Domain.Glossary

Domain Glossary

49 terms matching your filter

Clear

Affiliate Domain

A domain hosting an affiliate site that earns commissions by referring visitors to other products or services.

intermediate

Auth Code (EPP Code)

A one-time password required to transfer a domain from one registrar to another.

intermediate

Cloudflare

A leading internet infrastructure provider offering DNS, CDN, security, and at-cost domain registration.

beginner

Domain Age

How long a domain has been registered — older domains often carry more SEO authority and trust.

beginner

Domain Backorder

A service that automatically tries to register a domain the moment it expires and becomes available.

beginner

Domain Conference

Industry events where domain investors, brokers, and registrars network, learn, and conduct business.

beginner

Domain Expiration

When a domain's registration period ends and it becomes available for re-registration.

beginner

Domain Extension

The suffix at the end of a domain name — another word for TLD (e.g., .com, .org, .io).

beginner

Domain Forwarding

Automatically redirecting visitors from one domain to another URL.

beginner

Domain Lock

A security feature that prevents a domain from being transferred without explicit unlocking.

beginner

Domain Monetization

Generating revenue from domains through parking, leasing, development, or affiliate content.

intermediate

Domain Name

A human-readable internet address that maps to an IP address, such as "example.com."

beginner

Domain Name Wire

A leading domain industry blog covering news, major sales, and ICANN policy — run by Andrew Allemann.

beginner

Domain Newsletter

Email publications covering domain sales, news, and investment strategies — essential reading for investors.

beginner

Domain Parking

Displaying ads on a domain that has no full website, earning pay-per-click revenue.

beginner

Domain Portfolio

A collection of domain names owned and managed by an investor or company.

beginner

Domain Privacy (WHOIS Privacy)

A service that hides your personal contact info from the public WHOIS database.

beginner

Domain Reseller

A company that buys wholesale domain registrations to resell at retail prices, often under their own brand.

intermediate

Domain Status Codes

EPP codes that indicate a domain's current state — locked, suspended, transferring, or active.

intermediate

Domain Tasting

An old practice of registering domains for free using the 5-day grace period refund policy — eliminated by ICANN in 2009.

advanced

Domain Transfer

Moving a domain's registration from one registrar to another.

beginner

Drop Catching

Registering an expired domain the instant it becomes available using automated systems.

intermediate

EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol)

The protocol registrars use to register and transfer domains, and the source of transfer auth codes.

advanced

Escrow.com

The leading domain escrow service recommended by ICANN — protects both buyer and seller in transactions.

beginner

Expired Domain

A domain whose registration has lapsed, potentially available for acquisition at auction or drop.

beginner

GoDaddy Domain Appraisal

GoDaddy's free automated domain valuation tool — a quick reference based on comparable sales data.

beginner

Grace Period

The window after expiration when a domain can still be renewed at standard cost.

intermediate

IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority)

The ICANN body that manages the DNS root zone, IP address allocation, and protocol registries.

advanced

ICANN

The nonprofit that oversees the global domain name system and accredits registrars.

intermediate

Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)

A domain name using non-Latin characters (Arabic, Chinese, etc.) — encoded via Punycode for DNS compatibility.

intermediate

Mini-Site

A small content website built on a domain to generate SEO traffic and ad or affiliate revenue.

intermediate

NameJet

A domain backorder and expired domain auction platform known for premium drops.

intermediate

NamesCon

The largest annual domain industry conference — the premier networking and deal-making event for professionals.

beginner

Pending Delete

The 5-day countdown before an expired domain is released and available for re-registration.

intermediate

Portfolio Tracker

A tool to track domain acquisition costs, renewal dates, listings, and sales across a portfolio.

beginner

PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

An ad model where each click earns revenue — the basis of domain parking income.

beginner

Premium Renewal

When a registry charges above-standard renewal fees on domains classified as premium — an ongoing cost to watch.

intermediate

Redemption Period

The phase after the grace period where a domain can be recovered only by the original registrant, with a large fee.

intermediate

Registrant

The person or organization that owns a registered domain name.

beginner

Registrant Verification

The process of confirming a domain registrant's contact information is accurate — required by ICANN.

beginner

Registrar

An ICANN-accredited company that sells and manages domain name registrations.

beginner

Registrar Transfer

Moving a domain from one registrar to another while keeping it active — adds one year to registration.

beginner

Registry

The authoritative organization that maintains the master database for a specific TLD.

beginner

Secondary Market

All transactions involving already-registered domains — auctions, private sales, and marketplace listings.

beginner

Type-In Traffic

Visitors who reach a domain by typing it directly into their browser, with no search engine involved.

intermediate

Verisign

The registry operator for .com and .net — maintains the authoritative database of all .com registrations.

intermediate

Wayback Machine

The Internet Archive tool for viewing historical website snapshots — used by domain investors for research.

beginner

WHOIS

A public database showing who registered a domain name and when it expires.

beginner

WWW (World Wide Web)

The classic subdomain prefix for websites — "www.example.com" — still common but optional today.

beginner