Update: 09/30/2021 – This post is a public service announcement about 3rd parties sending solicitation mailers that look like real invoices. 616 Marketing Group LLC does not send out these types of solicitations and is not associated with these companies.
Many of our clients have been receiving letters from another company regarding a website listing service or a domain name renewal service. Our clients have been asking us, is this a scam or a bill? Short answer – It’s not a scam. It’s not a bill or an invoice. It’s a sales pitch from a different company. At the timing of this post, US Domain Authority and other similar company letters are paid advertisements disguised to look like invoices. These letters can be tossed in the trash.
These letters look like real billing statements with wording such as “please remit payment to address on the reverse side by (date)“. Other wording including “How to Make a Payment” or separate instructions to “Pay Online” or “By Mail” with a check or credit card.
These companies include return envelopes for payment as well. An unsuspecting business owner might not easily recognize this as a new company pitching their business and changing from their current domain name registrar or renewal provider to another company.
Currently, we’re seeing these letters from “US Domain Authority”, “Domain Listings”, and “Internet Domain Name Services (iDNS)”.
616 Marketing Group LLC is not associated with these companies.
Should you pay $289 a year for a website domain listing with one of these companies? Our answer is no, there are much better ways to spend your marketing dollars and most website domain names can be renewed for ~ $15 – 25 depending on the name and domain name registrar. Even if you are paying for a service that helps you maintain your domain name and ensure autorenewal and support every year, this should be a minimal cost. As an example, we offer domain name management services for $49.99 per year and pay for the renewal cost on your behalf.
Depending on the letter you received, some of these are not regarding renewing your domain name on your behalf; rather, making it sounds like they are and only providing an online listing of your domain name / website URL on their website – resulting in your domain name not being renewed (unless you have autorenew enabled with your domain name registrar and an active billing profile).
We always appreciate our clients coming to us and asking about any details like this. We’re here to help them save time and be effective in their marketing efforts as they concentrate on their business!
If you’re interested in better Google rankings or have questions about your domain name renewal status, online listings, local SEO, or other website and marketing questions. Contact us today!