Parking domain names is an excellent option to use, for registering domain names for future use and/or protect them from competitors. You can also park variations of your existing domains to protect them.

You pay an annual registration fee, to reserve the domain name, but don't need to build a full website until you're ready.

Here I discuss options, and popular services for parking domain names.

SiteSell's Name Park It!

Name Park It! is a domain parking service exclusively for Site Build It! (SBI!) owners and/or SiteSell affiliates (members of the 5 Pillar Club).

Name Park It!

• each NPI! domain costs US$9.95
• payment using a major credit card or PayPal, is acceptable
• allows the use of subdomains
• offers free Whois privacy. Yes, really :-) It's a new addition to the service.
• is only available for new registrations. Domains that you already have registered with another Registrar cannot be transferred into NPI!
• Requires each domain to be purchased and registered separately, not as a multiple purchase/order.
• ensures your domain is secure (SiteSell Support has to unlock the domains for transfer away to a new Registrar.)
• has separate order numbers, user names and passwords for management of each domain, for additional security
• Excellent customer service! Generally, their turnaround time is 4-6 hours during the day/ early evening, 12 hours overnight (ET). From my 5+ years experience of using SiteSell to host our main websites, the Support response times have usually been much quicker than those times given. Use this form to contact SiteSell Support.

Register here, if you are not yet a SiteSell affiliate, but would like to use the NPI! service, then check our Name Park It! page for the procedures to register your domain/s.

Go Daddy

• Freely available for new domain registrations.
• Transfers of domains already registered through other registrars are permitted. GoDaddy extends the domain's expiry date by a year, so there's no real cost for the domain transfer. They must make their revenue on the renewals and other services! :-)
• Multiple domain purchases are also permitted. Very easy ordering process, although GoDaddy makes multiple up-sell offers during the ordering process.
• Whois privacy is offered through their DomainsbyProxy service, only on a per-domain basis. Regular domain privacy cost is currently US$6.99. Sometimes GoDaddy runs various specials, like discounted rates for US$3.99 or buy 3 domains to get free privacy. (Note: these are only examples of previous offers made -- sign up for the special offer notifications by e-mail, to get regular updates and offers.)
• Domain locking and unlocking is available in the main domain admin. section.
• User friendly administration and ordering system. Once your order is confirmed, all your invoices are available in the administration area, to reprint, as and when required.
• Allows the use of subdomains.
• You can also choose to re-set your domain renewal dates to your own preference, for a small, one-time fee.
• Special pricing is available for bulk renewals.
• Customer service is provided by e-mail, and telephone. However, there's no toll-free number provided. For assistance by phone, you would need find and call the appropriate numbers provided for specific departments at their offices in Arizona.

Important Notes about Parking Domain Names

Once registered, you cannot transfer your domain to another registrar, for 60 days after initial registration. This applies to any Registrar -- it's ICANN's rule, not the inividual registrars.

So, if you want to use any of your parked domain names to build a website within that 60 day waiting period, make sure those domains are parked directly with your preferred website hosting service. This will also eliminate unncessary and unforseen delays in transferring your domain names from another registrar, when you want to start building your site.

More information coming soon, about parking domain names with Netfirms, and at Yahoo!... Watch this page for updates!

Have fun choosing your domain names, and planning your future sites!

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