text and, of course, your photographs.

6. Start Writing

After creating a content plan, you should begin writing. The sooner you start publishing content on your site, the sooner will your site be indexed by search engines. And, if you want to earn from your site eventually, you need this to occur as soon as possible.

If your resources allow it, you may also hire content writers to write articles on your chosen topics. Doing so is applicable if you are looking to target multiple keywords or if you just want to churn out as many articles all at once.

On the other hand, if you just want to start a personal travel website for every time you go on a trip, then writing the posts and adding photos yourself is doable.

7. Promote Your Website

Upon registering a domain name and signing up for a hosting service, your website is live in the world wide web. But, not everyone knows that your site is live yet. That is why promoting your site is vital.

Today, the most common website promotion tool is the use of social media. Post your site’s domain name or URL on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can even start spreading the word about your website by texting or emailing all your friends and relatives.

Or, if you want to promote an online store or company website, you may learn more about social media marketing or search engine optimization. Do what you think is best for your website.

And that’s it! Seven easy and actionable steps that you can do right now if you want to start your personal or business website. Still undecided on what domain name to use? Check out our domain name generator tool and tick one step off this website-making checklist.

Related Questions

What Is a Website?

A website is a group of documents about a specific topic that is connected to each other in the World Wide Web. Each website is differentiated from other sites by its domain name or URL (uniform resource locator). All website data is also stored on a web server.

There can be public and private websites. A public website, as its name implies, is accessible by anyone connected to the internet. On the other hand, a private website is only available within a specific network, location, or server.

What Is the Difference Between a Website and a Domain?

A website is the visual representation of your business, persona, service, chosen niche, or topic online that users see when they arrive on your site. It includes all the web pages, photos, links, headers, videos, gifs, memes, etc. that are available on your website. In comparison, a domain is just the series of letters and numbers that appear on the search bar and acts as an internet address and differentiates your website from other sites.

How Many Websites Has Google Indexed?

As the most popular search engine in the world, Google has indexed about 1.3 billion websites. According to World Wide Web Size, Google has indexed up to 4.4 billion web pages. This number is higher since each website comprises hundreds, or even thousands, of separate web pages.

Who Owns the Internet?

On April 30, 1993, CERN made the internet, and the technology behind it, available free of royalties and open to everyone. All this led to the further democratization of the world wide web and its continuing growth.

Sources:

https://news.netcraft.com/archives/2020/01/21/january-2020-web-server-survey.html

https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web/short-history-web

https://www.worldwidewebsize.com