International Domain Names - IDNs "Domains In Other Languages"

Been getting so many PMs I just can't keep up. So I'm just posting what I posted on another thread in it's own seperate thread.

First off: Basic Information About IDNS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name



Why are IDNs good? IDNs are good because English is not the #1 language in the world. Surprise Surprise. It's just the most standard. In fact, Chinese is the #1 spoken language. What does that mean other than to invest in Chinese IDNs? That the world doesn't revolve around English. With IDNs, people before had to type in weird numbers to represent other characters since they couldn't have their own native language in a domain name.

Internationalizing the internet opens up more opportunities. There is a LOT more with IDNs than I can explain in this thread, but you can go ahead and test them yourself and figure the rest out yourself. I've been testing with IDNs for a 1.5+years now, and I used to wonder why I'm investing in these domains (700+ now) and if I'm ever going to make money. When Windows Vista was released, traffic went through the roof. Every month after the release of Vista, I've been making more $$$ with more unique visitors. Automatic updates haven't even occurred yet, and this is just with 6% browser support (according to Google Analytics).

Here's my post. Hope it sheds some light:
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A couple domains with accents sold for over 50,000$ a while ago, the Sedo auction that took place last week got like 70,000$... it depends on the keyword. Get prime keywords in other languages. Just make sure not to go for phishing domains... those are worthless and are usually what I've been seeing people register which give these domains a bad name.

Here's also a link someone posted on Namepros:

Thread Title: " New Domain Names in Chinese "
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0709/S00386.htm

MY Response:

Uhhh. Where have domainers been since 2000? IDNs have been around since then. Traffic just started for prime-keywords and noticing a general upwards trend every month [Release of Windows Vista changed domaining with IDNs forever with the release of IE7 in Vista]. When IE7 AU happens, things will be amazing. Porn.com is Porn in English... there are lots of other ways to say Porn . IDN generic one word domains in many languages are still available, but a lot of the good ones are long gone. One of my IDNs gets around 10,000uniques/month with zero promotion.

**Not only in Chinese, but in Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Spanish - Italian - French (with accents), and just about every other language known to man.
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Here are some examples in various languages:


ärzte.de - Doctors.de in German - Sold for $77,000 @ Sedo

москва.com - Moscow.com in Russian - $16,000 @ afternic

髪.com - Hair.com in Japanese/Chinese - $6,000 Private Sale

핸드폰.com - Cellphone.com in Korean - $42,250 @ Snapnames

défiscalisation.com - TaxReduction.com in French - $17,669 @ Sedo

aÅŸk.com - Love/Passion.com in Turkish - $14,101 @ SnapNames

معلومات.com - Information.com in Arabic - $3,538 @ IDNForums

دبي.net - Dubai.net in Arabic



The market is starting to fire up. I was seriously considering starting a thread about IDNs here a while ago, but when you are quietly acquiring the best IDNs, it would've been domaining suicide to let the information leak. A lot of people are shrugging these domains off like they are nothing [those who can't be open minded about a business--domaining business], but if you speak another language, i REALLY recommend grabbing some... fresh regs or even on the 2nd market where domains are still going cheap! It's owning prime keyword single word domains in a language other than English. I've got some that just started making great change and full browser support isn't even standard yet.

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Hope I made sense. I guess I just wanted to let other fellow domainers know about this stuff. We're all here to make money and entertain using our websites. If there is a technology available that makes it easier for us to do both of those, it makes sense to share the information.

 

If you don't speak or read another language, ask someone for help. I did!

 

Thanks for the articles. Will suggest to our web hosting dept colleagues in Shanghai adding IDNs to our portfolio. But so far they are still pretty expensive and very few companies invest in them.
IDNs can also prove good for localized SEO but I wonder if the SE will increase their weight in the future.

 

How are they still pretty expensive? They are the same price as normal .com/.net domains. They are the same thing.

Unless you are talking about the ccTLDs... then those depend on the registry!

http://www.dynadot.com/domain/search2.html - Link to search for IDNs (see if they are available) - My referral code in case someone wants to use it 838D8W8ma6A8p6L.

Dynadot Referral: 838D8W8ma6A8p6L !

 

So where do you register these domains? Godaddy does not accept special characters in their search field.

 

Read the above post! Got a couple PMs asking me the same question.

http://www.dynadot.com/domain/search2.html

My Dynadot Referral: 838D8W8ma6A8p6L

 

Even in China just a few registrars can offer them. The cost is about RMB280/Year (about USD37), so it is still expensive compared to normal .com .net or even .cn or .com.cn domain names.

 

First you have to convert those special characters to ACE

IDN <-> ACE

You can register the domain using it.

Here is the convertion tool

http://www.sedo.com/idn

 

No you don't. Type them in exactly as you want using the Dynadot search. And in Firefox or IE7, type them in Unicode and you are fine. They are normal, legit, working websites.

 

But how will you do it when you are registering a domain?

 

I don't see why IDN domains would cost more. The latest FireFox & Opera browsers (IE7 requires plugin) convert the IDN Unicode domain to Punycode. So when you register 翻訳.com you are really registering n--pw0a62s.com. So why not just register xn--pw0a62s.com at a cheap registrar? IDN converters can be found online.

 

It's the same thing! Just go to the Dynadot link I posted above and type in whatever you want in any language... you don't need to get it converted first! Dynadot has an automatic converter and is really good with handling IDNs. GoDaddy doesn't support IDNs yet [which is weird since they are the largest registrar in the world].

IDNs are exactly the same as normal domains. Just like you buy domains in English, you can get them in other languages. They cost the same in gTLD. When you register 翻訳.com, you are registering 翻訳.com... but it's ASCII alias is xn--pw0a62s.com. And when you register xn--pw0a62s.com, you are registering xn--pw0a62s.com, but it's Unicode alias is 翻訳.com .

 

I get IDN.info for 1.99, IDN.net for 5.49, and IDN.com for 6.99. How is that expensive?

Also, a registrar has to include the language tag (Russian, French, etc.) and not all registars do that yet.

 

A lot of Chinese use Domainsite or Dynadot dot com. It is the same price for ascii or idn dot com everywhere I have ever seen - $7. Dot CN domains are always more expensive.

 

Is all the country of china spelling the same ?
I know speech is different from some areas.

 

I'm not sure, but I know there's Chinese Traditional and Simplified. Chinese is a pretty tough market unless you are a native speaker. Spanish is pretty easy since most of the online translators are good enough, but that market is drying up quick as well. I found a bunch of premiums in Arabic in 06, but that market is also drying up.

 

Edit: Thanks for reminding me about the language tags, BurnsInternet. I forgot about those. The only two registrars that I know that support the language tags are Dynadot and Domainsite.

 

thank you guys for the nice info

 

No problem, dagger. Keep the questions coming if anyone needs anymore information.

 

Some people buy IDNs in my country and I sometimes buy too. It is the same price as English domain names here.

Where is a good place to buy IDNs for English speakers? Do you have any recommendations?