Thursday 6 February 2014

New top level domains are with us!

It is a hectic time in the world of domains. Years of no change and suddenly everything is arriving at once - like London buses! Wednesday 5th February 2014 saw the launch of the first round of domains including .guru and .bike. Basically about 7 a week will be launched over the next 18 months so it doesn't all happen in one day. Some media have simply got it all wrong, saying hundreds of names are already with us. In a way they are, ICANN contracts have been signed and work on world name servers begin, but it doesn't mean they can be bought or used. There is a set pattern to release a new domain, first to trademark holders (called Sunrise), then some premium stage before full chaos is unleashed. It all happens gradually and only a few can be used as yet. To help our domainers along, here is a list of what is coming up over the next 2 months and when you will actually be able to buy and use them and begin seeing them out there in the Internet thing. .bike 05.02.2014.
.careers 5.03.2014.
.clothing 05.02.2014.
.construction 19.02.2014.
.contractors 19.02.2014.
.diamonds 26.02.2014.
.directory 19.02.2014.
.enterprises 26.02.2014.
.equipment 12.02.2014.
.estate 12.02.2014.
.gallery 12.02.2014.
.graphics 12.02.2014.
.guru 05.02.2014.
.holdings 05.02.2014.
.land 19.02.2014.
.lighting 12.02.2014.
.photography 12.02.2014.
.photos 5.03.2014.
.plumbing 05.02.2014.
.recipes 5.03.2014.
.shoes 5.03.2014.
.sexy 25.02.2014.
.singles 05.02.2014.
.tattoo 25.02.2014.
.technology 19.02.2014.
.tips 26.02.2014.
.today 19.02.2014.
.ventures 05.02.2014.
.voyage 26.02.2014.

March/April 2014

.academy 19.03.2014.
.builders 19.03.2014.
.buzz 15.04.2014
.cab 12.03.2014.
.camera 12.03.2014.
.camp 02.04.2014
.center 19.03.2014.
.ceo 28.03.2014.
.coffee 02.04.2014
.company 12.03.2014.
.computer 19.03.2014.
.domains 12.03.2014.
.education 02.04.2014
.email 19.03.2014.
.florist 02.04.2014
.glass 02.04.2014
.house 02.04.2014
.institute 02.04.2014
.international 02.04.2014
.kitchen 12.03.2014.
.limo 12.03.2014.
.management 19.03.2014.
.menu 17.03.2014.
.repair 02.04.2014
.solar 02.04.2014.
.solutions 19.03.2014.
.support 19.03.2014.
.systems 19.03.2014.
.training 19.03.2014.

Any questions you have just visit the mother ship at www.frankdomains.com and contact the domain gurus Frank and Little Frank, just a minute, we should have a .guru for that...

Monday 3 February 2014

Frank Domains Ireland

The Frank Domains team is expanding across Europe to give dedicated support and advice. We have now launched www.frankdomains.ie - a website just for our Irish domain customers. This is an exciting time to be launching new services in the domain industry as 1000 new domains will be launched in the next year! They have already started! 14 new domains are currently available on Frank Domains Ireland in our search and all new domains can be pre-ordered for free. This week marks the release of the first new 'generic Top-Level Domains which are set to change the way we use the internet and reduce our reliance on dot com. As well as opening the domain market to give companies more choice, it is important for businesses to protect their trademarks if they have them, and use this as a great opportunity. From the 29th January 2014, these 14 domain names have been available on frankdomains.ie .guru - for more information on .guru visit this page .bike - for more information on .bike visit this page .singles - for more information on .singles visit this page .holdings - for more information on .holdings visit this page .plumbing - for more information on .plumbing visit this page .ventures - for more information on .ventures visit this page .clothing - for more information on .clothing visit this page .camera - for more information on .camera visit this page .lighting - for more information on .lighting visit this page .graphics - for more information on .graphics visit this page .photography - for more information on .photography visit this page .equipment - for more information on .equipment visit this page .estate - for more information on .estate visit this page .gallery - for more information on .gallery visit this page Frank Domains Ireland are here to support local business, any questions you have on the new domain names and how they might impact your company or the clients you serve/websites you look after, then just email. We are happy to keep you updated on the launch date of a certain extension (such as .web or .marketing) and they best way to get highly sort after names, as we can give early access before general availability. We also offer bank-style login security using a keyfob which sets us apart from other domain companies, as well as our individual support. Frank Domains Ireland

Thursday 15 August 2013

Frank Domains essential guide to domain names

A domain name is a vital part of your brand’s identity and should be treasured as a pride possession. Fail or forget to renew at your peril because it’s can become a very expensive and time-consuming mistake . It could be the difference from maintaining or losing your precious domain name.

So to make sure you don't lose out on your domain, here at Frank Domains we thought we’d pass on our vast industry knowledge giving you an essential guide to domain names.

1.      First things first, register your domain names for multiple years and if possible, set-up auto renewals. It sounds simple but you will be surprised how many people don’t realise that they have only signed up for 1 year ownership, with the misassumption, believing once registered it is owned for life. This certainly is not the case, although if kept ahead of renewals technically it can be, but owners must remember to renew or else it could be hijacked by another company once expired. Try to register your domain for 5-10 years, not only will this   decrease the chances of you forgetting to renew each year, it could also bring with it cost savings for ‘buying in bulk’.
2.      Following on from the point above, auto renewals are extremely handy as long as you are comfortable with domain registrars storing your credit details and managing the process for you. By giving the registrar permission to charge your credit card and renew the domain automatically on your behalf, this is your safest option to help prevent your domain from expiring, and subsequently in the worst case scenario, being bought by another company.
3.      Take reminders seriously! Domain registrars always send out multiple reminder  messages to keep you informed that your expiry date is looming, and quite often one click of a button could take away or the related stress which could come from not renewing.. Typically these renewal messages will firstly arrive 60 days prior to the expiry date with frequent reminders after.
4.      In the event that you unfortunately miss your renewal date and the grace period either side, you get one final chance to take ownership of your domain before it is made public. This however comes at a cost and you will need to pay a redemption fee of anything from £52 upwards. Think of it this way, domain names are like baseball (three strikes and you’re out!)
5.      Keep to one domain registrar. If you have multiple domains, be wise and keep them in once place; it will be.  a lot easier to manage and keep track of them this way Although typically we are told ‘don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, in terms of domains, in this case, DO!
Remember, if you are ever in need of advice please talk to Frank. Not only can we help with any domain queries, we can help advise how you can swap and store your domains in one place.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

‘Hyperloop’ a load of hype or a solid idea?

News has broken that US business tycoon Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, Tesle and PayPal, has proposed a new innovative way to travel, using the forces of gravity with speeds nearly matching that of sound (up to 760mph or 1,2220 km/h). 
Proposed 'Hyperloop'

Wednesday 24 July 2013

People place their bets for the royal domain


Unless you've been hiding away for the past 48 hours you've probably been bombarded with the news that The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to her baby boy. So before we get on to the main topic we’d like to congratulate her on the wonderful news (If you’re reading this Kate, congratulations!!) and we can’t wait to see him grow up.
Anyway back to the blog! After scouting around the web this morning, here at Frank Domains we've found some fantastic news on domain names. According to reports from TheDomains people have been attempting to cash in on registering domains of the royal baby.
According to the bookies the most likely name of the royal baby are George, James, Alexander, Louis, and Henry but we wouldn't advise you to choose those, why? Because their already taken.
Since yesterday around 75 .com/.net domain names have been registered as people are trying to win a bet another way by guessing the matching domain name for the new prince so domain such as PrinceSpencer.com and even less than regal sounding names like PrinceRandy.com.
Other decided play off the Royal Baby’s official title by registering domains that could be a potential place that might be named after the royal baby like princeofcambridgehotel.com, princeofcambridgehospital.com and princeofcambridegetheatre.com.
But if you all wanted to grab a piece of the king of all domain names, www.royalbaby.com, you’ve already missed and which has not only been registered since 1998 but it is the URL for the site “The Royal Nursery”.

So with that being said, we want to hear your best royal baby domain names so tweet us @FrankDomains with the #RoyalDomains to showcase your best domain. Get those royal thinking caps on domainers!

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Frank Domains Top 5: Worst domain names ever

As you can tell, here at Frank Domains we’re all about domains and URL’s. Over the last couple of days just for your entertainment only, we've decided to scout around the web looking to come up with our top 5 worst domain names ever. So sit back, enjoy and laugh at what your about to read.

  1.   Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com

  2.      The designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site, 
www.speedofart.com

  3.      The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is www.cummingfirst.com

  4.      Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net


  5.      There's the Italian Power Generator company, www.powergenitalia.com

Thursday 4 July 2013

GCHQ battles against cyber espionage

According to the Gloucestershire echo, spies at GCHQ face an uphill battle against cybercrime. Reports suggest that the Cheltenham based listening post faces up to 70 cyber-attacks a month from foreign hackers. 
Concerns first began when Director of GCHQ, Sir Iain Lobban made comments on the BBC regarding the subject, stating that the secrets were being exposed on an ‘industrial scale’ after being sanctioned by foreign powers. Sir Iain estimated that some firms had been penetrated for around two years, and denied any reports that the organisation had broken the law in receiving information from the prism spy program.

Problems seem to persist and in early February social media giants Twitter stated that as many as 250,000 users accounts, user names, email addresses and passwords may have been gained access to by hackers. The company said it took a week to discover the live attack, but then immediately shut it down, ensuring the safety of all its current users.

Despite all the efforts from GCHQ and the police, cybercrime is a very time consuming process and isn't easily be get under control. Cyber-attacks are seen as a consistent threat to both government and industrial companies. It’s thought to be far healthier to use high quality security software and to follow the careful safety steps online that can greatly reduce the likelihood of becoming one of the 7 in 10 global cybercrime victims last year.

Here at Frank Domains we are the first UK domain company to offer our customers with a preventative solution to cybercrime. Our new key fob system called “Domainsafe” offers an additional security when logging into our consumers domains.  It works in a similar fashion to online banking and uses the same security concept. All that is required is to just type in the one-time password when you log in. The key fob is just one of the preventable measures that companies can use to prevent acts of cybercrime on their company.


Despite the really frightening statistics on the scale of these attacks, cybercrime is still largely an avoidable crime. Most of these attacks are largely preventable by following good security practises and using updated security software. In our last blog post we discussed the “Top 5 tips for preventing cybercrime” and we hope that these tips and new measures can help put a stop to the on-going battle with cybercrime.