Surf7.net Blog

Attention bloggers who blogs on blogspot (blogger.com) platform. I only have one advice. Please get your own domain name and use it as custom domain for your blogspot account because, whatever happen to blogspot, your domain stays with you - forever!

One classic example is blog of Malaysia’s ex prime minister; Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Previously, his blog was hosted by blogspot. Not long after his blog become popular (remember the 1 million hits record?), blogspot unreasonably shut down his blog. Luckily he is using his own domain name; chedet.com. Can you imagine what a disaster it would have been if his blog’s address was something like chedet.blogspot.com? He would have lost all his readers. All the efforts in promoting the blog and search engine ranking would have gone down the drain! Now, his blog is self hosted using Movable Type (a blog CMS) on a dedicated server. Well, it was down for few days, but at least the damage was very minimal.

Don’t take it for granted. You never know what will happen in future. It could be another dotcom burst coming soon.

One great feature from blogspot is they allow you to use a custom domain name on blogspot platform. That means, you still blog normally using the same platform but using your own domain. How cool is that?

For example, if you own abc123.com, you can easily convert your current address from http://abc123.blogspot.com/ to http://abc123.com/ for free. Anyone who goes to the old address will redirect to your new domain. Not only you will not loose any readership, it is short and easy to remember too.

All you need is…

1. A domain name
2. DNS management service

Finally, refer to this article to learn how to use a custom domain name on your blogspot account.

I have mentioned before in “10 tips for choosing a good domain name for your company“; one way to get a good domain name for your company is to register your domain name first before you choose your company name. Here is a cool and extremely fast way to do that. Try our new Random Web 2.0 Domain Name Generator to get new idea for your domain name. You are able to check the availability of the domain name instantly.

Here are some samples of really good domain names generated by the generator that are still available at the time of publishing this blog.

• setcut.com (register it!)
• jamfolders.com (register it!)
• lifemuses.com (register it!)
• slashdesks.com (register it!)
• simplebosses.com (register it!)
• behindshack.com (register it!)
• nugogo.com (register it!)
• conboo.com (register it!)
• setpeers.com (register it!)

Now you can have a Web 2.0 domain name for your brand new website.

The .ASIA registration is live at a special introductory offer of RM75/year. From now onward, you can register your desired .ASIA domain name (for example: yourname.asia) on a “first come first serve basis“. Also, the minimum registration period is now 1 year.

Why Register .ASIA?

1. Target more than 60% of the World population residing in Asia.
2. Create a strong presence in Asia.
3. Protect your brand from cyber-squatters.

How To Apply?
Visit our Order Center and search for your domain availability there. If it is still available, you can submit your application and we will proceed with the registration once the full payment of the invoice is made.

More About .ASIA

• .Asia registration policy
• .Asia reserve name policy
• FAQ on .ASIA

Hurry! Claim your .ASIA ownership now.

REGISTER NOW FOR SHORTER INTERNET ADDRESSES

Did you miss the priority entry period last year?
No worries! Public registration opens on Tuesday, 25th March 2008.

Now you can register for our new shorter Internet address companyname.my

Why get a shorter address? Shorter Internet address will offer you the following :

1. You will gain an impactful identification mark within the global Internet community as it is easier to remember
2. You can span across any industry (as the name will no longer need any categorization of type of entity) to promote your products and services
3. You are protecting your intellectual property & brand name. Failure to register your name using shorter suffix companyname.my leaves it open for other entities/parties to take up the name, that may result in trademark issues later
4. It is faster and quicker for foreign Internet communities to recognize you as a Malaysian brand selling to the global market

This registration is open to the public and applications will be processed on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS. SO HURRY! to secure your Internet address.

Register now to protect your organization’s unique identity on the World Wide Web!

Top 10 tips for choosing a good domain name for your company:

1. Contain your company/brand name.
2. Does not contain hyphen or numbers (unless necessary or they are part of your brand)
3. Easy to spell. Should be able to spell correctly just by listening to it.
4. The lesser the words, the easier to remember and more valuable the domain name will be.
5. Always make .COM your first choice. If it is taken, then only go for .NET, .BIZ or other general TLD or country code TLD (if your company is based in Malaysia, register .com.my NOT .co.uk or .com.sg).
6. Descriptive. People should be able to get a hint about your website or business from your domain name. If it contains key terms, it may help in search engine ranking.
7. With the price of domains getting cheaper, anyone can afford to register multiple domains just for one website. Especially for domain with generic names, don’t just register .com only, register .net, org, .biz, .com.my, etc… as well.
8. Proof read it. Make sure your domain name cannot be read in other ways that brings totally different meaning or worse, embarrassing meaning.
9. Make sure the domain name is not a trademark of another company. Legal battle of domain name dispute is not pretty. To make sure you have a clear name, check it with your attorney or a trademark company.
10. If your desired domain name is taken by someone else and you have the budget, offer to buy the domain name from the current owner. Who can resist a good price? A good place to start is at Sedo.com.

I am sure it is getting harder and harder to get a domain base on the above tips. So my suggestion is reverse the process. If you are a new company, search for the available domain names and REGISTER THE DOMAIN NAME FIRST before you choose your company name. You don’t want to spend millions of RM on branding and find out all the good domain names have been taken by someone else.

If you already have a company name, for example; Acme Sdn Bhd and it is in pet food business but acme.com is already taken by someone else then you might want to consider registering acme.com.my or acmepetfood.com or even both.

Claim ownership on the most sought after real estate on the internet today! Surf7.net begins with the .ASIA pre-applications at an unbelievably low pricing of RM75 (fully refundable)!

Why .ASIA?

• Great Reach - Asia houses 60% of the world’s population, and the number of Asian Internet users is growing at 350% every year! In fact, 3 Asian countries rank amongst the top 5 for internet usage.
• Protect your Brand - If you already have a business within Asia, or own any other domain names related to Asian operations, then you should get your .ASIA domain as well.
• Create Your Presence in Your Community - It is about time that the largest continent in the world had a domain extension specific to its own community and gave users an apt alternative.

.ASIA Application process:
You can start applying for your .ASIA Domains right away!

• In case you are the sole applicant for your Domain, you will acquire the ownership of that particular Domain Name a short while after 12th March, 2008.
• For domains that will receive more than one application, the .ASIA registry will allocate the Domain Name via an auction. So in case any of your Domains get multiple applications, you can claim ownership of the concerned Domain Name by placing the highest bid for it. This auction will be held a short while after 12th March, 2008, and you will be emailed the details on the same.

Why apply through Surf7.net?

All Domain applications processed through us are guaranteed a reversal on the application charge of RM75. This means, if the outcome of the auction is not in your favor for, the entire application amount will be refunded to you. This way, you can safely apply for as many Domains as you want, without having to pay for a Domain that you will not eventually end up registering!

Note:

• RM75 includes the one year registration as well as pre-application cost.
• You will be required to register for a minimum of 2 years, as mandated by the .ASIA Registry.
• You can apply for a .ASIA Domain Name up to 12th March, 2008.

Along with .ASIA at just RM75, you can purchase any domain extension from our Domain Portfolio at the most competitive pricing available online.

Please feel free to get back to us, in case you require any further information or clarification.