.inc is the Solution to Business Domain Name Struggle

July 21, 2021July 27, 2023

What comes first, the domain name or your brand name?

For many entrepreneurs this is a tricky question. Finding the perfect name for your business is a personal and thoughtful decision. That comes crashing down when the domain name you want isn’t available. Here is where .inc domains come in.

.inc is a premium domain extension for businesses that want to be taken seriously. As .inc is relatively new and priced for businesses, there are millions of fantastic names currently available to you.

Join over 3,800 innovative businesses including successful startups and Fortune 500 enterprises from all around the world who have claimed their .inc domain. No matter your industry or location, if you are a business that wants to have a professional web address, the .inc extension can work for you.

Why own a .inc domain?

Exact Match: Millions of businesses are incorporated or end with “inc”. With the option to have your domain name end with .inc, you now can have your domain name be the perfect match to your brand name.

Short & Sweet: Short and keyword domain names are expensive and hard to come by for most traditional domain extensions. With .inc domain, those quality names are available and for a flat rate.

International Credibility: “Inc” is a widely recognised and respected ending to a business name, so much so that even in countries where incorporation is not a legal type of business formation are seeing the value in securing a .inc domain for their business.

Professional: As “inc” is synonymous with business, many top brands including, Docebo.inc, PayPal.inc and Fox.inc, are using their .inc domains as Corporate Sites or Investor Relations pages.

Upgrade: As .inc is relatively new to the market, many brands were already using “inc” in their SLD. Now brands like Fluency Inc. (previously fluencyinc.co) are able to drop the extra characters to fluency.inc.

Improve SEO: Brands like Collab.inc (previously collabcreators.com) are ranking #1 in Google search for “Collab”, above collab.com.

Featured businesses using their .inc domains:

Ratio.inc – The first robotic café based in Singapore.

Neural.inc – AI company located in the United States.

Zero.inc – It’s a members only Cannabis lounge based out of the United States.

Desmond.inc – A full-service art department based in the United States.

O’right.inc – A sustainable business that aims to incorporate sustainability to everyday life and lead a green revolution in the cosmetic industry.

Register .inc domain with WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar of .inc and we provide .inc registration service to all our partners. We have more than 20 years of experience in the domain wholesale and reseller service, and you can be assured that we will provide the best service experience in helping you to register your .inc domain. Join WebNIC as a domain reseller and start selling .inc today with us!

About WebNIC

WebNIC operates a digital reseller platform covering primarily domain name registration for over 600 TLDs, web security services, email and cloud services. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000 active resellers in over 70 countries. With over 20 years’ experience, we accelerate our partner’s growth through a robust platform, attentive support and wholesale pricing. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

The Domain Name Industry Overview During the Pandemic

June 8, 2021March 8, 2023

The Domain Name Industry Overview in 2020

The year 2020 was a difficult year for many industries. The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the performance of many businesses and even caused many businesses to shut down for good, with the exception of some of the world’s biggest tech giants, particularly the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet.)

What about the domain name industry? Are you curious to know how did it fare against the pandemic and what to expect from here on? If you are, then you have come to the right place!

One might expect the domain name industry to fare well, since the pandemic has driven the rapid adoption of digitalisation by many businesses. Naturally, it should only be right that more domains are being registered due to digitalisation, right? Surprisingly, it turns out that the performance of the domain name industry is merely mediocre, in fact it seems to be on the verge of declining.

Check out an overview statistic of the domain name industry in the year 2020 below:

Total number of domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with 366.3 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs). The number has seen an increase of 4.0 million, or 1.1%, compared to 2019.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=executive-summary

The year-over-year growth, albeit a mere 1.1%, shows that the domain industry is still growing, with a study by Research and Markets stating a post Covid-19 Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the industry at 6.7% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027.

Join WebNIC as a reseller today to start selling domain names!

.com and .net made up for nearly half of the total domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with a volume of 165.2 million for .com and .net combined in total, nearly half the volume among the total domain name registrations. Compared with 2019 year over year, the number increased by 6.3 million, or 4.0%. As of 31 December 2020, the total volume of .com was 151.8 million, whereas the total volume of .net was 13.4 million.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=executive-summary

Join WebNIC as a reseller today for some great deals in .com and .net registrations!

Total number of country-code TLD (ccTLD) domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with 158.9 million ccTLD domain name registrations. In comparison with the volume of 2019, there was an increase of 1.3 million, or 0.8%.

Total number of new gTLD (ngTLD) domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with a total volume of 26.0 million ngTLD registrations. The volume saw a decrease of 3.3 million domain name registrations, or 11.2% year over year compared with 2019.

New gTLDs make up for 7.1% of the total 366.3 million domain name registrations, at a figure of 26.0 million. Breaking the 26.0 million figure down further, the top 10 most popular ngTLD in terms of percentage are:

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=new-gtlds

.icu (12.9%), .xyz (11.6%), .online (6.6%), .top (6.0%), .site (5.2%),
.club (3.7%), .vip (3.6%), .shop (2.9%), .app (2.8%), .work (2.1%), other (42.7%)

WebNIC offers a wide range of ccTLDs and ngTLDs, with a total of more than 600 types of domains! Join as our reseller today!

Top 10 largest TLDs by number of reported domain name registrations

When the year 2020 ended, the largest TLDs by number of reported domain names were .com, .cn, .tk, .de, .net, .uk, .org, .nl, .ru and .br.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=tlds

Top 10 largest ccTLDs by number of reported domain name registrations

When the year 2020 ended, the largest ccTLDs by number of reported domain names were .cn, .tk, .de, .uk, .nl, .ru, .br, .fr, .eu and .it.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=cc-tlds

At the close of the year 2020, there were 307 global ccTLD extensions delegated in the root zone, including IDNs, with these top 10 ccTLDs comprising 65.4% of all ccTLD domain name registrations.

Conclusion

Overall, based on the data from Verisign’s Domain Name Industry Brief, the domain name industry performance was of a mixed result. It did not perform as assumed that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the industry for rapid growth, due to the move to online by many people and businesses. In fact, the poor performance of ngTLDs’ registration volume in 2020 has pulled down the overall domain name industry performance.

However, this is not an issue to worry about, as more people and businesses are increasingly moving online, which will definitely promote the domain name industry’s growth. The study by Research and Markets shows a post Covid-19 CAGR of the industry 6.7% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. So, don’t miss the chance to build your domain name business by joining WebNIC as a reseller today!

(data source: Verisign, The Domain Name Industry Brief)

About WebNIC

WebNIC operates a digital reseller platform covering primarily domain name registration for 600 TLDs, web security services, email and cloud services. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000 active resellers in over 70 countries. With 20 years’ experience, we accelerate our partner’s growth through a robust platform, attentive support and wholesale pricing. Please visit https://www.webnic.cc/ for more information or email us at [email protected].

.INC is a Domain Made for Business

May 5, 2021March 8, 2023

What is a .INC domain?

.INC is short for incorporated, and it is a generic top-level domain (New gTLD). It is put in place specifically to cater to businesses but is open to anyone whether they are incorporated or simply value the professional meaning of the “inc” ending. .INC domains offer instant credibility among an elite community of corporations and brands and is the perfect domain extension for businesses, that mean business!

The Launch of .INC Domain

.INC is almost two years old as of the time of writing. It was launched in March 2019 in 3 different phases, where it achieved success as one of the top 50 sunrise periods to date. Phase 1 was the Sunrise Period, with exclusive eligibility for trademark owners. Phase 2, the Early Access Period, was a weeklong opening where early bird fees applied. General Availability opened in Phase 3 where .INC domains became open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Value of a .INC Domain

The registry behind .INC has taken the initiative to position it as a premium domain extension, with the average retail price is in the range of US$2,000 per year. According to the registry, the reason behind this is an attempt to ensure .INC domains are available for businesses looking to actively use their domain name and deter cybersquatting of popular or trademarked names.

Millions of company names already end with “Inc”, the .INC domain gives businesses the opportunity to have their domain name be an exact match to their brand name without any added characters.

The .INC domain is a truly distinctive domain ending that is perfectly suitable for any and every aspiring entrepreneur, small and medium businesses, as well as global enterprises.

Why Every Business Could Use a .INC domain

1. .INC domain is specially crafted for business

.INC shows people that a business is real and trusted, and that it means business. It is well-known and widely recognised around the world as the abbreviation for incorporation. Millions of businesses have their names end with .INC, and now they can also build an online identity that ends with .INC.

2. .INC looks great with any business names

.INC is short and memorable, creating a strong and lasting impression in our minds. It looks great, feels trustworthy and pairs well with any other names. The general public is familiar with the term .INC when they see it, and it helps businesses to gain instant credibility and trust.

3. .INC is a premium domain name extension

.INC domain is priced with businesses in mind, which demands a premium price in order to reduce cybersquatting. It assists businesses to reduce the possibility of facing cybersquatting issues, empowering owners to register the .INC domain they want, when they want it. Save time and money in dealing with cybersquatters, private sellers or pre-owned domain.

Success of the .INC domain

The .INC ending has received attention from many internationally recognized brands since launch. From Fortune 500 corporations to new startups the .INC domain has become home for businesses of various sizes. The universal understanding of the “inc” ending has been well received across a large variety of industries and countries. The top three regions for .INC registrations are United States, United Kingdom and Japan – the latter two being noteworthy as they don’t formally recognize incorporation and a legal type of business formation.

Smaller businesses looking to grow have upgraded their domain names with .INC to match their brand names. Examples include companies such as, Shiftplus.inc, previously shift-plus.jp, Next.inc, which was previously nxsw.co.jp, or Gray.inc, which also owns gray.sg.

Internationally recognized brand names have registered their .INC domains, including celebrities Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. Since launch over 50% of businesses listed on the Forbes Most Valuable Brands list, have registered their .INC domain. Below are some of the famous brands with a .INC domain:

nike.inc, dell.inc, sony.inc, google.inc, bmw.inc, toyota.inc, chanel.inc, adobe.inc, visa.inc, baidu.inc

Register .INC domain with WebNIC

WebNIC is proud to be an authorised registrar of the .INC domain. We are an official provider of .INC domain registration service and you can start selling it to your customers. Email us at [email protected] if you need more info on registering .INC.

About WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar for ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000+ active resellers over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

What goes for .EU registrants who are from UK after Brexit?

April 14, 2021March 8, 2023

.EU domain and Brexit

In a historical move, Britain left the European Union (EU) since 1st February 2020, which is known as Brexit. As a result, many of the UK-based .EU domain registrations became invalid, as UK is no longer part of EU.

The European Registry for Internet Domains (EURid), the domain registry in charge of overseeing the operations of the .EU domain, published a notice regarding this development. The aim of doing so is to help the public stay informed about the next steps to take.

Important dates and what happened

1 February 2020 – The UK left the EU.

1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020 – This is a transition period provided to all UK-based .EU registrants to continue to be able to hold and register a .EU domain name.

1 January 2021 – The transition period ended. From this date onwards, EURid enforced the following requirements to be eligible to register a .EU domain name:

· a Union citizen, independently of their place of residence;

· a natural person who is not a Union citizen and who is a resident of a Member State;

· an undertaking that is established in the Union; or

· an organisation that is established in the Union, without prejudice to the application of national law.

As UK is no longer a member of the EU, any UK-based registrants are not allowed to register or own a .EU domain from 1 January 2021 onwards. With that said, the circumstances below apply after said date:

1) EU citizens who are residing in the UK will remain eligible to hold a .EU domain name, provided they update their .EU registration data with their EU citizenship.

2) UK citizens residing in any EU Member State will remain eligible to hold a .EU domain name based on their residence. On the other hand, UK citizens residing outside of the EU Member States will no longer be eligible to hold a .EU domain name.

Important dates for existing .EU registrations

1 October 2020 – EURid sent an email notification to all UK registrants and their registrars to inform them about losing their eligibility to own a .EU domain name starting from 1 January 2021.

21 December 2020 – EURid sent another email notification to all UK registrants who did not demonstrate compliance and their registrars about the risks of non-compliance to their services.

1 January 2021 – EURid sent an email notification to all non-compliant UK registrants and their registrars to inform them that their .EU domain names no longer complies with the regulatory framework. They will be moved to the so-called “SUSPENDED” status until 31 March 2021 (extended to 30 June 2021).

NOTE: Domain name in the “SUSPENDED” status is unable to support any services, but may still be reinstated once the registration data is updated to meet the eligibility criteria.

1 July 2021 – EURid will send an email notification to all still non-compliant UK registrants and their registrars that their .EU domain names are not compliant with the regulatory framework. Therefore, they will be moved to the “WITHDRAWN” status. A “WITHDRAWN” domain name cannot support any services.

1 January 2022 – All domain names in the “WITHDRAWN” status will be REVOKED and subsequently released to become AVAILABLE for general registration in batches due to security reasons.

The effects of Brexit for UK-based .EU domain registrants

As expected, the Brexit move has brought about some negative effects for .EU domain registrations, as it did not go down well with the public, especially for UK-based registrants. For starters, British entities and individuals are no longer eligible to register or renew .EU domain from 1 January 2021 onwards. As a result, the number of .EU domain registrations from UK has seen a sharp decline. In fact, the decline started since 2018, way before the official exit date, as depicted in the graph below:

On the other hand, existing UK-based registrants who are actively using .EU domain previously might also be in a bind now, if they are not aware of Brexit’s development and timeline. If they have not prepared themselves during the transition period given by EURid, they might be facing some serious impacts as stated below:

1) Loss of traffic

They will see a drastic drop in Google rankings, as Google’s system has detected that their website has become invalid. Any links to the website from social media, newsletters, third-party websites, emails, etc., will not work. Precious backlinks to the website might be lost as other websites’ admins might change broken links on their websites.

2) Loss of sales, revenue and potential customers

Websites which do not work will result in users seeing error messages. They cannot complete their initial intended actions, which might include performing a transaction online, submitting an inquiry, check for info etc. As a result, they leave and it impacts these .EU domain name owners’ bottom line.

3) Cybersquatting risks

Cybersquatting is the act of registering the domain name of a brand, with the intention of selling it back to the said brand for a hefty profit. Malicious or not, any eligible parties are able to register and use .EU domain names, previously held by them, the legitimate parties or organisations.

4) Reputational risks

Malicious parties can take control of their .EU domain names and pretend to be them to scam their users and customers, resulting in loss of reputation, negative sentiment and negative word-of-mouth comments. Repairing damaged reputation can be very challenging for them.

5) Loss of email communication

A suspended .EU domain means it cannot be used for any services. Email is one such service, and they might lose all their email communication messages. Following up with customers and colleagues will become more challenging for them, where they need to spend time to update their contact details.

If you have customers who registered a .EU domain, it would be a great idea if you can remind them about the development of Brexit and how it affects their .EU domain names. It is advisable for you to follow up with them and be aware of the status of their .EU domain names. Do provide them with any necessary assistance, and as always WebNIC is ready to assist you, too, should you need assistance. If you have questions regarding .EU domain name, contact us and we will help you!

About WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar by ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000+ active resellers in over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

What is a domain registrar and what are its responsibilities?

February 24, 2021March 8, 2023

What is a domain registrar?

A domain registrar is a business that is responsible for registering and managing domain names, where it bears the responsibility of facilitating the process to ensure successful domain registrations by users. A domain registrar helps a user purchase and manage his/her domain name.

In case you do not know what a domain name is, read our article about domain name here.

A domain name is crucial when building a website, and you cannot have a website without getting a domain name for it. To get a domain name, one has to register it online, and the process here is where a domain registrar plays a role.

What are the responsibilities of a domain registrar?

A domain registrar is responsible for offering domain name registration services to registrants. With this in mind, it performs a few important customer service-related tasks, according to the requirements set by ICANN. ICANN stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It is in charge of coordinating the Internet address book and the unique identifiers of all websites worldwide, enabling one global Internet. That is why it is crucial to work with an ICANN-accredited registrar.

Partner with WebNIC, an ICANN-accredited registrar, to start a domain name reseller business!

In such a situation, there exists a relationship between ICANN and an ICANN-accredited domain registrar, held in place by the Registrar Accreditation Agreements (RAA), which sets out the obligations of both parties. Under RAA, a domain registrar is obliged with the following responsibilities:

1. A domain registrar must adhere to numerous ICANN consensus policies. Some example policies include Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, WHOIS Data Reminder Policy, WHOIS Marketing Restriction Policy, Restored Names Accuracy Policy, Expired Domain Deletion Policy, to name a few. The aim of doing so is that ICANN wants to ensure a high standard of domain name registration service level for all registrants.

2. A domain registrar must update and populate WHOIS data in a timely manner to ensure the accuracy of the data. WHOIS is a database of information that allows users to look up domain and IP owner information and check out dozens of other statistics about the domain name.

3. A domain registrar must submit and update the most recent registration information to registries. A registry is an organisation responsible for monitoring certain top-level domains and their corresponding registration information, which a domain registrar submits.

4. A domain registrar must provide users with public access to WHOIS data, where they can search for the information associated with a domain name. It is important to have a certain degree of transparency and access to owner info, in case there are any issues with a domain name.

5. A domain registrar must require all Registered Name Holders (domain name registrants) to enter into a registration agreement that includes specific provisions. The agreement outlines the laws and regulations related to the domain name, which provides a high level of transparency in dealing with domain name issues.

6. A domain registrar must investigate reported inaccurate contact information. The contact info of a domain name registrant is usually available through WHOIS data, and anyone can reach out and contact them to handle domain name issues. It is possible for the presence of inaccurate contact information in WHOIS, and if reported by users, a domain registrar must do due diligence in investigating it.

In summary, there are many responsibilities for a domain registrar, and the most crucial part is to handle all domain name transactions initiated by a user, namely registration, transfer and renewal. The domain registrar plays an important role in updating registries whenever there is a new domain name purchase by a customer. It is required to maintain a database of accurate information to ensure the Internet works smoothly.

Domain Registrar Compliance Program

Other than the responsibilities stated above, there is also a Registrar Compliance Program outlined by ICANN, and it must be complied with by a domain registrar. Under this program, the lists of domain registrar compliance areas are outlined below:

1. WHOIS management
A domain registrar is required to comply with the provision of free public WHOIS service on Port 43 and via the web. It must also submit all required data elements to the registries and update data in a timely manner. It is also required of a domain registrar to take the necessary steps to investigate and correct inaccuracies upon notification. Besides, a domain registrar also needs to provide annual WHOIS data reminders to registrants.

2. Domain name transfer
Every ICANN-accredited domain registrar must allow domain name registrants to transfer their domain names to another registrar. Any registrants can submit any complaints regarding the transfer process of a domain registrar, and ICANN will take the appropriate steps to review and follow up with the domain registrar in question.

3. Domain name renewal
Every ICANN-accredited domain registrar needs to abide by policies regarding domain name expiration and the renewal process. The compliance includes specific communication standards to notify registrants of domain name expiration, as well as the standard of the renewal process.

4. Data escrow compliance
A domain registrar is also required to submit an electronic copy of its database to an escrow agent in accordance with an agreed schedule and format. The process is done by having the domain registrar enter an agreement with ICANN and the escrow agent. From there on, the domain registrar needs to submit data accordingly on schedule, in the proper format and which complies with the requirements stated in RAA.

Such a process aims to safeguard the registrants, in case of any forms of failure from the domain registrar. A data escrow agent is a neutral third-party which stores the data and restores said data when the circumstances arise.

5. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) compliance
The UDRP is a method to resolve certain domain name disputes regarding trademarks. When an independent dispute resolution provider files a dispute, ICANN requires that a domain registrar complies with the UDRP. The compliance areas include specific procedures, such as verifying registrant information, maintaining domain status quo, locking domain names, and timely implementation of UDRP decisions.

In conclusion, there are many responsibilities and compliance that is required in becoming a domain registrar. Besides, the process to qualify as a domain registrar is daunting and incredibly challenging, which is why not many businesses are willing to commit and invest in becoming one. However, there is still the alternative of joining us as our reseller, in which you can still involve yourself in the domain industry. We offer many benefits to become our reseller, check them out here!

About WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar by ICANN and various countries, including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000+ active resellers in over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

Web Business Now Made Easy With WHMCS Managed Service

December 11, 2020March 8, 2023

What is WebNIC WHMCS Managed Service?

WebNIC WHMCS Managed Service is a new service to help our existing resellers and new resellers to leverage on WHMCS to automate the business processes for their web business. It is beneficial for our partners who intend to optimise their web business operations through automation, as well as newcomers to the web business industry. However, the setup and configuration of WHMCS can be quite challenging, even for experienced players in the web business industry, not to mention newcomers. Hence, we have rolled out WHMCS Managed Service to help you, all of our valuable partners (existing or new), to enjoy the convenience of WHMCS automation. We help you to lift the troubles you face while setting up WHMCS to ensure you get a pleasant experience in the process. It is our aim to make WHMCS setup and configuration easy and simple for you! We want to help our resellers to start and manage a web business without hassle, making it truly simple and painless by using the leading management platform in the world, WHMCS!

WHMCS automation for web business

What is WHMCS?

WHMCS is an automated billing and management platform for all your web business’s need. It is a single, unified management platform which contains optimisation and automation for all web business related operations, such as hosting, domain, billing, customer support suite and developer’s tools. WHMCS allows users to setup and configure automation for all of the operations below, making the management of a web business convenient and efficient.

WHMCS provides hosting service

Hosting

Optimise the web hosting purchase experience for your customers. Use WHMCS to easily deploy customer hosting account provisioning, such as creating, suspending, modifying and terminating accounts. It also integrates with all leading hosting control panels, cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, etc. You can choose from a wide selection of order form templates to use, to enable automated checkout of your customers.

WHMCS provides domain name service

Domains

WHMCS helps you to automate and simplify your web business’s domain management by providing your customers a full feature self-service management portal. It is able to integrate with all the major domain registrars to deliver a quick and efficient domain registration process once it is set up. With WHMCS, your customers can perform registration automatically, check domain availability real time, manage nameserver, transfer domain, set up automatic renewals and many more.

WHMCS provides automated billing service

Billing

WHMCS is able to fully automate all billing related operations for your web business. You can set it up to help your web business process tasks such as generating invoices, recurring payments setup, collecting payments, sending payment reminders, tracking performance and many more. It also accepts multi-currency, handles taxes, creates coupons and promotions, and many more billing-related functions. The most important thing is WHMCS is integrated with many payment gateway solutions, including credit cards, third-party gateways like PayPal, offline payments etc. You can rest assured and let WHMCS handle all your billing tasks!

WHMCS provides a powerful customer support suite

Customer Support Suite

WHMCS provides a built-in customer support desk. Support your customers with a powerful support ticketing system and give them a pleasant customer experience in doing business with you. Combine and track all your customer communication in a single place designed for team collaboration. Be on the same page as your support staffs to view all things related to the customer’s request and details. With WHMCS, your customers can easily reach out to you by opening support tickets through the web or email and you can easily delegate them to your staffs to provide a quick and efficient customer support experience.

WHMCS is highly flexible in integrating with other software

Developers

WHMCS is a dynamic, flexible and powerful platform, as it can integrate with many different service providers and tools. You can fully customise the looks of your WHMCS and integrate it with any other software that benefits your web business. It provides powerful hook and API that your developers can easily build your web business upon, because WHMCS is created in a modular architecture. Discover more applications, themes and integrations in WHMCS Marketplace to take advantage of for your web business. There is also a developer community to help your developers if they need it.

5 reasons to use WHMCS for your web business

Why use WHMCS for your web business?

1. Low-cost and affordable

Take advantage of the powerful and robust features that WHMCS provides you with at a low cost. Offer a wide range of web business services to your customers without spending a big budget. WHMCS helps you to systematically reduce operational costs and increase your web business profitability.

2. Increase productivity

Say goodbye to manual work in processing your customers’ orders. WHMCS offers automation and immediate processing for the orders you receive. Process more orders by automation.

3. Increase reliability

Lower the chances of making a mistake due to human error while processing your customer’s order. WHMCS automates it and helps to increase reliability for a high-quality customer experience.

4. High availability

WHMCS helps your web business in the provisioning of web services to your customers 24/7/365. Serve your customers day and night throughout the year, anytime and anywhere.

5. Easy maintenance

To start using WHMCS, it requires an initial setup and configuration once only. After that, it only requires a least amount of maintenance, saving you time and effort.

However, the setup and configuration of WHMCS can be quite challenging, even for experienced players in the web business industry, not to mention newcomers.

Let us help you to take out the painful WHMCS configuration from the equation!

Kickstart your web business immediately and resell the following WebNIC products: domain, SSL certificate, Office 365, Alibaba!

Introducing WebNIC WHMCS Managed Service!

WebNIC WHMCS Managed Service

How does WebNIC WHMCS Managed Service work?

The new service will help you to get started with using WHMCS for your web business! We help you to do the initial setup and configuration of WHMCS for your system, by assigning a dedicated member of our team to help you! We want to provide you a smooth and hassle-free experience in fully installing, configuring and setting up WHMCS. We get it ready for you in perfect shape, so that you can start using it for your web business immediately. The service includes all of the following:

* Servers should meet our System Requirements before the service can be performed.

How to get started?

You can get started by contacting us to express your interest in our WHMCS Managed Service!

If you are an existing WebNIC reseller:

Drop us an email at [email protected] to request for the service.
Visit our WHMCS Managed Service info page and submit the form at the bottom of the page!

If you are a non-existing WebNIC reseller, kindly sign up at our website first and activate your WebNIC reseller account. Once you have successfully done so, contact us to request for the service through any of the options above.

Conclusion

With this new WHMCS Managed Service, we hope to help all of our resellers to take advantage of the powerful WHMCS platform to automate their web business. We want to make the experience of setting up and configuring WHMCS pleasant for all of our resellers, and we will assist you in every step of the process. Simplify and automate all your web business processes, and focus on growing your business with our new service! Get started here! If you have any other inquiries, feel free to drop us an email at [email protected]!

About WebNIC

10 Reasons Why You Should Register a .EU Domain

September 24, 2020March 3, 2023

What is a .EU domain?

.EU domain is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of the European Union, one of the largest marketplaces in the world. It is an international organisation that consists of 27 members of European countries, and there is an estimated population of 446 million people living within the European Union. It is specifically created in the year 1999 to help the people and businesses within Europe to build a powerful and trusted identity in the vast Internet landscape. As the latest Q2 2020 report shows, .EU sees a total number of 3.6 million registrations, which is a remarkable achievement!

Who can register .EU domain?

A .EU domain can only be registered by the residents of the European Union, businesses that have a registered office in it, as well as businesses which are established in the European Union. To get more details, visit our .EU FAQ page.

Why register a .EU domain?

It is recognised as a European passport to the Internet

Registering a .EU domain is equivalent to securing a digital European identity on the Internet. People or businesses who have a .EU domain is projecting a strong message that they are from the European Union, highlighting their credibility and trustworthiness, which increase users’ confidence. It also helps to secure a pan-European Internet identity for their online presence.

It is available in all 24 official EU languages

.EU domain supports all 24 official EU languages. The European Union has many languages, and the registrant can choose any of the official EU languages to register a .EU domain. They are: Bulgarian, Croation, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish.

It supports Internationalized Domain Names (IDN)

The powerful .EU domain supports IDN, which enables it to support all the official EU languages above. Most of these languages are based mainly on Cyrillic, Greek or Latin characters, and they are all available in the form of IDN, which can be used to register for a .EU domain in any official EU languages.

It is suitable for local, national and international regions

A .EU domain offers high flexibility when it comes to building an online presence in different regions. It can be used in regions of the registrant’s local country, it can be used in regions nationally within the European Union and it can even be used internationally across the world.

It is a powerful gateway to one of the largest markets in the world

A .EU domain is a powerful gateway and opportunity for businesses to unlock the vast potential of the European market. There is a huge market opportunity in Europe, where businesses can expand and grow their operations to bring in more revenue and profit. A business that uses a .EU domain enjoys a higher chance of business success, because Europeans lower their barrier in dealing with the business when they see .EU.

It is reliable, quality-assured and secure

A .EU domain is known to be a highly-reliable and trustworthy domain extension. The registrants of a .EU domain are restricted to people and businesses from the European Union only and their identities have been properly verified. Interacting with websites with .EU domain is safe and secure, and users will have a quality-assured experience in the process.

It establishes a stronger security with DNSSEC

DNSSEC stands for Domain Name System Security Extensions, and it strengthens the security of a website using a .EU domain. It is an Internet security protocol, whereby it reduces the chance that the website’s users are redirected to other ill-intentioned websites. It works by checking responses at each level of the Domain Name System (DNS), through a “chain of trust” mechanism. Read more about DNS here!

It is available with Registry Lock Service to further protect domain name

A website that uses a .EU domain can also opt for Registry Lock Service to enjoy a greater degree of domain name safety. The Registry Lock Service can be applied to prevent accidental changes, deletion or transfer of the domain name. It is most suitable to be used in protecting valuable and premium .EU domain names.

It increases a website’s visibility via the .EU Web Awards

Websites that use a .EU domain name are eligible to participate in the yearly .EU Web Awards. This competition was launched in 2014 and was specifically designed to help website developers to improve their website’s visibility globally. Participants who created websites with .EU domain can take advantage of it to build their reputation and visibility.

.EU domain is EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) certified

The EMAS program is an initiative by the European Union to promote environmental consciousness among companies and organisations. It is a premium management tool to help these entities to evaluate, report and improve their environmental footprint. The registry behind .EU is EMAS certified since 2012, which showcases that .EU is credible, transparent and reputed.

Check out our .EU Promotion!

Renowned global brands using .EU

Daikin, Omron, Konica Minolta, Adidas, Chanel, Audi

WebNIC offers .EU domain registration service

WebNIC is proud to be an accredited registrar of .EU domain. You can leverage on us to provide .EU domain registration service. With more than 20 years of experience in the domain wholesale and reseller service, we ensure a high-quality registration service experience for our partners. Registering a .EU domain is now made easy with WebNIC. We hope this will help you to add value to your customers. Email us at [email protected] if you need more info on registering .EU.

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A brandable or a descriptive domain? Which is better?

September 10, 2020March 8, 2023

Brandable domain vs descriptive domain and what are they?

There has been always a great debate over a brandable domain vs a descriptive domain, and which type is the best for a business. This is expected because when one registers a domain name, securing the ideal domain name has always been a challenge. Each type of domain has its merits and there is no right answer to it. It is because a domain name is more than just a string of words. Rather, it is a business’s digital identity and address in the vast Internet landscape.

A domain is more than just a string of words. It is a business’s online identity!

Gone are the days when people discover your business through word-of-mouth. In fact, people now discover new businesses by searching online, and the domain name plays a huge role in this. It is a crucial part for how people identify a business online.

Business discovery has moved from word-of-mouth to searching online.

There are two types of domain name, namely a descriptive one and a brandable one.

Some examples of a descriptive domain name.

Descriptive domain name

A descriptive domain name informs the audience clearly and specifically on what a business does, the services it offers or the type of contents on its website.

Example: tennis.com, digitalmarketer.com, wine.com, runningshoes.com, etc.

Some of the most famous brandable domains.

Brandable domain name

On the other hand, a brandable domain name does not include any description or keywords to inform the audience exactly what it is about. It is more of a made-up word, a wordplay, or a re-creation of existing words, making it creative and unique, and hence its potential for branding. This type of domain is usually aimed to evoke certain emotions or feelings from the audience on the get-go.

Example: spotify.com, zapier.com, lego.com, airbnb.com, etc.

Take a look at all the pros and cons of both types of domain name.

The advantages of using a descriptive domain name

One of the advantages of a descriptive domain name is that it is straightforward and direct. This type of domain is usually pretty much self-explanatory, in which the audience can immediately grasp the idea of what the website is going to be about. Website owners need not spend extra time and effort to educate their audience about what their websites are about.

Another advantage of a descriptive domain name is it usually contains keywords. It is keyword-friendly and most people search these keywords to find what they need. Websites using descriptive domain name might enjoy a slight advantage in the search engine ranking results. However, effort is still required on the website owner’s end to improve SEO.

Last but not least, a descriptive domain name is easy to remember for users. It tends to use words that users already know and can easily recall. Users find it easy to comprehend and a lot easier to find you. The domain name could be directly the solution the audience is looking for.

The disadvantages of a descriptive domain name

A descriptive domain name also comes with its disadvantages. One of them is that it is less effective in creating an emotional impact for the audience. Although it is powerful in telling the audience what a company does, but it lacks in building the personality of a brand. It is difficult to build an identity around it, as it does not really tell people anything. Most of the time, it is boring and does not stand out. For example, you are more likely to remember Adidas, rather than athleticshoes.com.

Another disadvantage is that a descriptive domain name might become a limitation for a business in expanding their product range or services. What a business does or sell now does not mean it will be the same five years down the road. Businesses change over time, and a descriptive name that is too descriptive does not help at all. Imagine if Amazon started with booksforsale.com.

In addition, a descriptive domain name does not stand out. The terms and phrases used in it have probably been used by countless other businesses. A business will not be able to differentiate itself if there are many others using the same general terms. For example, there may be many other John’s Bakeries operating at the same time in a country. The audience will find it much more difficult to identify a certain John’s Bakeries, and they might end up in another wrong John’s Bakeries.

Last but not least, a descriptive domain name is harder to trademark, as the words in it are generic and used by many people on a daily basis. These words are not allowed to be trademarked, leaving the identity of a business that is using them vulnerable. Any businesses or anyone can just easily swoop in and take over the identity. Without a trademark, malicious players can also easily impersonate websites that use a descriptive domain name to do harm.

We have talked a lot about a descriptive domain name, now let’s talk about a brandable domain name.

The advantages of using a brandable domain name

One of the advantages of a brandable domain name is that it is unique and memorable, which helps a business to stand out more and set itself apart from the crowd. As mentioned above, it is creative and unique, with potential for branding, because the registrants can use made-up word, clever wordplay, or recreate existing words. The audience tends to remember creative words like these, rather than generic terms and words. For example, people are more likely to recognise Lego, rather than toybricks.com.

Another advantage of a brandable domain name is that it is more powerful in evoking certain emotions in people. It is far more suitable for businesses to build their identity around it, compared to generic terms and phrases in a descriptive domain name. Businesses nowadays are building a relationship with their customers, rather than just describing what they do or what they sell. This is no surprise as it is a new trend now, where a study by Accenture shows that 66% of consumers are attracted to buy from brands that align with their values. Therefore, a brandable domain name is beneficial for companies to share their personality and values to resonate with customers.

In addition, a brandable domain name allows sufficient flexibility for business change. Most businesses do not stay the same forever, and in time they will expand to offer more products or services. In such a situation, a brandable domain name is able to remain relevant and accommodate the changes. For example, John’s Bakeries is only limited to breads, but John’s Delicacy is flexible enough for any food that John is interested in selling as time passes by.

Last but not least, a brandable domain name is much easier to trademark. It is unique and not too generic for trademark registration. A business can protect itself through trademark protection, and reduces the possibility of other parties stealing or impersonating it. No one else gets to use the unique brandable domain of a business. For example, Apple has registered trademarks for the term “apple” for the products it sells, rather than for terms like “computer”, “watch” etc, which impossible to get trademark rights, due to them being too generic.

The disadvantage of a brandable domain name

One of the disadvantages of a brandable domain name is that it requires time and effort to build up the brand. When a business has just started, the audience does not know the brand and cannot relate with it. It needs to invest time and money to raise awareness, such as search engine optimization, online marketing, content marketing, any form of advertising or even public relations. All these require investment to build the identity of the brand.

Which type of domain name should a business go for?

How to choose between a descriptive and a brandable domain name?

There is no one true answer when it comes to choosing between these two types of domain name. What businesses need to consider are their marketing strategy, target audience and their projected growth direction. Here are some of the questions we think business owners can ask themselves when deciding between the two types of domain name.

1. What kind of title makes the most sense if end users are looking for businesses of this nature?

2. Will the domain name still be relevant down the road in the long term?

3. Is the domain name the main branding tool?

4. Which is more critical for the business? Customers, marketing strategies, search engine results, brand awareness?

5. What type of domain name are the competitors using? What are their strategies in growing their business?

One interesting point Seth Newman (CEO of BIGNAME Commerce) mentioned is that he thinks descriptive domain name is only good when people do not shop by brand. His company owns envelopes.com, bags.com and folders.com. For items which brands matter for the people, it is a whole other story.

Our view on descriptive vs brandable

For us, we recommend that if a business needs to be clear and precise on what it does, as well as simple, straightforward and easy to find, go for a descriptive domain name. If a business wishes to build a unique identity and relate to certain values and personality, then a brandable domain name is the better choice.

What about a combination of the two?

It is sometimes also possible to achieve a balance between the two. Businesses can use a combination of a descriptive term and a unique brand term, and enjoy the best of both worlds. Some great examples include Microsoft, Walmart, The Home Depot, IBM, Mastercard, Vodafone, Dell Technologies etc.

Conclusion

The debate for a descriptive vs a brandable domain name will continue on, and there is no one-size-fits-all to it, as both types have their merits. In the end, it all depends on how a business plans to grow itself, its future plans and the marketing strategies it adopts. Any domain for brands that can conjure a strong image in the mind of the audience or is memorable, will always be a good domain.

Sign up as a reseller of WebNIC and sell a wide range of domain names, regardless of whether they are descriptive or brandable. We carry more than 600 domain extensions, and your customers will be spoilt for choice to register their desired domain name. Contact us to sign up!

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.HK – A Domain to Unlock Lucrative Asia Business Opportunities

August 25, 2020March 8, 2023

What is a .HK domain?

.HK domain is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of Hong Kong, also known as the “the Pearl of the Orient”. Hong Kong is a bustling financial hub, a metropolis home to more than 7 million people. It holds a special place among the global business community, due to its ease of doing business and business-friendly regulation. It currently ranks as the third best place to do business in the world, according to data by The World Bank.

Here are some fun facts about Hong Kong:

1. Hong Kong is known for its large number of towering skyscrapers, with over 8000 skyscrapers reaching to the sky.

2. Hong Kong means “fragrant harbour” in Chinese. Its name is believed to be originated from the past when it was a major trading post for fragrant incense, particularly agarwood.

3. Hong Kong Island is always in the spotlight, but Hong Kong actually consists of 263 islands.

4. Dim sum originated here in southern China and it translates to “touch the heart” in English. It was originally intended as a light snack for travelling merchants and has now become a local delicacy.

5. Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong’s home airline and it was often crowned “World’s Best Airline”.

6. Hong Kongers are well-known to possess an entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to earn a fortune. Many successful billionaires from Hong Kong has a personal net worth of US$1 billion or over.

Who can use .HK?

.HK is open for registration for any local or overseas company, organisation or Hong Konger. Any companies or individuals who are interested to explore and unlock business opportunities in Hong Kong or Asia are all potential customers. This is because .HK is trusted internationally by many people and the global business community, especially those from Hong Kong and the Asia region.

In fact, it helps businesses to establish a strong online foundation in Hong Kong to start their business journey in tapping the potential of both the Hong Kong market and the Asia market. It is a powerful way to showcase a company’s digital assets that highlight a company’s unique “Hong Kong Brand”. A strong Hong Kong presence starts with .HK, which will feature a company’s dedication and commitment to provide quality and trusted products/services.

Why register a .HK domain name?

1) .HK is one of the top ten Asia ccTLDs! It is a well-known and trusted domain internationally, which has a reputation for high credibility and instils confidence in users around the world. People trust and feel safe when doing business with .HK websites.

2) .HK is short, memorable and professional. It is great for your branding efforts in Hong Kong, as choosing .HK over .COM leaves a stronger impression for online users, especially for local Hong Kongers.

3) Boost local Hong Kong SEO performance. Ranking higher in local search results is great for connecting with the local Hong Kongers, increasing the success rate of doing business with them.

4) Hong Kong is home to many high-quality potential customers. Your potential customers will be more qualified and you can enjoy higher business success.

5) Unlock Asia business opportunities. .HK is not only trusted by Hong Kongers, but it is also trusted by many people from the Asia region. Register .HK to unlock the market potential of the Asia region, a powerful force shaping the world’s future economy.

6) Protect your customers’ brand. Help them register their .HK branding to prevent cybersquatters from stealing their brand identity. Never give them an opportunity to demand a payment from your customers to retrieve their brand identity.

Renowned global brands using .HK

1) Lululemon Athletica – https://www.lululemon.com.hk

2) Axa – https://www.axa.com.hk

3) Public Bank – https://www.publicbank.com.hk

4) AIA – https://www.aia.com.hk

5) Shell – https://www.shell.com.hk

6) IKEA – https://www.ikea.com.hk

Register .HK domain with WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar of .HK and we offer different .HK domain names registration service for different needs:

.HK

.COM.HK

.NET.HK

.ORG.HK

.IDV.HK

.HK: Suitable for any local or overseas company, organisation or Hong Konger.

.COM.HK: Suitable for registered commercial entities with business registration certificates or equivalents.

.NET.HK: Suitable for network infrastructure and service providers, with a PNETS license issued by the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) of the Government of HKSAR.

.ORG.HK: For non-profit making organisations with documentary proof of “Not-for-profit” nature or equivalent.

.IDV.HK: For any individual Hong Kong people (aged 11 or above).

To learn more about the difference between these available .HK domains from WebNIC, kindly visit our FAQ section for .HK here!

WebNIC has been in the domain name industry for more than 20 years and we possess an extensive experience. We always strive to provide the best service experience to our resellers to help them succeed in their domain business. We assure you that you can enjoy a smooth .HK registration process. Not a reseller yet? Join us and become a domain reseller!

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Must-know Domain Name Rules When Registering One

August 14, 2020March 8, 2023

Domain Name Registration Rules and Best Practices

Every single day, there are hundred thousands of domains registered on average, and this shows no signs of slowing down. Registering a domain name might seem easy, but there are more to it than you realise. There are some rules and regulations, which we need to follow when it comes to the domain name’s format. Also, we will be sharing with you some of the best practices and things to take note of when you register a new domain name. These are some of the things that people often overlook, and we believe you should be aware of.

The Rules of Registering a Domain Name

Before we start discussing the rules, we would like to make it clear that these rules apply to the label of the domain name. A label of the domain name is also known as the second-level domain (SLD) of a domain name. Let’s take a look at some sample domain names:

webnic.cc

wikipedia.org

google.com

In our samples above, “.cc”, “.org” and “.com” are top-level domains (TLD), whereas “webnic”, “wikipedia” and “google” are SLD, also known as the label of a domain name. The rules we are about to discuss apply to the label/SLD.

What is Allowed

The label of a domain name allows only letters, numbers and hyphens. The letters part is a no-brainer, and we all know very well that they are the core component of a domain name. It is also recommended that a good domain name consists of only letters, as they are more intuitive and has a higher level of memorability.

Numbers are allowed, too! However, it is not recommended to use numbers for your domain name, and they are typically avoided because they can cause some confusion. People are unsure whether the numbers in a domain name use the single-digit number, or the spelled-out version of the number (for example, “7” vs “seven”). If you truly want to register for a domain name that consists of numbers, then the best practice is to register both versions, the single-digit version and the spelled-out version (for example, “blue3” and “bluethree”). After you register them, you can easily set up a redirect from the incorrect domain to the correct domain. This best practice helps to minimise traffic lost for your website due to the incorrect domain. However, one thing we find interesting is that in China region, numbers in domains seem to be quite popular. Therefore, we think having numbers in the domain name is quite a subjective topic, and it really depends on your needs.

Hyphens are allowed, too, but there is a catch! Hyphens can be added in any part of the domain name, except at the beginning or end of the domain name. For example, “done-for-you” is allowed, whereas “-doneforyou” or “doneforyou-“ is not allowed. Two continuous hyphens are not allowed, too (eg. “done–foryou”). With all that said, hyphens are also typically avoided like numbers, as they increase the complexity and obstacles for users. It may be more difficult for users to find a site if there are dashes in the domain name, and traffic might be lost. After all, “done-for-you” and “doneforyou” are very different when users search these domain names. The best practice is to leave out hyphens completely and use alternatives, unless it helps with clarity significantly.

What is not Allowed

Periods/dots are not allowed when registering a domain name. They are only allowed after registering a domain name, and then configuring the hosting settings. Usually, when a website uses subdomains, which have a URL structure such as “r.webnic.cc”, it is used to separate a website’s contents under the same hosting. Under these circumstances, “r.webnic” is an allowed domain name label, but this can only be done after registering for a domain name and configuring the hosting.

Spaces, symbols and special characters are not allowed. Special characters include all the following,

! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ; : , ? / \ = + < >

my awesome website.com (Not allowed)

my@wesome website!.com (Not allowed)

myawe s()me*web*site?.com (Not allowed)

If you are trying to be creative with your domain names by using spaces, symbols and special characters, just forget about it!

Other General Domain Name Rules to Take Note of

Apart from what is allowed and what is not allowed above, the following are some of the general rules for SLD that you can keep in mind, too.

1. SLDs that are registered can no longer be registered again.

2. SLD is not case-sensitive. Typing in “Google.com” or any fancy styles such as “gOOgle.com”, “GooGle.com”, “GoOgLe.com” will still lead you to the same “google.com”.

3. SLD has a 63-character limit. TLD is not counted in the character limit. However, the best practice is to always try to use shorter domain names as they are typically easier to remember and type.

4. Consider the word difficulty and its spelling difficulty. This is more of a best practice advise rather than a rule. Do try to use simple terms instead of bombastic words which might cause users confusion. For example, use “drinks” instead of “beverage”.

5. It is strongly advised not to register any domain names that might infringe the trademark of a brand or any domain names that imitate a brand. Legal action can be taken by the brands against you.

Conclusion

We hope that you now have a better idea and a deeper understanding of the domain name rules. With this in mind, you are now better equipped when registering for a domain name. You now know clearer what is allowed and not allowed, and it can be useful to you in your domain name registration journey. WebNIC has more than 20 years of experience in the domain wholesale and reseller service, and we are here to help you enjoy a smoother experience in your domain name registration journey. Sign up as our reseller now!

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