Claiming to be the world’s fastest domain name lookup tool is a pretty big claim to make. I do have to say though, that Ajaxdom is pretty darn fast.  How fast?  Well, you didn’t just see that ninja jump down, make bunny ears behind your head and disappear in a puff of smoke, did you?  It is that fast.

You can search for .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .name, .us, .ca, or .uk domain names.  Here is an example of what the results look like:

Damn, my plan to grab Mitch.something is always foiled!  There goes my birthday present (you know it is only five days away, right?)  Shameless birthday mentions aside, Ajaxdom is a fast domain name search lookup that might be well worth your time if your in a hurry to find that perfect domain name to use on your next big web site project.

Looking for a way to get an entire social web site profile of your domain name via one simple online tool?  Buildstats is another domain information tool that does just that.  All you do is insert your domain name, and then you will be taken to a page with tons of information about that previously entered domain name. 

Some of the details you get per domain include:

• Number of pages indexed via the various search engines
• Page information
• Your rank via Pagerank, Technorati, QuantCast and more
• Social popularity and graphs

Here is the example search I came up with for mitchelaneous.com:

• Buildstats domain information lookup for mitchelaneous.com

It is a simple web site, that does it’s job well.  Check out Buildstats.com to lookup information on your own domain name of choice.

On podcast #180 covered these specific domain terms:

• Domain Name Hijacking
• Cybersquatting
• Domaining
• Domain Name Speculation
• Sniping Domains

On podcast #181 rounded things out with these domain terms:

• Domain Parking
• Kiting Domains
• Domain Name Warehousing
• Type-in Traffic
• Domain Front Running

I would highly recommend checking out both podcasts, as I think they will be a handy addition to have for anybody who is wanting to learn more about the domain name jargon that is being tossed around. 

For more web hosting podcast fun, talk, help, interviews and more check out webhostingshow.com.  Speaking of which, that project of mine is about to hit the 4 year anniversary mark – so that alone should let you know there is a ton of information posted over there for the newbies all the way to the gurus out there in the web development world.

Loads of hosting fun from this week’s past show. Did you check it out?
If not here are just a few topics from this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

• HostingCon Sold Off to iNet Interactive? – iNET Interactive, those darlings of the web hosting world who brought us such things as webhostingtalk.com, hostvoice.com, and hostingtech.com have acquired the HostingCon conference.
• Interesting Tool to See if Your Site is Up or Down! – Previously I told you about an awesome web site status tool that could help you tell if your web site was up or not.  Down for everyone or just me looks to have become a real success.  I have one better though, thanks to a suggestion from a Web Hosting Show listener named John.
• The Mess That Was .ME Domain Name Registrations? – You may have caught wind of some of the .me buzz last week, as GoDaddy started taking registrations for them for $20 a year (and you have to sign up for two years, so that should really be $40)… If eight people say they registered it, that will leave seven people really unhappy about the whole ordeal.
  
• The Simplest FTP Program Ever!?! – I often hear complaints from people that FTP programs are too hard to use.  There are too many options, too many buttons and too many configurations you have to learn about.  For those people out there looking for a  simpler FTP program I offer to you DropUpLoad.

Interested?  Then go download and listen to the Web Hosting Show, episode 158! Also be sure to grab the RSS feed, and pick it up on iTunes too.

Unlike other eBook deals, you get an extra perk with this setup.  You can download both the digital eBook version, or head over the the official page for it and pick up all five chapters as audio downloads too.  I wanted to give to you the best of both worlds.  The topics covered in the eBook cover all aspects of the web hosting world:

• Moving from Web Host to Web Host
• Getting going with your own Ecommerce Store Online
• How to Find a Job in the Web Hosting Industry
• Best Methods and Tips for Setting up a New Blog
• The Ever Popular Handy Guide to Domain Names

Download the PDF and let me know what you think.  Also as far as distribution goes, please feel free to share the link to download it to anybody and everybody you know.  This is a project of mine I have been working on getting together for some time now and I want everybody to know it is free of charge. 

To tune in to the Web Hosting Show, be sure to check out WebHostingShow.com, subscribe to the RSS feed or add us to your iTunes podcast subscriptions.

1. Network-Tools.com – Ugly interface but a little something for every network tool loving freak.
   
2. Pingdom Tools – The best looking set of network tools, ping, traceroute and page loading tools included.
3. DNS Goodies – Lots of goodies here to love from whois, ip check, ping and more.
   
4. Traceroute.org – Need to do a traceroute from more than one location? The interface is horrible but the info is handy.
5. DNS Stuff – Another list of your generic domain name tools. Also has a paid service for more perks and choices.
6. My Nameserver – Tons of DNS related lookup tools here. Also good to look up abuse, domain name worth and more.
7. DNS Tools – Ping, traceroute, whois and more. I really like the fact you can “search for all” here too.
8. DomainTools.com – Probably my all time favorite, DomainTools.com has everything you could want under the sun.
9. Ajax DNS – Look up your DNS info in a crazy cool ajax powered interface. Not just eye candy here though, good all around resource.
10. IP Tools – Another “we do everything” network tool web site. Dozens of search boxes with dozens of tools.
11. Internet Tools – A handful of Internet query tools so you can do quick searches for things such as various whois searches.
12. Ajax DNS Bench – Drop and give me 20! 6 ajax powered DNS tools here to pick from.
13. My IP Neighbors – Now you can use this site to do a reverse DNS search to find out who else is on your server.
14. Who is Hosting This – Find out the host or server that a domain name is using. Quick and effective (for nosey people only).

Now I wouldn’t recommend trying to use all of these, as many of them preform the same functions. Find the ones that work best for you, and next time you need to do a ping, traceroute or whois search you should be more than ready for the job.

• How to build a data center in 6 months for $800,000
• How To: Picking Out A Good Domain Name
• We Have Holiday Debutantes…
• Handy Guide to Domain Names – Episode 134
• WordPress Hacked: Anyone Can View Future/Draft Posts
• WARNING: Google’s GMail security failure leaves my business sabotaged Update - Collective effort restores David Airey.com
• Pass The Mike: Cotton Rohrscheib
• How To Deliver The Right Message At The Right Time

Have an interesting link to share or pass my way? Leave a comment or drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com and I’ll be more than happy to share it with the masses.

+ Handy Guide to Domain Names – Episode 134

Here is a little more information about this episode of the best hosting podcast out there today if I do say so myself (and I just did!):

Need help picking the best domain name? Do you want some assistance finding the domain name register that is right for you? Have you considered the privacy concerns you might be giving up by getting that .com of you very own? I want to tackle domain names from head to toe to give people a guide to the confusing world of domain name registrations.

Go check out the show notes for the visual version, and for the audio version download the mp3 from WebHostingShow.com.

Past Audio Guides to the Web Hosting World

There are many subjects that take a little longer to explain and are confusing to most inside of the web hosting industry. Here are a few of the other special “guide” episodes I have produced.

Web Hosting Job Hunting Guide

So you want to become one of the few, the proud – the average web hosting worker. Now I can tell you from first and experience, it isn’t all fame and glory. It is a job for people who like to help other people. If you don’t have the patience for people with stupid questions, or if your not that interested about how the Web works this job might not be for you. If your enticed then please stand by.

(download the .mp3!)

Setup a Blog (with WordPress) Guide

When it comes to setting up a blog or any other content management system some people find themselves a little lost. From CHMODing the right files to uploading things to the right spot, it can be a headache in the making. Well on this special edition of the Web Hosting Show I’ve decided to step you through the process of getting a blog setup on your own hosting space using WordPress.

(download the .mp3!)

Setting Up Your First Online Store Guide

You know Joe right? Joe lives down the street from you and runs a little comic book store downtown. Joe doesn’t know much about the Internet but he does know that he would like to expand his business. What should Joe do? Joe should look into getting into ecommerce. Now first things first, what is ecommerce? Ecommerce is the conducting of commerce with goods and services over the Internet.

(download the .mp3!)

Have a good idea for the next one I should do? Drop me an e-mail and let me know. I’m always looking for feedback and inspiration.

Think of ten of your favorite Web sites. Do any of them have hyphenated domain names? Nope.

The first reason is, is that hyphenated domain names are really hard for folks to remember. When picking a good domain name, you want to find something short, relevant, and with a few keywords. Now many Web 2.0 startups are breaking that rule left and right - but I think it is still a good rule to have.

For the rest of us, the previously mentioned rules are good ones to follow. You want people to be able to associate your domain name with your Web site quickly. hyphenated domain names just make things too difficult.

Where does the hyphen go?

Did it have one, or were you just thinking that it did?

If they the visitor types in the domain name without the hyphen, will they be taken to a competitor’s Web site? These are all things you should keep in mind. So next time you are out domain name hunting, do yourself a favor and stay away from getting a hyphenated domain name.

One service that does this is AboutUs.org.

I found out about this the other day by using DomainTools.com to do a whois lookup. I was checking to see if a domain name my friend registered was privatized and it was in the who is search but About Us still had the information listed. How sneaky!

Another offender is Alexa.com. I really hope this does not become a trend. The whois domain name search is already a big enough problem as it is – we don’t need even more places to check to make sure our private domain name information isn’t being shared with the public at large.