.biz Domain Variations

This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on miscellaneous Internet marketing strategies.

.biz Domain Name Variations

"If a domain name like xnew.com exists, is registering xnew.biz legally wrong? Currently xnew.com is a directory page. What's your advice on this domain name? Also, where can I buy domain names at a low one-year rate?" -- Francis Arios, Arios Marketing

The new .biz and .info domains were created for the very reason that so many .com domains are already taken. If xnew.com is currently used for a website, there could be some confusion with the .com domain if you use xnew.biz, but there's no legal violation unless it uses a trademarked word or phrase. I checked xnew.com using Alexa (www.alexa.com) to see how much traffic they get, but Alexa has no data on them, so it isn't a popular site you'd be competing against. For my domain names I use 000Domains (http://wilsonweb.com/go/to.cgi?l=000biz). They charge US $13.50 per year and provide an easy user interface, though I've seen domain name prices down to about US $8.50.