First, let me say this place is a great resource. I haven't found many tech forums with people who actually take the time to answer questions.

Background: I'm at the early stages of creating a business and would like to go ahead and hold the best web names for it (thankfully they're still available). The websites will probably be quiet for about a year until word starts getting out on construction.

1) I know to register and host separate (from your advice), but is there any issue with just registering the TLD(s) and not adding a host or any web content? My registrar wouldn't dump me for inactivity, correct? I just want to hold the names for some time and avoid expensive squatters.

2) Which extensions would you register? .com of course...but what about .net, .org, .us Waste of $$ or not? The business is an entertainment complex. Project value approx $3M

3) Through reading of this forum it appears that ENom, namecheap and moniker are the best registrars to work with. My understanding is that namecheap is affiliated with ENom, yet the price differs by quite a margin (~$8 vs ~$30 IIRC). Nothing is free, so what reason would i have to choose ENom over namecheap? All else equal I plan to register ~4 TLD's and would rather put the $100 elsewhere when the business isn't making profits yet. I don't mind spending $$ for prfessionalism and quality, but I sure like to know what I'm buying for a premium.

I've read the FAQ's here, but any wisdom is appreciated!

First, let me say this place is a great resource. I haven't found many tech forums with people who actually take the time to answer questions.


Hi, and welcome to WHT :)



1) I know to register and host separate (from your advice), but is there any issue with just registering the TLD(s) and not adding a host or any web content? My registrar wouldn't dump me for inactivity, correct? I just want to hold the names for some time and avoid expensive squatters.


No problem at all. There is no "inactivity clause" as it were. Until you actually do something with the name, it will point to a default web page created by the registrar. If it stays like that for years, so be it.


2) Which extensions would you register? .com of course...but what about .net, .org, .us Waste of $$ or not? The business is an entertainment complex. Project value approx $3M


Still a hotly debated issue. On one hand, you could say that the cost is negligible given the anticipated revenue. On the other hand, you could say that once the site becomes popular, you could get the other TLDs (and CCs as well) turned over to you. So...I don't know.


3) Through reading of this forum it appears that ENom, namecheap and moniker are the best registrars to work with. My understanding is that namecheap is affiliated with ENom, yet the price differs by quite a margin (~$8 vs ~$30 IIRC). Nothing is free, so what reason would i have to choose ENom over namecheap? All else equal I plan to register ~4 TLD's and would rather put the $100 elsewhere when the business isn't making profits yet. I don't mind spending $$ for prfessionalism and quality, but I sure like to know what I'm buying for a premium.


Namecheap is indeed an enom reseller and ETP -- eNom Technology Partner. The reason eNom charges so much is to NOT compete with their resellers, so going directly with eNom, in your case, doesn't make sense. I've used Namecheap before and have been happy with them. I've never used moniker, so I don't know.

Also, there are a couple of threads here which mention Namcheap coupon codes which brings the price down even more.

Thanks for the great reply sea otter

I think I'll purchase .com and .net via namecheap.

Sea Otter has given you good advice BQuicksilver.

I would add/expand...

1) Don't use any online whois lookup for your domains except, iWhois. Reg your names ASAP.

2) It depends on your budget and how serious you are with establishing your business. If you have the budget, I'd reg com/net/org/us/biz/info and possibly cc, to begin with. If you don't have the budget, I'd reg .com and probably .us, in your case.

If you have a successful business venture, you should not be surprised to find your other tlds get taken either to 1)copy your idea and compete against you, or 2)to sell the domain to you later at an inflated price. Trademark your business (and presumably your tld name), ASAP. This may help you to recover the other domains using ICANN's UDRP process (at $1500 per domain). Now you see why it's cheaper to just reg them all up front, if you have the budget.

3) You are probably best to go with NameCheap directly as a retail customer without getting involved with eNom reseller or sub-accounts.

Sea Otter has given you good advice BQuicksilver.

I would add/expand...

1) Don't use any online whois lookup for your domains except, iWhois. Reg your names ASAP.


Ah yes, very good point. I'm not paranoid about much, but I have seen domains disappear right from under people after looking them up (it even happened to me once). At this point I only do lookups from within my eNom reseller account --they haven't front-run me yet!

I had the same thought (but no idea if there was any validity in it) that just searching could get the domains taken. I used namecheap's front page and my search history was off to the side. You know I didn't like seeing that. Thankfully I was able to purchase the .com and .net of both variants on the business model I'm proposing.

Once I know which of the two models I'm going with I'll buy the others. The name won't be public before that point.

Thanks Again!

I wouldn't use ANY online whois lookup for domains I was considering registering. I haven't seen any complaints about eNom or NameCheap, but you never know. The worst of course are probably those searches which are not associated with any registrar. That's not to say registrar lookups are safe. They are not. I only recommended iWhois because a friend of the owner who I greatly respect has stated on WHT that they state they do not monitor your searches. See this thread http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=508540&highlight=iwhois