If you’re in a hurry you can download the Vred Domain Manager here! (You will need to enable macros in Excel if prompted.)
What’s in a Name?
It’s difficult to find a great domain name that doesn’t have hyphens or end in .info, so when Internet users do find a great name they want to keep it. Technology allows domain name registrars to grab unregistered names in the blink of an eye which is now a minimum requirement for those companies who need to service their clients and fight off competition.
A number of registrars have had to add in a back-order option to purchase a domain name the instant it becomes unregistered in an effort to battle the enormous demand caused by net users realising the value in virtual real estate.
Anyone who has spent a short time surfing the net and is unaware of the unlimited potential a site can bring, will soon find out the value of a great domain name, especially one that is simple to remember. Last year the domain name www.toys.com was purchased at auction by ToysRUs for a cool $5,100,000. If great domain names like this one were plentiful then the back order option would not exist and a site slipping into the unregistered category could be replaced with a new name. However this is not the case which leads me to my story.
Excel Spreadsheet Solutions
In my full time employment I get overloaded with work at certain times of the year that can last days or weeks. This year too many things happened at once and whilst putting the Internet hobby to one side a three word dot com domain name of mine, which housed an AdSense website, suddenly disappeared. When typing the name into Google a new site appeared leaving me to rue the one that slipped away due to my oversight of not renewing.
Suddenly the urgency of trying to keep the remainder of my domain names led me to organise them into a list on a spreadsheet. As an accountant, daily use of spreadsheets is the norm so when any organising is needed then a spreadsheet is the first port of call. After a few instructions and a touch of color was added, the list soon turned into a template called VRED’s Domain Manager, which has become available for everyone to use. Now you can keep your virtual real estate and not suffer the same fate as me by losing track of renewal dates.
Not the Only One
Surely I’m not the only net user that’s let a website slip away through non renewal of the domain name. The governing body of domain names, ICANN, records such information as this when they receive transaction reports from all of the licensed registrars (which exceeds 800) on a monthly basis. From this data ICANN releases the number of domains that have been renewed or changed hands between registrars. In Jan 2010 one of the measures, “transfers initiated by another registrar” was just under 260,000 transfers for dot com property alone. Other measures include “number of transfer disputes” where registrars record the number of times they win, lose or no decision is able to be made, on the number of domains in dispute. Those figures would contain thousands of stories like mine where a lack of organisation has led to missed opportunity.
Fortunately VRED’s Domain Manager is an easy to use Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet that informs you if your domain names are close to the renewal date. With space for 5000 domain names, the program allows you to fill in details such as:
- The name of the registrar
- The domain name
- Login and password for all domains
- The date the domain was purchased
- And of course the expiry date
For viewing preferences there are a number of toggle buttons that allow you to sort your list quickly. The two columns of Creation or Expiry dates can also be viewed in US or UK format.
If you think this is of benefit and you have Microsoft Excel then you can download a free copy below. The current version requires Microsoft Excel 2002. For any questions regarding this product please leave us a reply below.
