Dedicated domain management applications have a number of advantages of over a normal spreadsheet.
Spreadsheets vs Dedicated Applications for Domain Name Management
A spreadsheet can never match the benefits of using a dedicated domain portfolio management application for a number of reasons.
The features mentioned here may not be uniformly available all the software products. Please check the product comparison table before you decide the software you want. Watch My Domains SED would be the ideal choice if you need almost all the features.
Ease of Use
Dedicated domain name management software tools are very easy to use because they have been created for just that purpose and nothing else.
Automatic Retrieval of Data
Dedicated domain management applications can automatically retrieve all relevant domain related data (like expiry, created and last updated dates, name servers, domain "A" records, associated MX records, SSL certificate expiry dates), generate alerts and more.
Custom Columns That Can Auto Populate
Depending on the version of the software, you can create Custom Columns for holding additional data. You can even add any number of custom columns in any language you want and these columns can be configured to be automatically filled after a lookup.
Third Party Tools
Integrate with third party tools like SEOMoz and EstiBot. You can have the data from third party resources appear in the main domain table. These data can form part of your automatic reports too.
Third party tool integration is available in Watch My Domains SED (Cloud / Server Edition).
Can Operate in the Background and Trigger Alerts
Domain Management applications like Watch My Domains SED is "on" all the time and can have scheduled lookups that trigger at specified times or trigger based on an event. It can monitor records and send out alerts when a domain record is changed or when a domain's IP address changes.
Multi User Access Access, Audit Logs
You can create multiple users and assign which domains can be seen or edited by each user. This is very sueful when you are managing the domains of your clients.
Watch My Domains SED also provides a time-stamped audit log. You can check the audit logs to see activities like adding domains, deleting domains, manual editing of data, downloading CSV data.
Easily Create Custom Reports
You can easily create CSV reports that can be opened in your spreadsheets. Use filters to quickly find the domains you want in the report.
Create custom HTML reports that include specific columns, optionally color code rows based on expiry dates or other parameters.
Easy Integration
Integrate with your own website using the free PHP Library. You can access the domain database for use in your web pages.
Frequent Updates and Support
We keep track of changes and update the software often to add additional features and options so that you don't have to.