Meet our #InternetOfficial Contest Judge and Naming Expert Steve Manning

• By • Getting Online

As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of .com in 2015, we are excited to partner with a stellar group of industry experts, who will serve as judges and help us select up to five monthly winners (for a total of 15) and the final, grand prize winner of our #InternetOfficial .com domain name contest.

Our panel would not have been complete without Steve Manning, naming expert and CEO of naming firm Igor. Steve is a prominent naming and branding authority and has spent the last 17 years leading naming projects for some of the most popular brands, including the Aria resort in Las Vegas, the “Cutthroat Kitchen” TV show, Gogo inflight Wi-Fi and TruTV. His clients also include some of the world’s most iconic brands, from Nike and Intel to Bank of America and one of Steve Wynn’s signature hotels, the Wynn Las Vegas.

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Get to Know #InternetOfficial Contest Judge and SMB Expert Anita Campbell

• By • Getting Online

It’s time to celebrate the Internet’s most recognized domain name – .com – and its 30th anniversary! Verisign recently launched the #InternetOfficial contest, where contestants can enter by registering an original, memorable and keyword-rich .com name through a participating registrar and then visiting either VerisignInternetOfficial.com to complete and submit the contest entry form for that newly registered .com domain name, all during the contest entry period.* Then, a panel of top industry influencers and celebrity judges, including Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends Anita Campbell, will help determine the five best .com domain names entered into the contest each month during the contest’s three-month entry period, as well as the winner of the $30,000 grand prize.

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Meet our #InternetOfficial Contest Judge and Domain Expert Michael Berkens

• By • Getting Online

We kicked off the #InternetOfficial contest on Monday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of .com and fuel up to 15 lucky entrepreneurs’ dreams to start their own business on a .com domain name. Now that you are well aware of how to enter the contest, we wanted to introduce you to the panel of judges who will be helping to choose up to five monthly winners (for a total of 15) and the final, grand prize winner over the course of the contest.

Meet domain expert Michael H. Berkens! Michael is one of the most well-known and prominent investors and bloggers in the domain industry. He was awarded Domainer of the Year in 2009 and is a member of the Domain Hall of Fame. Michael has been quoted on the domain industry in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and Bloomberg, TheRegister.co.uk as well as many other technology, domain and legal publications. His evaluation and development expertise has also been tapped in several of the highest profile domain sales and auction events in recent years.

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Internet Grows to 284 Million Domain Names in the Third Quarter of 2014

• By • Domain Names

Today, we released the latest issue of the Domain Name Industry Brief, which showed that the Internet grew by four million domain names in the third quarter of 2014. The total number of domain names across all top-level domains (TLDs) is now 284 million. This is a 1.6 percent increase over the second quarter of 2014. [1]

Largest TLDs by Zone Size

TLD by Zone Size Q3 2014
Source: Zooknic, Q3 2014; Verisign, Q3 2014; Centralized Zone Data Service, Q3 2014

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Make Your Idea Internet Official: Your .com Is Waiting

• By • Getting Online

As you think about bringing your business online, look no further than .com, one of the most universally recognized domains on the internet. While .com is highly desirable for the businesses and individuals around the globe, did you know there are still millions upon millions of great .com domain names available for registration? Let’s take a look at the latest facts around .com availability, based on an analysis of .com domain name registrations as of July 2014:

  • 23 million times a day, a .com domain name availability check is successful [1]
  • Over 95 percent of five-character .com combinations are available
  • More than 99 percent of six-character .com combinations are available
Even though there is an abundance of .com domain names available for registration, many experts recommend registering descriptive and keyword-rich names because they attract higher click-through rates on search engine results pages.

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Why the UK needs a Go and Grow Online campaign

• By • Getting Online

Guest Post from Emma Jones, founder of UK-based Enterprise Nation

With almost 50% of small businesses said to be without a website and, of those that are online, only a few taking the opportunity to trade, Emma Jones of London-based small business network, Enterprise Nation, outlines the need for a campaign to help British businesses make the most of the web.

When I founded Enterprise Nation in 2005 it was to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses. Now, by offering expert advice, events, networking and inspiring books, we have more than 60,000 members in the UK who are all looking to create thriving small businesses.

When Enterprise Nation first started, Facebook was still in its infancy and Twitter hadn’t even been founded, which shows just how quickly the online world has changed! With over 2 billion people now online across the globe, the digital world represents a big opportunity for small businesses. Having a website to showcase your products and services is like having a shop window that the world can see into, at any time of the day (or night!). It’s never been so easy to launch online with template website providers, blogging platforms and social media. So why is it that so many businesses are yet to embrace the web and reap the rewards?

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Internet Grows to 271 Million Domain Names in the Fourth Quarter of 2013

• By • Domain Names

Today, Verisign announced five million domain names were added to the internet in the fourth quarter of 2013, bringing the total number of registered domain names to 271 million worldwide across all top-level domains (TLDs) as of Dec. 31, 2013, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief. The increase of five million domain names globally equates to a growth rate of 1.9 percent over the third quarter of 2013. Worldwide registrations have grown by 18.5 million, or 7.3 percent, year over year.

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