The importance of Parked Domains cannot be overstated. From protecting against Cybersquatting to registering trademarks and variations of your business name, Parked Domain is the solution to what could have otherwise been major problems.
But first we explain what a Parked Domain is. We’ll also look at some of its advantages.
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What is a domain?
A domain or domain name is your location or address on the internet where users can find your website.
Prior to using domain names, people would have to remember IP address, which is a series of number. It was not the easiest thing for people to do and this led to the creation of domain names – the simpler and more efficient way to identify sites on the Internet
Although the idea was to get away from the long series of numbers, domain names can include numbers. As a matter-of-fact, domain names can be any combination of letters and numbers, but no matter what blend you choose, you’ll be the only one with it. No two websites have the same domain.
Note also that choosing a domain name is only the first step, because you have to register it before it can be used.
So, what exactly is a parked domain?
A parked domain is a pseudonym or alias domain name to your primary domain.
It allows you to forward a domain name to another website.
An example of a parked domain would be if you have a hosting for http://www.yoursite.com and have also registered http://www.yourcite.com.
With both domains in your possession, you can park the registered domain name, which will redirect users to http://www.yoursite.com if they visit http://www.yourcite.com.
To sum it all up, a Parked Domain is an inactive domain that’s been reserved for future use. It can also direct traffic to another existing domain that’s being used by its owner.
Why are Parked Domains important?
Parked Domains provide options to a range of issues website owners may have to deal with, at one point or another.
Here are four of the reasons parked domains are important.
- Multiple Web Addresses
- Name Reservation
- Protection Against Cybersquatting
- Waiting for Expiration
1. Multiple web addresses
Many companies register multiple domain names as part of a wider marketing strategy. These domains are generally linked to one website, so in essence they give users many ways to connect with your business.
2. Name reservation
Good domain names go as quickly as they come, which makes name reservation one of the main reasons domains are parked.
If you find a great domain, but don’t yet have any actual content to start your website off right now, you can purchase the domain and park it until you are ready to use it.
3. Protection against Cybersquatting
Let’s start by explaining what Cybersquatting is. According to United States Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act: “Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name with bad faith and the intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.”
An example of Cybersquatting in the act refers to a small Canadian company that demanded that Umbro International, Inc., “pay $50,000 to its sole shareholder, $50,000 to an Internet charity, and provide a free lifetime supply of soccer equipment in order for it to relinquish the “umbro.com” name.”
Large businesses tend to be the target and it can ruin their brand and their bottom line.
This is why protection against Cybersquatting is a major reason businesses will park a domain.
4. Waiting for expiration
If you’ve lost interest in a domain name, for whatever reasons, you can simply park it until it expires. One of the good things about this option is that it doesn’t cost to park your domain as most registrars offer the service for free.
So instead of paying for web hosting service for a site you no longer want to use, you can opt to park the domain.
Benefits of Parked Domains
Now that we’ve covered the importance of Parked Domains, let’s look at four of the benefits of parking a domain name.
1. No contractual obligation
Domain parking companies, at least most of them, do not have a contract. This means you don’t have to commit to a 12-month contract, when you may only need the services for a few weeks or months.
The no contract obligation also gives you time to move the domain or develop it at your convenience.
2. Set up is easy
Parking a domain is as simple as signing up with a company that does this kind of thing and leaving the rest of the work to them.
So forget about spending hours trying to figure out how to pull the breaks on your domain.
3. Minimal maintenance
Similar to the set-up, domain parking requires little to no maintenance. It’s really a set it up and forget situation.
If and when you are ready to develop the domain, all you have to do is sign up for an account and leave the rest to the domain parking company.
4. International access
When you park a domain, it doesn’t mean it’s locked away in some garage and no one can see it. Anyone, across the world, with internet access can find your domain.
This means you can start getting traffic even if you haven’t officially started business.
5. Income generation
A parked domain does not mean you cannot generate money from it. The truth is that many businesses monetize their parked domains by displaying ads on them.
How this works is that every time a visitor to your page clicks on an ad, the owner of the page gets some money from it.
A domain can also be parked to give individuals or businesses extra time to develop their website.
Some other benefits of parked domains include: generating additional email accounts and registering trademarks and variations of your primary domain name.
Summary
Parked Domains are important for a number of reasons, as stated before. The advantages are also pretty substantial. So whether you decide to park a domain for a month or year, the set-up is super simple when you are ready to.
