Parked domain names

Why have I been directed to this page?

This is a holding page for a parked domain name.  A domain name is used as the address for a web site as in https://www.example.co.uk and for email addresses as in john@example.co.uk

What is a parked domain name?

Parked names are those held by ourselves on behalf of a client but are not in current active use.  There are many reasons behind the decision to park a name.

Do you own this domain name?

We hold this name on your behalf but for reasons addressed below the decision was made not to route it to your active web site.  That change can be made on request.

Looking for a specific web site but found yourself here?

The chances are that you’ve used some kind of variant of the name.

• Might you have entered the wrong suffix like example.co.uk instead of example.com 
• Names with hyphens used to be a very popular way to denote word boundaries like ready-to-go.xyz especially before Google search became able to parse multi-word names better. They still have their place, to make the word boundaries clear where there might otherwise be confusion.  
  If the name includes hyphens, try it without
  If the name is more than one word but no hyphens, try inserting some
• Might there be a typo in the name perhaps a homonym (sound-alike word like where/wear)
• Similarly some names include numbers Ready2Go.xyz or ReadyToGo.xyz (by the way, that part of the web address is case insensitive, any mix of upper and lower case is OK).
• Some letters and numbers can be confusing depending on the typeface: a zero can look like capital letter O, the number one can look like lower case letter L

Are parked names for sale?

Not explicitly but everything has a price, we can pass any enquiry on to the name owner.

Unregistered names might only cost under £20 p.a. but all the most useful names were sold years ago.  A better choice may be to buy a name such as this one  if the current owner is willing to enter negotiation.
Actual sale prices range from the low £hundreds to many £thousands (and a few most highly desirable names occasionally fetch much more).

Why are parked names redirected here?

Names  will be routed here for one of  these reasons:

1. The name is held defensively to prevent it being taken by a competitor or someone with malicious intent to damage the owner or brand of the related live web site. The decision has been made not to route the name to the live web site because visitors may become familiar with this secondary address. If the name were to be dropped at a later date, customers would see an error message and might infer that the owner has ceased trading. 
2. It could be left with no specified destination, in which case visitors would see some kind of unhelpful “not found” error message.  This is intended as a more helpful explanation. It does not mean the name is for sale but the possibility cannot be dismissed.
3. The name may have become surplus to requirements before the scheduled and paid for renewal date and so is “parked”.  The annual renewal fee is so low that most hold on to “spare” names in case they may wish to use them at some future date. Names allowed to lapse are commonly purchased by speculators who aim to monetise them by one of many means including stuffing with low-grade adverts or links to unsavoury content.

There are  other ways to deal with a name that is held but is not the address of the owner’s live web site such as:

1. It could be redirected to the name-owners main web site. For the reason why not see above.
2. It could be relinquished. That means it would go back on the open market. Usually there was a sound reason for holding the name in the first place, if there truly is no continuing need for the name and no risk in releasing it (e.g. if it was closely similar to a trading name or brand) then that may be a sound decision. 
   Names released back to the market are commonly snapped up by speculators hoping to monetise what is only an investment of under £20.
   1. They may hope to sell it back to the original owner (who perhaps overlooked the need to renew an important name). 
   2. They may use it to host a clone of the original website to their own advantage.
   3. It could be used to clone another of the original owner’s web sites in order to steal web-traffic.  (e.g. if the same person owned example.com and example.co.uk and dropped one of the names).
   4. It might be used to host low-grade adverts or links to unsavoury content or malware.

What factors affect the value of a domain name?

There are seven primary features that contribute to the value of a name:

1. It is short
2. It is a single word
3. It is a dictionary word or a proper noun
4. It is memorable
5. It is in a widely recognised TLD (Top Level Domain, i.e. .co.uk or .com) 
6. It has positive connotations (and no negative connotations)
7. It is relevant to the purpose and content of any associated web site

You will struggle to find an unregistered .CO.UK or .COM name with the first three of those features. All 3 character names have gone.  Almost all dictionary words and proper nouns (such as surnames, placenames) have gone.

There are now hundreds of “new” TLDs (here’s a list). That gives the illusion of greater choice. Unable to secure tesco.com or tesco.co.uk you might think tesco.shop (if that were not held by Tesco) would be an acceptable alternative.  Tesco’s lawyers would be on your doorstep next day! 

Why is it important to own a .UK name?

For UK based organisations preference for .uk remains strong with 81% of those surveyed saying they prefer .uk sites when presented with a choice of a .uk or .com in search results. And when compared to other top level domains (TLDs) like .de (Germany) .is (Iceland) etc the preference for .uk is even stronger. Among the reasons given were

• that it would be more likely to be a UK based company
• Prices will be in sterling
• Delivery charges for any goods ordered will be lower:  shorter journeys are faster and cheaper.
• Delivery timescales will be faster: no need for customs clearance and any associated costs.
• The site will be in English. Any transactions will be governed by familiar British legislation.  Communications will not be hindered by language problems.
• Working hours will be based on GMT
• If you need to visit the premises of a business behind the website, it will probably be in the UK
• Search engines like Google prioritise .UK sites in their results if the search originates from a computer located in the UK

There are dozens of other TLDs but .co.uk in particular is effectively “a familiar brand”.

.UK is effectively a national assett, it “belongs” to the UK government Nominet act as their agent in managing the .UK namespace. That guarantees it’s longevity and the low annual renewal fee compared with almost all others. Any increase of the fee is potentially subject to government veto.

The retail cost of annual renewal of UK names is less than £20, most other TLDs charge more. A small number charge $thousands and that price is at the whim of the TLD owner.  They may choose to sell names at a low price but increase it once registrants have become dependent on the name for their web site and email addresses.