DNZoom Closed Beta

I mentioned DNZoom a few weeks ago and was hoping to be able to try it out.

I’ve been invited to take part in the private beta with a handful of others.

I’ve been playing around with the interface and the various functions while chatting to Dan Kimball, one of the driving forces behind the new service.

Web 2.0 services have been over hyped in the last couple of years and a lot of them probably won’t survive for a very simple reason – they’ve no revenue model.

DNZoom, however, should succeed.

Yes – it is “beta” in the true meaning of the word, so of course some functions don’t work properly, but this is the killer app for any domain professional.

Why?

Because it makes your life a hell of a lot easier – that’s why.

I wouldn’t consider myself to be a serious “domainer” (I don’t even particularly like the word!), but I have accounts with at least a half dozen ICANN registrars, all the main aftermarkets and three parking services.

Managing all of that can be a pain in the neck!

DNZoom does away with all the pain, as it offers you a central location to manage pretty much all aspects of your account.

From the control panel I can easily add all my registrar accounts by simply inputting the account login details. If the system has full API support it can import everything for me.

You can do the same with your parking accounts.

Want to grab more domains?

The system comes with a number of tools including name spinners to make it all easy and intuitive to use.

Once you’ve found a domain you want to grab you can simply register it using the registrar of your choice with one of your contact profiles.

Instead of having to login to 5 or 6 websites to handle the process you can now do it all from one place.

The navigation menu is pretty self-explanatory and the use of AJAX is excellent ie. it makes things easier for you without being fluffy and essentially useless like so many AJAX apps you come across.

Let’s look at the various options in more detail:

• Dashboard – your starting point or hub with links to other parts of the system
• My Portfolio – pretty self-explanatory. You can import ALL your domains en masse from both registrar and parking accounts
• Find Domains – offers a number of handy tools to help you find new domains to add to your portfolio
• Marketplace – can’t find a new domain? There’s nothing wrong with an aftermarket purchase or even one inspired by one (ie. spun from a listing)
• Dropped Names – find drops and upcoming drops which you can rank by Google and Alexa rank etc.,
• My Accounts – your account details with the various registrars and parking services
• Manage Profile – your user profile and other details for registering domains. It also includes ccTLD specific stuff which is a really nice touch
• Security Settings – considering the amount of sensitive information you are exchanging via a 3rd party this area should not be overlooked

There are so many options to play with on the system that no simple review can do the service justice and their roadmap for future development sounds like I’ll never tire of it!

For a “beta” DNZoom is truly impressive!