I registered my first domain in 2010.
For those wondering, how to get a website, one first has to register a domain name. Known as domain registration.
There is an art to finding what is available. Most .com site names haven be taken (international demand is high).
Once you have registered a domain name, you have to host the domain on a server. Known as domain hosting.
Only once a domain is hosted on a server will it become live and accessible on the internet.
I was a late bloomer one might say.
Given that the 90s will always be remembered for the .com boom.
Since 2010 I have been chasing registration of .co.za. domain names.
Thus far I have built up a portfolio of live sites and a collection of future sites I will be stepping into.
In this time as site developer I have learnt quite a bit about the industry.
For example I have had to change domain hosts 2 years into this process. The original host, rsaweb, offered the worst experience.
They hosted my site on a shared server with some other dodgy sites. Slow and not Google friendly.
Then, during the times of power outages, my site experienced down time. Again not Google friendly.
Since then, I have moved my hosted sites to Hetzner and for the last 16 years I have not experienced a single snag.
Having changed domain hosts, I also have left behind some registered domain names.
At this point I had thought that the registration process of domain names operated on a first come first serve/win basis.
Be the first to register a domain name and you become the registered owner of the domain. For life.
I equated this understanding to land/property ownership.
First one to register new land or to purchase a new item becomes the forever known owner.
Having left behind registered domains at rsaweb, I didn’t think twice about it.
At my time with Hetzner I started accumulating more domain names, which they then registered for me.
One thing I found strange though was that both website management companies, rsaweb and Hetzner, kept a list of my domains and automatically would re-register the domain name a year later.
Leaving one to conclude that a domain registration is only valid for 1 year.
This is where the wild west of domain registration comes into play.
To better understand domain registration, or rather to better understand the process of domain registration, let me reveal how I think a transaction through (first).
I think of a cool website name. One that can market a certain product or service well.
First thing I do is go onto Google and type that domain name. Testing to see if there is already a company doing what I want to do (feasibility assessment).
If there is no website on the desired domain, it tells me that I have a concept that has yet to be implemented.
Then I log into my domain host and make use of their portal to try and register a new site.
In this process, my host tells me if/what domains are available.
For example, I think “coolwebsites.com” would be a great venture and I then search “coolwebsites” on their search bar.
To which they say only “coolwebsites.co.za” is a available. This tells me that coolwebsites.com is taken. Registered by another user.
At this point, the concept that first come first serve works well. Someone got the .com registration first. They are now the owners and I am not able to register that domain.
If however that desired domain name means a lot to me. I can draw some conclusions.
1. There is no site on the desired domain name.
2. Someone has registered the domain though.
The next logical step is to find out more about the registration. When it happened and by whom.
So, to find out more, I would go onto the whois registration information of the site. This tells me a lot about the owner.
When they registered, who they are, what country are they from etc etc.
In theory, I could approach the registered owner and ask if they would be interested in selling.
That’s the theory and thought process.
However here is how the wild west actually works.
One can see when the last payment (for registration) was made. If longer than a year, say 2 years or more, and there is no site hosted, someone new can just register themselves as owners.
When I say someone, that someone is not the general public, like myself. With limited knowledge of the registration process.
No.
That someone has to have serious experience in dealing with registrars. A little more advanced than my limited experience.
Direct dealings opposed to third party dealings.
Kind of like going directly into ones local municipal buildings to re-register property ownership as opposed to using a realtor agent to do that on your behalf.
It is the wild west for those who are dependent on realtor agents. Realtor agents in this transaction however do not offer their service in previously registered domains.
What I have found out is that the domain names I previously bought with rsaweb have all been re-registered. Without my consent.
As a layman, I am not able to re-register other domains that other people have however others have re-registered my domains.
As a layman, I am left to conclude that you got to be willing and able to fight dirty if you want to survive the wild west of the domain world.