Domain Names Room

Buying Expired Domain Names - Some Simple Suggestions

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

By John Bj Khu

Hundreds of expired domain traders buy a number of expired domain names, sell them to the highest bidder or flip them into useful web sites to make more money and profit. However, most of them commit a number of mistakes and blunders in the process, which could be due to a number of reasons and factors. Here are some simple suggestions and tips to help you in buying good expired domain names:

Dropped domains can be anything! If a domain was dropped by its previous owner, you may not be too sure about its quality and commercial viability. A dropped domain is not as good as a domain purchased from a person who no longer needs it. Dropped domains may not show good return on your investment, as the inherent quality of those domains will be still under doubt vis-a-vis traffic and incoming links. Under usual circumstances, dropped domains can result in a total loss of search engine ranking as well as accumulated traffic. Google and other major search engines may delete the entire list related to an expired domain, soon after the announcement of drop. On the other hand, search engines like DMOZ and Yahoo are more liberal in their approach. Yahoo always charges a hefty registration fee of about $299 to list a particular domain. It makes sense to buy an expired domain listed on these two search engines just to save some money and time. Domains expiring must be treated in a different way, as you are not too sure of the future course of events; the dropping domain may be picked up invisible buyers through a buying process called domain backordering.

Another mistake that a number of expired domain traders commit is to hold on to their inventory in the hope that someone will come forward to buy their domains. Never ever, commit the mistake of holding on to your domains. Rotate your domains; if you find a lucrative offer, go ahead and sell it. Create a big turnover by selling your stock whenever you get a good offer. If at all you are planning to resell you domain, do not park it with anyone. Instead, create a good web site, host it with a goof host and create catchy and SEO friendly content and images. Once you feel that you have a good web portal, and then you can search for a good buyer, who is ready to pay a big price.

Before buying any expired domain, ensure that you are checking the history of domain in a comprehensive manner. The best way to conduct a comprehensive search is to use the WayBack Archive, which provides you basic information on a particular domain that has just expired. Everyone agrees that incoming links and traffic contribute a lot to the value of an expired domain. While it is very difficult for a newbie domain trader to find out if there is any traffic attached to a particular expired domain, experienced and hard-boiled ones can scent a domain that displays lot of traffic and links.

John Khu, an author and a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web site called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets. "This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog or website as long as the resource box remain intact."

Buying and Selling Domains Safely With PayPal

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By Morgan Linton

Pay Pal is a service that holds next to *no liability* for the transactions that happen through it. Sales involving "Intangible" items, i.e. a domain name are bought and sold at the risk of both parties. The number of scams - particularly with domain names that happen through Pay Pal is incredible. Pay Pal is most likely the single-largest source of fraudulent domain transactions.

There is some good news, you can take a few simple steps to vastly improve your chances of not getting scammed in a Pay Pal transaction. I'll make my disclaimer here: I always suggest domains be bought and sold using an escrow service like Escrow.com, however, should you decide to use Pay Pal this advice will prevent scams about 90% of the time.

For buyers paying with Pay Pal. Always pay with a credit card - never pay with cash or with money from your bank account. Remember, should you pay and never receive the domain, Pay Pal will have little they can do. If you pay with your bank account or cash Pay Pal is the only authority you are dealing with. Once you involve your credit card company - you are dealing with someone else's money. Think of this as bringing in the big guns. Credit card companies don't like losing money and they will fight to get their money back from scammers and online thieves.

If you don't receive your domain and have already paid, always try to get a refund from the seller first. If this does not work then contact your credit card company - they are the only company with your best interests in mind since it is their money you are talking about!

For sellers paying with Pay Pal. Beware charge-back schemes. Just as using a credit card is a protection for domain buyers it can also be used as a tool for domain thieves to steal your domain. If you follow one simple rule then you are guaranteed success. Transfer the money you receive to your bank account and wait for it to make it into the account. Once the money hits your account a charge-back will be impossible since the money is no longer in your Pay Pal account.

You should contact Pay Pal and let them know that you have been part of what you believe to be a charge-back scheme. Pay Pal can then work with the credit card company to refute the claim. Either way, the money is in your bank account - so you have been paid, as expected for the domain.

By following these simple tips you can begin a practice of safely buying your domains through Pay Pal. I always suggest that you use an Escrow service for higher-value domains however for smaller sales Pay Pal can help to make an efficient transaction. Just remember to be very careful whenever doing business online. If something seems fishy...it probably is. By taking precautions you can prevent yourself from being the victim of a scam.

Morgan Linton is the publisher of the popular blog - Domainvestors.tv where he discusses how to make money with Domain Names. Learn more about Twitter, Domain Names, Domaining, and SEO all on http://www.Domainvestors.tv

Buy Domain Names the Smarter Way

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

By Menno Spijkstra

Domainers are online entrepreneurs who invest in domain names. It is a general knowledge that selling domains is one profitable business that can last even a lifetime. Domainers buy domains and sell it in due time. But of course, successful domainers could attest to the reality that you don't simply shop for any domains that you like and expect to resell it at a higher price in the future. You have to be a wise domain name investor if you plan this to be in this business for a long time. For some people, this kind of business may sound simple; you have to know that there are important factors that you have to put into consideration when you buy domain names.

If you aim for a long term and rewarding domain name investment, then you have to do this business the right way. And the right way to do it is by evaluating which names are worth buying and have the better potential of being sold at a good price in the future. When you buy domain names, you have to be a little bit more particular with the extension. I am referring to those .com, .org, or .net. The list can just go on and on since there are just too many extensions these days. Be that as it may, it is still very evident that .com extension is the most popular and widely used.

Thus, when you buy domain names, go for .com names. This will definitely give you a better edge than selling domains with any other extensions. However, in countries such as the United Kingdom, the .co.uk extension is actually more popular than the .com extension. In such case, you may have to adjust your choices especially if you are based in the United Kingdom or intend to market in that area. Like any other business, sometimes you will really have to bend some rules or make your standards a little bit flexible. As an online marketer, you have to be open to the fact that you have to make yourself adaptable to change at all times.

Anyway, further to getting the right extension, you must also ensure that the name that you will buy is easy to recall. You know too well that internet users and even website owners prefer those names that are easy to remember. For online entrepreneurs buying a domain name, it is important that their website address does not only represent their kind of business but also make it easier for their business to be promoted online. Majority of internet users don't like to memorize long website addresses. Thus, when internet marketers buy domain names, they also make sure that what they buy are easy to recall domains.

This is a good point that you must keep in mind so you don't end up with a bunch of domains that no one will buy. When you practice making wise decision-makings when you buy domain names, you will surely last long in this business. This is a lucrative industry just like real-estate is offline.

The author of this article Menno Spijkstra is an underground Internet Marketer who has been successful selling products online for many years. Menno is now coaching people how to make real money online through his program http://www.IMachiever.com. This course includes a detailed manual plus 5 products to sell and keep 100% of the profit.

Build Your Own Website With Your Own Domain Name & Get Reliable Tips & Resources To Earn Online

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By Raja Zaharudin Raja Endut

There is no business like the internet business but then again you need to know how to do it first before you can start to earn anything at all from its vast potential. It is a gold mine out there. To start off without any knowledge of the trade would put you in a spot of possibly wasting precious time and money right from the start. So, you need reliable tips and resources and start to build your own website if you need to, and this must be done right from the initial stage of your business setup.

Many internet millionaires or the so called successful gurus out there must have started off from somewhere. Internet marketing is actually a very enjoyable profession especially when you start to generate your income and by doing it right keep multiplying your wealth on auto pilot and on even lesser attention as you go along. Earning from the internet would be much more enjoyable when you start to earn unlimited passive income and realizing that it will continue to be so without your full attention. Be on a look out for reliable tips and resources and this you can easily search from the internet. Wise up and make sure they are really reliable. Making the right decision and choosing the correct resources would make substantial difference in your future earnings.

Firstly get your own website from a reliable host and make sure your budget is right. Cheap and reliable means that your website can be published and up 24 hours per day and 7 days per week and that is 100% up time of your business on the net. It simply means that your shop front is always open to the public anytime of the day and night. Reliable means no worries and no headaches and always remember "reliable" is the word you have to pay attention to. Get it from your reliable resource center and this you can do it on your own by searching the internet.

There are banners and links of all sorts advertised by marketers to get your attention about their products. Sign up for these affiliates programs and stuff up your website to market products and start earning from the internet. If you lack knowledge on how to set up your own website by all means there are many programs you can find to do it by drag and drop methods. Everything is becoming simpler and easier for our convenience.

Your website can possibly be your gold mine and your link to internet riches and this can only happen to you if you can start to have one. Never wait to do something good for your future and having your own website could possibly be your best investment ever.

From http://www.smartbizunlimited.com
(Private Affiliates Directory Listing and Resource Center) Your Reliable Resource Center.

Beware of New Domain Fraud

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By Lisa Rae Preston

You've decided to put up a website and have registered the perfect name! Congratulations! Did you choose private domain registration? Most people don't, due to the extra few dollars it adds on to the price. Many folks naturally opt for the cheapest domain registration. But there's one important point you're going to want to take note of immediately.

There's a rotten little deal going around in which professional scammers ferret out personal contact information from the Who-is database and call unsuspecting domain owners to peddle their wares at take-total-advantage-of-you prices.

A client of mine had registered her domains, and in a few days received a phone call from someone who found her contact info on Who-is. This time period was just long enough for her to realize that setting up her own website was more frustrating than it appeared to be initially. The guy "John" was full of promises and wanted to "sell" her his website design deal, even offering to host her site for a mere $94 a month.

My heart sank to my knees as she was talking. I thought, "Oh, no! You didn't!"

Thankfully, she said she'd think about it and hung up.

If you've just registered a domain, be aware that unless you bought the additional private domain registration, your personal contact information will be available for the world to see.
In some cases, there may actually be a reason not to want the private registration - and
that was the case with my client. Hers was a non-profit which she wanted to promote and for which she wanted to be contacted.

In general, you can stave off most of these vultures by purchasing a private registration when you buy your domain. It's normally only a few dollars extra, and may well be worth the headache, even for experienced webmasters.

So just beware that some people may find your contact information online and try to offer you loads of "deals" - from hosting and design to SEO work - all at "break-into-your-wallet" prices. I've gotten emails from "companies" shortly after registering my domain, assuring me that they can drive tons of traffic to my new site, or rank me on Google's first page, etc.

I make it a habit to ignore all calls and emails from folks trying to sell me things about which I did not inquire in any fashion.

Just wanted to let you know about this in case you haven't had this experience - yet!
Since the cheapest domain registration may cost you a lot more in the long run, choosing a private domain registration can save you a headache and a half!

Lisa Rae Preston is the creator of Instant Niche Emails, software that helps you create a year's worth of relationship building, follow-up marketing messages in any niche! Discover how to create your highly profitable email series by reading her free report, Insider Secrets to Follow-Up Fortunes at http://www.instantnicheemails.com

9 Easy Steps to Changing Your Domain Name Servers (DNS)

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By Liz Canney

You have decided to start your own website, you have purchased a domain name, and now you want to point the name to a different hosting company. To do this you have to transfer your files to your new host by changing your Domain Name Servers DNS.

When you purchase your new domain name your host will provide you with your domain name server details usually by email. File and keep this in a safe place, better still make a hard copy, because if you ever decide to change your hosting you will need this information.

The DNS "Domain Name Server you have just purchased will automatically point to the registrars parked page.You will not need to change your DNS if you have purchased both your domain name and hosting from the same registrar.

But what happens if your hosting is not with the same company where you purchased your domain name? If this was the case your registrar would not know where your site is hosted and your site would not show online.

This is easily fixed, all you have to do is point your registrar toward your hosting company and just link them together.

How to Change your name servers

1. Go to your registrars home page ie GoDaddy

2. Log-in and go to your account

3. Then find "Manage Domains" or something similar and click on this.

4. Select the domain you want to transfer

5. Look for the button marked nameservers/manage nameservers.

6.You will now be given the option to change your nameservers

7. Click on "Custom Nameservers" It may be a little different with your registrar for example, "Edit Nameservers/manage nameservers"etc.

8. A new page will appear and you will see that the current nameserver settings are already filled in.

9. Delete these nameservers and replace them with the nameservers provided by your new hosting company.

Remember the details were sent to you by email and you kept them in a safe place. Right!!

That's it, done! How easy was that?

For those of you who would rather watch an instructional video go to http://www.onlinemarketingmagician.com and follow the directions via a very simple step by step video.

7 Killer Tips to Use a Domain Name Finder Service to Purchase Aged Domains

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By Tim Buchalka

5 Effective Tips to Make Smart Business With Domain Names

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

By Richard Mo

Domain names are very vital for defining the online identity of any business. Hence when a business decides on acquiring a domain name, they are very particular about some specific factors. Here are five such factors that make a domain name important for a company.

Keep It Short And Easy To Remember

When selecting a domain name, make sure the name is short and quite catchy. A long name is often hard to remember due to its spelling and pronunciation. A short and easily memorable name is more desirable by any businessman and hence would generate greater demand when you want to sell it. A short name even helps in advertising through word of mouth.

Easy Spelling

A domain name that has a simple spelling would sell much better than one that seems to be complicated. Complicated domain names will make users commit mistakes when jotting down the URL of any business, and can never be able to get to the site in question because of such reasons.

Relevance To Businesses

When you decide to get hold of domain names and later sell them to other business owners, try to look for names that are likely to correspond more closely to businesses. Going for names that describe the nature of business effectively will the chances of more businesses approaching you for the name.

You can come across domain names that use the brand name instead of using a descriptive name. While such names help to generate brand awareness among the customers, they will most likely prove to be of little use for the new businesses.

Extensions

Choose a proper extension when selecting you domain name. Try to use the extensions like .org, .net, .com, .edu, .biz, etc appropriately depending on what type of businesses your target buyer is. For example, go for .edu when you want to sell a domain name related to education.

Keywords

Domain names that contain keywords are also very desirable for the businesses as such names help with search engine optimization. A proper keyword contained in the name helps the URL to get a better rank among the other results. This attracts more buyers for such a domain name as well.

Keep these five points on your mind and you can be very successful with your business related to the reselling of domain names.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it?
Richard Moog - RichardMoog.com. Follow My Domaining & Internet Marketing Business.

5 Domain Name Mistakes to Avoid

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By Karen Sielski

One of the early tasks you'll need to do when creating an online wealth generation machine is picking a domain name, be sure to avoid these common domain name mistakes. Don't take this step lightly. It is important to take the time to do this step right, even if it takes days. At a minimum, sleep on your choice overnight. It is painful to change your domain name down the road.

First of all, you want your domain name to be congruent with your brand. You want it to get top search engine results. And you want it to generate maximum web traffic.

I personally like to brainstorm with a couple of people for this activity. Each person says every domain name that comes to their mind, no matter how crazy it might seem. It's actually kind of fun. Make a long list of potential names. Then take a break and come back a day or so later and list any new ideas people came up with.

Now go through and eliminate domain names that are already taken. GoDaddy.com can provide this information. Many of your best ideas will probably be taken, which is why this step can be difficult. Of the remaining names, eliminate ones that you don't like. Now eliminate domain names that don't meet the guidelines below. With the remaining names, vote to determine a winner.

Avoid these 5 common domain name mistakes:

1. Not getting a .com extension. Don't settle for .net, .info, .ws, .bz, etc. If the .com version is not available, pick a different domain name.

2. Not registering variations of the domain name such as plural and hyphenated versions. If you don't, your competitors will and they will steal some of your traffic. Domain names are ~$10 per year, get

3. Picking a name that is difficult to spell or say. When you tell someone your domain name, there should be no ambiguity in how to spell it, and they should be able to remember it easily.

4. Not using your main keyterm in your domain. You'll get a higher relevance score from the search engines if your main keyterm is in your domain name. Higher relevance means more traffic. Use the Google keyword tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to find a good keyterm.

5. Not owning your name. In addition to any other domain names you purchase, make sure to get your name in the form FirstLast.com. If you have a common name you may have to get creative and use your middle initial or middle name as well. Even if you don't need your name right away, it's better to get it before someone else does.

Your domain name is a very important aspect of your online wealth generation machine. Do proper research and avoid these 5 domain name mistakes. The time you spend to pick the right domain name is worth it's weight in gold.

And now I would like to invite you to claim your Free Access to "15 Ways To Grow Your Business Online". Just click here to send me an email and you'll start receiving valuable information that can help you get more traffic to your website or blog and make more money from your visitors.

Karen Sielski is a passionate online wealth builder, using her 20+ years in the high-tech industry to help small businesses, entrepreneurs, and online network marketers successfully grow their businesses online. She has a Masters Degree in Computer Science and owns a successful online business.

5 Domain Name Mistakes to Avoid

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

By Karen Sielski

First of all, you want your domain name to be congruent with your brand. You want it to get top search engine results. And you want it to generate maximum web traffic.

Avoid these 5 common domain name mistakes:

1. Not getting a .com extension. Don't settle for .net, .info, .ws, .bz, etc. If the .com version is not available, pick a different domain name.

3. Picking a name that is difficult to spell or say. When you tell someone your domain name, there should be no ambiguity in how to spell it, and they should be able to remember it easily.

4 Ways to Maximize Your Domain Flipping Profits

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By Andrea Brown

Many people refer to domains as virtual real estate. Because of that, domain flipping is quickly becoming as popular and profitable as house flipping. The only problem with domains is that online, people think that they can do everything quicker. Virtual real estate takes time just like physical real estate does. Follow these tips to maximize your profits in domain and site flipping.

1. Patience is key in practically anything and everything you do in life. Things can't be rushed- especially important things. If you want to flip a domain to receive the most money out of it as possible, you need to be patient and allow the domain to age. People don't like to buy domains that are new web. Newly registered domains don't have any traces in search engines which is the main reason buyers avoid registering their own domains. They want to buy from someone who's already given the domain a little reputation.

2. Don't leave the website sitting. Even if you don't feel like making content or putting up a website script, the worst thing you could do it allow your domain registrar to rake in all the profits from the domain parking. At least park your domain under your own account to get the few dollars that it generates.

3. Another way to maximize your profits in domain flipping is to put up a website script or content page. Adding website content to your domain not only gets it indexed in search engines, but it also sends a little traffic. You could even charge extra to include the website with the domain when it's time to sell.

4. For those who want to make a profit worth a year's salary, it really doesn't even take much more work. It takes smarter work. To increase your gains even more, build a content site with multiple pages. Do just a small bit of promoting, build some backlinks, and get a good amount of traffic flowing. If you can do this for about three or four months, you could see a profit of 300 percent.

Maximizing your profit in domain flipping isn't challenging at all. It simply takes time which most investors are scared to spend. However, if one were to do so, he or she would see profits ten times what they are seeing now. Many people make a living...

online just from domain flipping! Following these steps will allow you to do so, too! Click here to learn how to make a living just off of domain and site flipping in this course!

3 Ways to Increase Your Domain's Value

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

By Andrea Brown

After buying a domain name for an investment, you may be confused about where to go from there. You don't want to list the domain immediately, but you definitely don't want to just forget it. Following these three simple steps to increasing your domain's value will be the difference in making a profit and making a salary!

1. When someone buys your domain name, they expect you to have done something to it. Perhaps the easiest way to make a killing from a domain investment is to simple hold it. If you really don't have the time to increase the domain's value buy uploading a website or sending it traffic, let it age. Older domains are more valuable than newly registered domains. If you can keep a domain name for two years, you will make five times more money from it! Another benefit of holding a domain is that you can gain a page rank. If you redirect your domain name to a site with a high page rank, it will eventually take over that site's page rank. Thus, you will have increased your domains value almost 200%.

2. Another way to increase your domain's value with minimal work is to write a single keyword rich article related to your domain name. Since you're only going to write one, make sure it's phenomenal. Put lots of long-tail and short-tail keywords that are highly searched. Publish it on your website with a search engine friendly template and just let it sit for a while. After about three months, you'll see your traffic shoot up and you might even gain a page rank. If you want to speed up this process, publish more than one article. This takes almost no work, but will give your domain 200% more value.

3. Lastly, if you want to make your domain more valuable, put a quality site on it. Invest some real time and maybe even a little money. Gain backlinks, bring in some traffic, and get a page or Alexa rank. This will require frequent maintenance, but your domain will have a value increase of over 500%. If you include the website in your sale, you could see even more than that!

Simply buying and selling domains isn't going to make you any money. However, if you follow a strategy, you can really make a salary from easy work. Whether you just let your domain age or you host a site on it, you can do something to increase your resale amount.

Click here to learn how to make a six-figure salary from domains in this course! It CAN be done!

3 Things You Need to Know About Internet Domain Registration

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By James Koh

The fad now is the internet, and it is not unusual for anyone, personal or business, to want to get online and there are plenty of options for you if you have made that decision. The internet has become an emporium of choice for anyone wanting to register a unique domain name, make a calling card of their own when going online. Marking your presence online is easy, but getting yourself out there can be really hard and it is all down to the type of internet domain registration that you are aligning yourself with. A domain in essence is really your address on the internet, and it is the digital real estate that will be attached to whatever it is you are doing online.

When choosing a domain or a domain name, there are certain things you need to know and some street smart aspects you can keep in mind to make sure you make the right decision. One of the things you need to know is the type of domain company that you are signing up with and make sure you read everything you can about the contract that you are signing up with. One of the things that you need to make sure is that length of time that you are going to be tied down, as most companies would give a customisable option for you. It could be as little as 6 months and as long as 10 years, the package really depends on you.

Also, make sure that you are getting the best rates out there and check against the type of service that they are offering. A good way to do this is to check the natural feedback mechanism of the internet and start finding out what people think about the domain host, its speed, its technical support and other factors that are quite important in determining your overall decision. Some of the domain websites out there can be quite expensive, but they do not give you the speed or the type of services that justify the price. Last but not least, you also need to look at the customisable options of the name and how much digital exposure this domain host has.

This helps you to drive traffic to your website, and the fundamental of this is the type of web hosting script that is given to you. These are your basic web building tools that you need to build up your website, the tools you need to set up your content management and perhaps other commercial aspects of your website. These are some of the things you need to know about Internet domain registration and making the right decision really depends on many more factors. Like getting property offline, you will need to do plenty of research and perhaps even get an agent. There are roaming web hosting agents online that help you to get the best deals, tailored to your budget, but their necessity is still in question. With so many choices out there, making the right decision should not be a problem.

Vodien Internet Solutions provides all-in-one web hosting packages. Find out more details about their Singapore web hosting packages at their website.

3 Best Domain Extensions For Domain Flipping

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

By Andrea Brown

In the immense world wide web, there are literally millions- possibly billions- of domain names. The .com extension has ruled this virtual world since its creation. New extensions are created yearly; however, most are country code specific, too expensive to register, or just not as catchy as existing extensions. Choosing the right domain extension for your investment is vital and will usually determine if your domain will sell or become a failed site flip.

1. The obvious best domain name extension for site flipping is .com. It's the oldest, most popular extension and it will stay that way for a long time. It's catchy and universally known. On the downside, many valuable .com domains have already been registered by domain investors waiting to sell them. New investors must really brainstorm to discover unregistered .com domains that will produce a worthy profit.

2. Although .com domains seem to be on a different level than other TLD's, the .org extension is quickly catching up. Organizations are not the only groups of people looking for this extension anymore. Open-source product makers, sports teams, schools, churches, and communities are looking for .org domain names to host their sites. If the .com domain isn't available, seek the .org extension instead.

3. Since most domain buyers are very picky, it's important to have a popular extension. If you don't, buyers will happily find another domain from another seller. This being said, the .net extension is the third best domain extension for domain flipping. When visitors see the .net extension, they almost immediately think of a "network." This extension is highly favored by companies and online networking sites. But again, this extension should only be invested in if you have an absolutely perfect keyword domain and the .com and .org are taken.

Domain names have to be perfect. Since the options are unlimited, investors must make sure that even the extension is perfect for the buyer. Most buyers won't even consider purchasing a domain with an ugly extension. It's the difference between a sale and a failed site flip!

Click here to learn how to make six-figures with domain flipping in this course!

Eight Reasons to Just Adore Generic Keyword Domains

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By Andrew Edgington

It has been virtually been 15 years now since the Internet first took off and I still find that some marketing people still don't give domain names any importance. They just think that they can get away with just some decent content, a few links, a blog and by putting together a couple of videos and with all that Google will find you with ease. Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy.

Of course there will always be a few who get through the net into Google territory and achieve a top ranking. The initial period may seem to bring in a lot of traffic, the mailing list will increase significantly and you may be able to make your brand grow. The problem as you grow larger is that a poor domain name will lead to hindering your campaign as people will have problems to remember a poor domain name that is both difficult to remember and hard to spell correctly, especially if it just isn't relate to your niche.

I can remember an extreme case back in the dotcom days a domain name called Quokka.com. Maybe you too can remember how this domain spent tons of their investors cash on a full publicity campaign including TV and all that for a non-brand and of course it went pear shape. Maybe if you think back it might come to you.

If you were out of the country or whatever this Quokka.com was focused on the action sports network. Now I will leave it up to you to pass judgment but who in their tiny mind would base a whole branding campaign on a word that can't even be pronounced properly like Quokka, I just think they tried to run before they had learned to walk, but there are so many more cases like this out there so I can't stress enough the importance of a well thought out domain name.

So with all that money to spend they couldn't come up with an ideal name like actionsports.com or similar. They were in a nutshell "stupid", but now we all know better. The key benefits of generic keyword domain names are something that we all need to understand and the top reasons are;

1. Make your product more than obvious in your domain name so for example everyone knows what bestpropertyinvestments.com deal with and you can take that for granted when people actually visit your site.

2. You need to keep competitors away on a permanent basis and your domain will allow you to be the master of the keyboard. This will give you the power to just block out your competitors, which is a great way to get a business working fast. They will be forced to pay more on loads of secondary keywords, which they will need to just compete with the main keyword that you have and with all that expense they still have an inferior domain than yours.

3. Branding has become so important in today's society and there is a complete sector that just buy branded goods, so if you have the right domain name you have already won over the brand conscious customers for free that just adore Generic keyword domains.

4. Type-in traffic pays dividends: Nearly all keyword domain names will get some sort of traffic and there are others that will get just hundreds of unique visitors every day. This traffic that is driven through people who use their address bar instead of their search bar to surf the web will convert into real sales and that is a statistical fact.

5. Our favourite search engine Google as well as the rest concentrate their efforts in finding relevant sites for their users, so a site like PetFood.com would be ranked in the top 2 pages for the keyword "pet food" and will get a lot a traffic sent to them from Google for people interested in buying pet food.

6. The domain name can either be parked, rented or leased: If you decide to wait to go into the site development stage, you can be assured that there are a number of ways to benefit from a good generic keyword domain.

7. A steady investment: Generic domains investments even out do the stock market, real-estate, bonds, and overall inflation as far as high profit investments are concerned. Business giants are now seeing that the generic names that they had initially bought are now the most important component to their continuing growth.

8. Hardly any cost: It costs just $10 a year so you will soon just adore the business of keyword domains... - Domainers need to focus all of their energy on generic keyword names and ignore certain fads like LLL.coms, brandables, and numeric names that might sound good but they just don't have "real word" staying power.

Remember the power you have is in the keyboard, so make it work for you and forget about any other alternative investment.

Discover Domain Name Investments Dedicated to spreading the truth about domain investing, site flipping, reselling, monetizing Web sites and domain valuation as well as weekly Free Domain Lists

A Good Domain is Your Image

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

By Rodrigo Costa

Domain Investing - Eight Reasons to Just Worship Generic Keyword Domains

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By Smash Masterson

It must be coming up for nearly 15 years since the Internet was officially launched and would you believe that there are still certain marketing guys out there who just don't grasp the importance of a private domain name. As though it was just a matter of putting a site together with some good content, starting up a blog, creating a few links and creating a couple of camtasia vids. Right, that is going to really help Google pick us out from the rest, although of course it would be nice if that were the case.

Some people though are just born lucky and will manage to get credibility from Google and make it to a number one ranking. It may seem all rosy at the beginning as the site gets regular traffic, the mailing list grows and branding projects put into place. Now the problem with a poor generic keyword domain at this stage is that a poorly created domain name just won't stick, people forget it if it is not related to your particular niche and the negative turn begins.

Back in the .com era you may recall the case of Quokka.com who went on to finance an over the top publicity campaign with their unfortunate investors money totaling millions of dollars. I find it just amazing how people could believe in a poor domain name. You could probably recall this incident if you thought hard enough.

Anyway, if you were sick or on leave or something these guys running Quokka.com were actually branding their domain site at the action sports fans and quite happy to spend top dollar. They were obviously blind or something but they aren't alone as there are so many people that invest in domain names that just aren't relevant to their product. That really is the key to success, it is a domain name that has been made to fit the product.

I really would have thought that having such a great publicity budget they could have bought a better domain name like actionsportclub.com or something close to that. They were absolute twats but fortunately for us we know a lot more now. The most beneficial side of keyword domains is best expressed through the following points;-

1. Make it bleeding obvious what your domain site is promoting so for example a site dedicated to pest infestation would do well with a name like killrats.com and I guarantee traffic will come.

2. A golden rule is business is to pay attention to your competitors and with domain names you have the advantage with absolute keyboard control. You can just block out competitors as they are forced to pay big bucks for secondary keywords as you have the top keyword in your own domain name.

3. This is where we begin to see the importance of branding as there is part of the consumer society that won't buy anything else but brand products from Generic keyword domains. So straight away we will have part of the consumer society just queuing up to get our product.

4. Type-in traffic gets benefits: The majority of keyword domain names will receive regular traffic but a few do really well out of it receiving literally 100s of daily visitors. An interesting fact at this point would be to let you know that people who use their address bar instead of their search bar to navigate on the web will be more likely to buy, so your conversion rate will be given a helping hand.

5. Google, Yahoo and most search engines will help their users by sending them to pages that are relevant to their search so the keyword "digital cameras" would probably find the domain name digitalcameras.com on the first Google page. This type of traffic generation will literally bring in thousands of visitors to that domain name site.

6. Park your domain: If you want to hold on a bit before you develop the site there is no need to worry as there are plenty of different ways to reap high benefits from a good generic keyword domain.

7. A safe investment: It has been seen that over the last few years generic domains as an investment have had better results than even the stock market, real-estate, bonds, and overall inflation. Presidents of major companies are now just seeing that the power of a generic name has converted it's role in marketing into being the backbone of companies that seek continued growth.

8. Virtually cost free: The price for the domain is just $10 per year so you will soon be dreaming keyword domains...Domainers only need concentrate on generic keyword names and push to one side fad offers such as LLL.coms, brandables, and numeric names. These may appear to be attractive offers but they lack in "real word" staying power.

- These alternative investments just don't toe the line with generic keyword domain names as they just don't have any keyboard power, so just blank those other alternatives out of your mind.

Discover Domain Name Investments Dedicated to spreading the truth about domain investing, site flipping, reselling, monetizing Web sites and domain valuation as well as weekly Free Domain Lists.

The New .ME TLD Extension

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

By Brian Paterson

Well I'm sure most of you are all aware about the .ME TLD extension that was released on the 17th of this month. The popularity over them was just mind boggling. They were being sold so fast that GoDaddy was not able to keep up with the WHOIS information.

People were trying to register names that had already been sold but due to the GoDaddy issue they were still being listed as available. Obviously this caused quite an upset with people as they thought they had just got a hold of an excellent premium name. Personally I didn't have that issue and was able to register PLUM.me a nice little LLLL.me

I'm not sure what my full intentions are going to be for this extension as I haven't really put much thought to it yet. Currently just have it aging nicely over at Sedo.

No one is really sure what the .ME extension is going to hold in regards to a dollar value but here are a few that recently sold in auction.

Domain Name Current Price Bids
plug.me $75 1
reminyl.me $75 1
dove.me $805 7
lastminute.me $3,605 13
wellness.me $1,855 25

Here is a listing that is currently running an auction:
insure.me 85 1D 20H $12,505

If things keep selling for prices that I have just listed im going to very tempted to hold on to the .ME TLD that I purchased. Only time will really tell what happens though. They could all just flop and become as cheap and inexpensive as the .INFO extension.

The Domainers Blog

http://www.domainstructure.com

What is in a Domain Name?

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By Joseph Nyamache

A domain name -- Shakespeare once asked a simple question: "What's in a name?" This article will attempt to answer the above question as far as your website is concerned. You will discover that quite a lot is at stake when it comes to a name.

A domain name is the name (usually in English) which your site will go by on the internet. This name is associated with an IP address as well, since computers and network infrastructure use these numeric addresses to locate your site - the domain name primarily purpose is to help humans to find your site.

Surprise! Do you know that having a domain name for your website is not a requirement? In contrary having an IP address is a necessity, since that's how computers will find you on the web. Having only an IP address for your site can make it difficult (to say the least) for web surfers to find your site, however.

During the early development of the internet, domain names were chosen with the goal of making it easier for people to remember the name of your site, because it was important for users to be able to type that name into their web browser. Nowadays thought with search engines, bookmarking and social media being much more useful, it is becoming less important for surfer to memorize a name.

Let me be quick to point out that however, from the standpoint of marketing it is still a good idea to have a memorable domain name for your site - for instance, greatmaps.com is better than fantasticcarstographicofrepresentationandgeographicalfact.com. While they are both descriptive of your business, it's without reasonable doubt that one is far easier to remember than the other.

Remember also that the name you decide on for your site can have a big impact on how much traffic you'll receive and how long this will take to begin. If you have a great website or great products and/or services, the word will get around - eventually. Having a good name will make things much easier for you though - like them or not, Google chose well for their name.

Given that there are literally millions of websites out there, you may not be able to get your first choice for a domain name. You might have to try a few names to find one which you want. Since there are simply so many websites, it is unlikely that you will get your first choice of domain names; but domains do expire, so you may be able to obtain the name you want at a later date if it is not available now.

You can also choose an expired domain names service or software that will search for and alert you whenever a good name becomes available. All you simply do is ask for the domain name you want and when this name becomes available you will be notified and given the opportunity to purchase it. Always remember though that it's good to have a good name but don't fret too much if it's taken.

Here is something to think about, suppose Google as we know it today as a top notch search engine wasn't performing well, their name would still be short and memorable, but who cares about a non performer and run down company? A good name matters a lot but to be effective the name must be backed up with something remarkable.

Expired domain names could be the missing key to securing your unique domain name.

Joseph Nyamache blogs on how you can make money from expired domain names.

Business Social Media - Domain Name Guide

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

By Barry Hurd

On the web, your name can (and is) your reality. However naming yourself online isn't that simple. Choosing a domain name for a business web presence is one of the most critical items in your promotional venture: your domain name will be the nexus of your business for months, years, or even decades.

There are a list of things you should consider before embarking down your online venture:

1) Define your brand. It is more than words, but will be flavored by them. Your business brand is an image of who you are. Ask your friends, family, and peers what your ideas inspire when the words are read.

2) The idea of a business brand is to be memorable, yet effective in communicating the purpose of your business. It is usually more effective to focus on communicating your purpose, rather than just developing your widget as a term.

3) If you can't get a com extension, choose again. There are plenty of other extension like net and info, but whatever case that is: you will need to also have the com extension or risk losing your brand before it has ever been established. (Businesses should register the com, net, info extensions for a business)

4) If you think of related names in the process, register them today. $10 today is a lot cheaper than the impossibility of getting it tomorrow.

5) Keep it short. A good domain name should be one to three words long. It should not include hyphens or any other characters that are out of place. Shorter domains are generally better for two basic reasons: they are easier to spell and remember.

6) Don't be scared of going long. Yes, I just said "keep it short", but having a long domain name has the benefit of saying exactly what you do. Long domains also pull some weight in keyword search results, so having "real estate" in a real estate domain helps a site rank for those terms.

7) Multiple Domains are Okay! So many businesses lock on to the idea of having one site to send readers to. While having focus is good, multiple domains and sites allows a company to have different presentations for different audiences. Multiple domains and sites can also allow a single business to have multiple results in search engines, which allows them to conquest the first page of search results on terms that drive results.

8) Recognize how you can misspell your own domain. If you have any words that do not carry clearly when spoken or are easy to misspell, register the misspelled version of the keywords. $10 for a misspelled version of your own site name is a very affordable way of preventing client loss or competitive problems in the future.

9) Buy alternate domain names today. At less that $10 a piece, alternate domain names can provide a very reliable way to promote your business and help protect your reputation. If you have any public figures in the business, make sure to spend the $10 to buy personal name domains (firstnamelastname) and any slogans or catch phrases.

10) Realize that your domains are being promoted to both humans and search robots. They each like slightly different things and you should create a strategy for having multiple domains and how they coordinate relevant traffic to your business.

Bonus point: If you are trying to use a new domain for competitive search engine ranking, register the domain for five years. Search engines give credit to the length of a registration to help identify if a new site is a spam site being used to manipulate the search results. By committing to a longer stay, you help establish your virtual reputation in the eyes of engines like Google and Yahoo.

Do not jump the gun! Remember that a domain choice has many different angles to it. It can easily be compared to choosing a real world location for your business: where will it be? what does the neighborhood say? who will see it? how long will you be using it?

If you are a small business, then $50 to $100 to secure a domain name for a few years may seem like a major investment. For larger companies, spending $500 to $1000 for a larger competitive search optimization and brand protection effort is a good investment (for instance, do you own yoursitesucks?)

Understanding that a good domain may mean the difference between five visitors a month or five thousand, greatly changes how your business functions online. With a well organized strategy behind multiple domains, different niche streams of visitors become easier to reach and increase the chance that they will convert into business results.

Barry Hurd is President, author, speaker, and voice of 123 Social Media - Business Social Media and Promotion. He has a history of over fifteen years working on numerous innovative efforts with online business models: past projects have included NIKE, REI, TMP Worldwide, Monster.com, Verizon Superpages, Intuit, and RIS Media.

How to Choose the Right URL For Your Company

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By Rob Seolas

Those long hours you spent coming up with a business name aren't quite over yet. The next step is choosing an appropriate URL address to accompany it. In order to get the best internet traffic possible, careful consideration should go into choosing the perfect URL for your business.

The perfectly crafted URL consists of a few different features. First is to keep it short and sweet. Most people aren't going to remember a long drawn out URL address. If your company name is a bit longer, try coming up with an address that has to do with the services you offer instead. You can also abbreviate the company name to reduce the number of letters one has to type in. If you have choices, always go with the shortest web address you are able to.

Another option to consider during the selecting process is if the URL is catchy. Try to think of different web addresses you personally remember off the top of your head. Make sure yours is in line with others that are memorable. Having a web address that is clean, simple and catchy can greatly influence the number of visitors who will retain it.

Now that you are envisioning the perfect web address, ask yourself if it is properly descriptive. Would someone who knew nothing of your business be able to understand what you do just by seeing your URL? If not, maybe think about reworking it again. A good descriptive web address is typically much better than a URL address that has a meaningless company name attached to it.

And now that you've spent time and energy settling on a URL - make sure the thing is up, all the time. A great way to ensure this is to use URL site monitoring. URL site monitoring can be had from a variety of vendors. Check them out and engage with one. You'll love the feeling of peace knowing your site is being constantly monitored for up time.

After taking all these suggestions into consideration, it may be possible that you have come up with an even better business name for your company. The better the company name, the easier it will be to find a web address to go along with it. If you are in a position to do so, rethink your company name and make sure it's definitely what you want.

The author Rob Seolas says here about the right URL choosing for the company and how useful that URL can be for getting best internet traffic possible. You may keep a watch to monitor your site through Website URL Monitoring, Website Monitoring, Web Server Monitoring, Pixel Tracking Monitoring etc.

Be Liberal With Your Domain Registrations

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

By Johnny Moon

Domain Registration Is Cheap

You can get a webhost like Blue Host Web Hosting which will allow you to host unlimited domains with just one account that costs just $6.95/month. So once you've got an account like this then your only cost is the actual domain registration fee which is less than $10 per year per registration at Go Daddy. Often times there are deals on certain types of domains (such as .info) where you can get a domain for as cheap as $2/year!

Domains Gain Value With Age

It's been shown that the search engines respect older domains more than new domains. If you have an idea, buy the domain now and put up a simple site for it. Even a single page that says "coming soon" is better than nothing. If you link to it a couple of times then you can get it indexed (this is important) so that it can start gaining "age" in the eyes of the search engines. Again with the low price of domain registration there's no point in waiting. Even if you don't get to working on it for a year, you'll be glad you already bought it and it's already got past part of the "aging" process.

Parking With Go Daddy

A cool feature that Go Daddy offers is that they will "park" your domain with Google ads on them for a small fee. You can then actually make money from those Google ads which often times will actually pay for the domain registration anyway and will help you get the pages indexed without having to go through and make page for each of them.

Going Too Far

You may get a bit addicted with buying domains up. I don't recommend going too far with it unless perhaps you are trying to "farm domains" but that's a whole other subject and it's not something I do so I can't tell you about it. In my view you can go too far with buying up domains every time you have an idea. If you find yourself with far more domains in the "someday" stash then in the "currently working" stash then you may have gone too far with your domain buying.

Blue Host Web Hosting. This is cheap reliable shared web hosting. You can host as many domains as you want with just one account. You also get one free domain with your web hosting account.

Go Daddy Domain Registration. Go Daddy is the most well known domain registration company. They are affordable and trustworthy. I register almost all of my domains through them.

Getting the Right Website For Your Business - The Domain Name

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

By David Au Johnson

In this Internet defined age, it is becoming more and more vital for businesses small and large to have a presence on the Internet.

This can be achieved as simply as getting your business details listed in an online directory such as yell.com, however to put across a truly professional image it is worth seriously considering having a website designed for your business.

This series of articles will touch on some of the factors that will need to be considered when doing this. So what factors should be considered?

Choosing a Domain name

The domain name will form the address at which your website will be found. There are two schools of thought in place in relation to choosing a domain name - branded vs. generic - and pros to each approach.

A branded domain name will usually relate to your business/product identity, and therefore be a memorable way of getting your domain name in to the minds of your customers. This is particularly useful if you anticipate driving traffic to your website through more traditional forms of advertising such as television, newspaper or billboard advertising.

An example of a branded domain name would be www.nike.com. This is a domain name that is short, easily identifiable with the brand in question, and easy to remember. For people looking specifically for this brand, it is very easy to remember and then type in to their browser's address bar when they wish to visit the site.

However, the drawback about this domain name is that it does not readily identify what the subject of the website is about; this is where the benefits of a generic domain name become apparent.

Generic domain names relate to the actual product/service that your business is offering. As well as being useful in providing an indicator of the subject matter of your website to your human visitors, these domain names also have an edge in another important area - search engines.

Search engines are the method by which the majority of websites receive the majority of their traffic (or visitors), and the higher your website appears in search engine results the more traffic you will get. In order to be able to get your website in to the top few results for your product/service, you need to give the search engines a clear indication of what your website is about, and the domain name is one of the ways in which this can be emphasised.

To continue with our example above, instead of www.nike.com the domain name used might have been www.running-shoes.com. This gives a very clear indicator of the subject of the site, and means that there is an increased likelihood of this website showing up high in the search results for keywords related to "running shoes".

In reality, branding is usually viewed as too important a consideration to ignore completely, and therefore an approach that mixes elements of the two is best applied. If we were to offer advice to a young startup Nike Inc. then a domain name such as www.nike-sportswear.com would probably be appropriate. This retains branding indentity, but also enables search engines and human visitors alike to see what products are being offered.

A word on Top Level Domains (TLDs)

A TLD (or domain extension) is the final portion of a domain name: the .com, or .co.uk. There are a bewildering number of domain extensions available to choose from, but in our opinion the choice should always be simple.

If you are targetting a specific country, then use the TLD for that country. Something ending in .uk for the UK, .de for Germany, .fr for France etc. The UK is unusual in that it offers a number of options, .co.uk being the most common. In our opinion, unless you are a not-for-profit organisation (in which case use .org.uk) this is the extension you should always use. The other extensions (.ltd.uk, .net.uk) are too rarely seen to be of much use to you.

We would also recommend staying away from .uk.com - this isn't actually a true TLD. Instead it is some enterprising organisation who registered the domain name .uk.com a long time ago selling off sub-domain names of their domain name. You will find your options with regards transferring the domain name etc. restricted if you buy one of these, and probably pay a premium too because there is only one company selling these domains.

If you operate on a global platform, then .com is the domain name to use. Although you can register .info, .org, .net etc. these domains are again relatively unseen. If you do not use the .com and instead register mycompanyxyz.net, then there is the possibility of a domain squatter registering mycompanyxyz.com. You can guarantee that more people looking for your website are likely to type in .com than .net, and therefore you will lose customers.

Resource Box: Peopleperhour.com is an online marketplace offering an easy and secure way of finding freelance professionals to carry out your business' projects. If you are looking for a website, browse their Freelance Web Designer listings.

Domain Name Registration - Vital Factors to Consider When Registering a Domain Name

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

By Jeremy A Gislason

Domain name registration is an important part of your online business. In fact, it can be one of the most vital aspects of branding your business. A good domain name will make your site look professional before people even click on it whilst a bad domain name can drastically lessen the traffic you receive.

Because you must choose a domain before your site goes online, domain name registration needs to be carefully planned so that you do not regret your choice later. There are some important factors to consider when registering a domain including:

- The TLD or domain extension (.com, .net)
- The purpose of your website
- Any particular major keywords you are focusing on
- How long you will register the domain for
- Where you will register the domain
- If you will buy domain privacy

Let's take a look at the above factors in depth.

TLD

Ideally you will want to register a .com domain as your main domain. It can take many attempts to find an available .com domain so keep trying until you do. You may choose to add a dash into your domain. These are acceptable but it is not advisable to use more than one dash. If your site is going to be an authority site then consider also buying the .net, .org and .info domains too so competitors don't take them.

Website Purpose

If the purpose of your website is to act as a guide then using a word like "guide" in the domain is relevant. It is important to determine what your site is trying to achieve before the domain name registration. If you want your site to be brandable, then a made up word that is pronounceable is a good idea - that is what Google did!

Keywords

Most websites have one or two main keywords they wish to target. Incorporating these into your domain, where possible, may assist with search engine rankings.

Registration Length

It is a good idea to register a new domain for as long as possible. It is thought that Google looks favorably upon this and it eliminates the worry every year regarding paying for your registration.

Where To Register

There are many domain registrars, but there are only a few that you should consider registering at. You should ignore price when buying a .com domain because the difference between registrars is minimal.

What you should be looking for is a secure, reputable registrar. Some of the top domain registrars are Moniker, Name.com, Dynadot, Namecheap and GoDaddy. These registrars sell .com domains from $7.50 up to $10 per year.

Domain Privacy

Domain privacy prevents anyone accessing your data when they search for the owner of your domain name. People may search for domain owners through a WHOIS service. Depending on the purpose of your website, you may or may not want this data visible. Most registrars charge a yearly fee for WHOIS domain privacy.

Domain name registration is an exciting process, but also a very important time so make sure you choose the very best available domain name for your website.

Discover the most profitable website marketing strategies and ways to make money online using the very techniques, knowledge and tools that have made internet marketers millions of dollars at http://www.dynamic4marketing.com/

Think Twice Before Choosing Your Domain Name

noreply@blogger.com (tator) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By Ricardo D Argence

If you have an online presence, especially if you run a business online, you need to think about your domain name and what it needs to do for you. Your domain name is the address that people type to get to your website, and it is completely unique to you.

Think of it as your own online brand; it is often the first thing that a person sees when they search for you, and frequently, there will be an element of it involved in every aspect of your online identity, from usernames to emails. There are plenty of things to keep in mind when it comes to choosing a name, but they are all fairly simple.

Ideally, your it should be short, simple and descriptive. If a person can tell what you do from the domain name itself, this is a sign that you are on the right track. Avoid using dashes as most people forget to put them in; you might even find that having a domain name with strange punctuation can even lead your prospective customers to your competitor!

Similarly, make sure that your DN reads well. Say it out loud and say it slowly. Listen for any corruptions of the words or any strange sounds. Although it will largely be written rather than spoken, make sure that it has a good sound to it.

Ideally, you'll ask some of your friends and see what they think. This is a great way to make sure that you don't get stuck with a domain name that becomes a joke! To see if a domain name is available, take a few steps. First, try typing it into your address bar, and if it doesn't show up, chances are that you might be able to get it.

There are a few sites that will perform more rigorous checks, but the webhosts that will sell you the domain name will often perform this check for you as well.

You'll find that you can purchase it for a very small amount of money from the webhost, and, depending on the service, you will also receive a large amount of webspace to work with.

Don't forget to renew your domain name. Most registrations for domain names only last for about a year and if you let this lapse, you might find that your webhost will sell it to the highest bidder.

There are companies that look for expired web domains with high hits that they can then direct to their site, so getting it sold out from under you might be likelier than you think! Keep your registration up to date and current!

People often miss the importance of having their own unique domain name for their web sites. It represents you, your company and your online presence; as does a business card.

If you don't have your own name you won't be able to promote your own online identity and web site on the World Wide Web. Take some time to really think about your DN and what it can do for you; don't get trapped into an online brand that does you more harm than good! You are going to have to live with your choice of domain names for a long time. Take your time and choose wisely.

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