Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Targeted Domain Names - Revealed - 4 Interesting Ways to Jumpstart Your Domain Names


Choosing the perfect name for your website requires careful planning and thorough research. After all, you would want to come up with a domain name that is profitable, search engine-friendly, and promotes easy recall.

Picking the best name for your website is relatively easy. For as long as you know your target market very well and you are an expert on your chosen field, you will surely not have a problem creating a name that is appealing to your potential clients.

1. Keep it short. Domain names that are short are relatively easy to remember. Take Google, eBay, Yahoo!, and MSN for example. They use limited characters but they are effective in driving online users to their website. The key here is finding short keywords or key phrases that you can use when creating your website name. If you can come up with a one-word website name the better.

2. It must be search engine-friendly. You would want to please the search engines so they will make your website highly searchable online. Download keyword suggestion tools online to identify the keywords that play crucial roles in your target niche. Incorporate these keywords or key phrases in your website name.

3. Solicit tips from expert domain name marketers. These people can teach you how to create a website name that is not only profitable but highly relevant to your business as well.

4. Choose the best suffix. The extension that you will use for your domain name will communicate the type of business you are running. If you intend to sell online, .com is highly recommended as it is the most popular in the internet today. If you are targeting specific locations, you can go with an extension that is dedicated on your chosen place like .UK, .CA, etc.

Want to learn how to sell high ticket products online? Download my brand new free guide here: "How to Sell High Ticket Products Online"

Sean Mize teaches a powerful, highly advanced system of creating and selling high ticket products online.

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

How to Market and Sell Your Domain Names Successfully


Marketing and selling domain names successfully is a skill that every domain entrepreneur has to master. Gone are the good old days when all you need to do was only to lay your hands on a good quality domain names and just sit back for the big sale. Today, such "sacred" generic domain names are gone for good and the domain names market is growing more competitive by the day.

What then are the best strategies to effectively market and sell your domain names successfully?

To start with, every domain entrepreneur or marketer should understand 'inside out' what actually is successful marketing and selling in broad terms. Remember every human being is not going to part with his or her hard earned money except cajoled to see what he stands to gain if he uses a product or service or what he will lose if he doesn't.

Marketing is simply creating total awareness for your company, product or service so as to elicit buying desire in the minds of prospects that may ultimately turn to buyers. What this means is that you are offering a solution in advance to an eventual buyer's needs and wants. And the buyer's willingness and ability to confirm payment for your domain name will close your desired sale. This will inevitably improve your bottom line.

Now that you know that you must market to sell, how then do you sell your domain names?

Through Forums?

Yes. No. It depends. Actively belonging and participating in domain names forums is not enough. You must, of necessity, be an expert in domain names issues and in the domain names industry. Answering forum questions intelligently, professionally and satisfactorily can turn your poor domains to even bigger fortunes through your marketing drive.

How? Your expert words, answers to questions and recommendations will be treated as sacred and will positively rub on your domain selling business. And as a domain entrepreneur, you stand a good chance to sell your domain names easily based on your expert reputation. People will be at ease to do business with you because they already know you. How then do you become an expert, you may ask? Listen more. Study more. Research more. Answer more questions. Accept more constructive criticisms on your views and opinions from others. The list goes on.

For sure-fire strategies of buying and selling domain names profitably and online success tips visit my website, http://www.SoftwareRave.com a site dedicated to Software Reviews and Recommendations, Online Business Success Tips, Higher SEO Rankings, e-Business/e-Commerce Articles, Affiliate Marketing Mastery, Free MP3/PSP Games Downloads and so on.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Choosing A Domain Name To Attract Targeted Customers


One of the fastest ways of getting attention for your business in today's world is to have a good online presence. And the first step to getting your business online is a good domain name.

Unfortunately, many people overlook this important step. Let's look at a few tips for getting a domain that will attract the right customers to your site.

1. Choose A Name That Describes Your Website

What your website offers should be clear from the domain name. Don't make your potential visitors guess at what they'll find on your website.

For example, if your name happens to be Sue Brown and you own a hair salon called Sue's Hair Salon, get a domain name like, sueshairsalon.com instead of suebrown.com. Seems pretty obvious, but you'll be amazed at how many business owners use their personal names as domain names instead of choosing one that specifically describes their business.

Also, try to keep your domain name within a range of 13-15 characters, as shorter domain names tend to stick in people's minds. It also makes it easier for them to type out your web address in their browsers without too much head scratching.

2. Select A Keyword-Rich Domain Name

Most websites rely on Google, Yahoo and other search engines for some (or most) of their traffic. If your business's keywords are included in your domain, you're more likely to rank higher in the results.

If you'd done the research and used these customer-specific keyword phrases in your domain name, more than likely your website will be listed on the very first page of the search engines, outranking your competitors because you had exercised due diligence where keyword-rich domain names were concerned.

Of course, there are other SEO tactics to implement for better rankings, but getting a keyword-rich domain name is the first step towards ensuring your website will be search engine friendly. Avoid using any weird characters like apostrophes and even hyphens in your domain name as this will eventually affect rankings.

3. Must A Domain Name End With .com?

Yes and no. You could use other extensions like .net, .biz or .info but it's not the best choice. Everybody knows .com but if your site uses something else, you're going to have to market it a lot harder to get the correct extension in people's minds. And if someone else already has the .com version, they'll probably get a lot of traffic from people looking for you.

How would you feel if you spend time and money marketing your website and some of those people wound up on your competitor's customer list instead?

Unless you're intentionally targeting to brand your business as, let's say, a nonprofit organization, in which case the .org extension is highly recommended, then sticking to the instantly recognizable .com extension is the best way to go.

So, don't rush headlong into purchasing a domain name without first taking the time to research keyword phrases that would be a perfect match for your product or service. You can perform this much needed research at websites such as wordtracker.com, keywordtumbler.com and goodkeywords.com. It requires some effort, but acquiring the keyword phrases that are used by prospects and incorporating them into your domain name will pay off handsomely for years to come.

Struggling to get your internet business off the ground but feel adrift in a sea of gurus and products promising instant riches? Visit the Internet Marketing Chaos blog for a hype-free look at how to run your business, at http://www.netmarketingchaos.com

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Domain Name "Front Running" Casts A Dark Shadow Across the Internet


Do you know what "Domain Name Front Running" means? This is an important issue right now in January 2008. Recently it was alleged that Network Solutions, the original domain name provider until its monopolistic grip was broken by the powers that be, was grabbing for itself the lookups and even on "WhoIs" searches. Unethical? Yes. Maybe even evil. One wonders if NSI is selling this information to other scoundrels.

The main problem is that any company doing domain name front running would be using insider information to get an advantage on the competition. The competition in this case is you and me, the little consumers. We search for one with certain keywords and key phrases. We find one we like but we may want to think about it for an hour or overnight. We go back to the registrar to buy it but find it is taken. In the old days we would just attribute this to our slow action although there were rumors about this happening even five years ago.

This process is also known as "domain tasting" because you can take your time to determine the name's effectiveness. If you know someone searched for that name you are then even more ethically compromised.

Under current rules of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a registry can delete a domain name it purchased within 5 days of the initial registration. However, individuals and companies who are not associated with registries are accused of buying the search data from Internet Service Providers and the registries to find the names that were searched for but not purchased immediately.

In fact, at this time this warehousing is not expressly forbidden by ICANN rules but it certainly puts a bad taste in the mouths of consumers. This business does not need any more bad will in the community especially after the demise of a large registrar last year that left a lot of people without domains and websites that took a lot of time and effort. I lost quite a few there myself.

Here is a recent PC World article about this:

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;712578009

Is the 5 day grace period a bad thing?

Well, I can tell you that the 5 day waiting period saved my weary butt from picking up a domain name just a few days ago. After the purchase I discovered that my choice had too many characters in it so the registrar's computer just cut off the last few characters. The resulting domain name really looked silly and is quite unusable. I did not see any warning about this when I was going through the final payment exercise. The company did not refund the money but gave me a credit for the purchase to be held for another domain name purchase when I was ready.

Be a good Net Citizen and express your displeasure about this issue to your friends and associates. Post it on bulletin boards everywhere. Vote!

Greg Cryns is the owner of Domain Country at http://www.domaincountry.com and Wahm Search Engine at http://www.wahmsearchengine.com

Friday, January 18, 2008

Grabbing A Domain Expired Recently Is A Thrilling Act


Domains expire constantly and on a consistent basis throughout the day and night. Under usual circumstances, an expiring domain is kept on hold for a period of about 45 days, before the concerned registrar announces it for public sale. Domain name come up for sale everyday, as hundreds of expire almost regularly. Domain expired recently is a term assigned to those domain that become expired within the last day or so.

A domain expired recently is a hot commodity and a potential money spinner, depending on its previous status and viability. Owning a domain expired recently can provide you several notable benefits and advantages, and when you manage them wisely, they can lead you to earn a good amount of profits. There are several ways and methods that you help you find a domain name expired recently.

The best way to find a domain expired recently is to search over the internet, where you can lay your hands on a number of mouth-watering offers for a large range of expired domains. However, the flipside of working this way is that you may need to pay for the services that are rendered to you.

Under such circumstances, the best advice would be to search for that domain expired recently and make an outright payment to purchase it instantly without wasting any time. This action will help you save the money you spend on internet searches that demand you coughing up money for the services.

Buying a domain expired recently will work wonders, when the domain you choose has close relevance to the objectives of your business; in fact, you can eliminate all other possibilities, if you know what exactly you need for your business. When you know what you want from your expired domain, you can start from a point, where the searching becomes easier and result-oriented. To search for domain expired recently; write down a few critical keywords based on your business goals and start making a search, which eventually will allow you to find good domains.

Finding domain expired recently demands you quick action and response, as your competitors would certainly be doing to find their own domains. With the level of competition for expired domains, you will need to work very hard to zoom-in on the name quickly and later register it before others do. Domain expired recently is a virtual source of treasure that has the ability to transform your online business to a stream of income over a period. Finding a domain expired recently is not at all a difficult task, as long as you use the right type of tools and search methods.

Expired domain industry is just like a regular manufacturing plant, where you will find different types of expired domains entering the marketing conveyor belt on a consistent basis. It also means that almost every expired domain that enters the market is domain expired recently and this phenomenon happens right thorough the entire day and night.

John Khu is the well-known author of a new e-book titled "Expired Domain Secret". He is also 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.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Best Domain Names - Latest 5 Incredible Methods to Jumpstart Your Domain Names


Picking a perfect domain name is one of the essential steps that every webmaster must need to take to establish their online presence. A well-chosen domain name can set you up for success not only in generating valuable traffic to your site but also in obtaining higher page ranking.

Here are the 5 incredible methods to jumpstart your domain naming:

1. Pick the best extension. If you are running a business website, I highly suggest that you pick .com as an extension of your domain name. This does not only communicate an air of legitimacy and professionalism, but it can also give you more traffic as online users are used to typing .com when they search for websites online.

2. Avoid registering your domain name with your web host. This is to save you from headaches should you decide to split your ties with your web host. This gives you more freedom in choosing the best web host from time to time.

3. Your domain name must be keyword-rich. There is no doubt that search engines favor website names that has major keywords on them. Rank higher on search engines by simply making your domain name highly searchable online.

4. Make use of your name or your business name. That is, if you have already established your name on the industry where your business belongs.

5. Stay away from trademarked domain names. This is to save you from headaches or possibly law suit in the long run.

Picking the best domain name for your ebusiness can be relatively easy. As long as you know your target niche and you follow the 5 incredible methods that I have mentioned above, you surely won't go wrong in naming your website.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Amazing Domain Names - Discover Phenomenal Ways to Accelerate Your Domain Names


A powerful, easy to remember domain name is one of the few elements that can bring your website incredible traffic and amazing page views. This is the reason why millions of webmasters and ebusiness owners are trying all their might to acquire a domain name that is not only highly descriptive of their products and services, but also keyword-rich.

Getting a perfect domain name is not that hard at all. As long as you know your target niche very well and you are a certified expert on your filed, you will surely not have a single problem giving your website a name that promotes quick and easy recall.

Here are the phenomenal ways on how you can excel in domain naming:

1. The shorter, the better. Google, MSN, eBay, and Yahoo! Are getting millions of visitors every single day. Thanks to their names that are not only easy to remember but quicker to type on browsers too. Online users appreciate if you can make things a lot easier for them. By giving your website a short name, you are not only making it hassle-free for internet users to remember it, but you are also saving them time when they search for your website on the internet.

2. It must be keyword-rich. Almost 85% of online users are using search engines when they are looking for specific information over the internet. If you want your website to fare well on search page result, your domain name must contain keywords or keyphrases that are highly relevant to your target niche.

3. It must be highly descriptive. Your domain name must communicate what your website is all about or what it offers. Thus, if you are selling computers, it is a must that you include PC or computer on your website name.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

What Should You Consider before You Do your .com Domain Registration?


A domain name determines a business's identity. Every business owner would like a good and a perfect domain name. Here are some tips on choosing that perfect web address:

1. If your first choice for a domain name is already taken, don't despair. Try a few other combinations and pick the one that meets your needs.

2. Try to purchase the top level and the regional domain name. Basically consider other country domain name extensions if your business is applicable in that regions. If your business is applicable in Australia as well then consider .com and .com.au domain extensions.

3. Short domain names are easy to remember. But sometimes if it's a catchy phrase then the long domain names are very good as well. Short domain names are the safer bet. But you might not always get the shorter one and then you might have to go for a longer one. Long domain names are fine as long as they are easy to remember.

4. Try to stay away from domain names that has a word with a difficult spelling them. Your web site visitors might type them incorrectly and end up on a different web site. Always pick something that is easy to type.

5. Try to have keywords in your domain name. Keywords are the phrases that people are searching for in the search engines. To find out what people are searching for (in any industry) go to wordtracker.com and download a free version of their keyword tracker. Use that to determine the keywords in your area of business. And if you find a domain name with a highly searched keyword then you increase the chances of your site ranking better in search engines. A good keyword in your domain name makes your domain name more 'search engine friendly'.

6. Hyphens in Domain name have both advantages and disadvantages. By having a hyphen in between two words you are clearly telling the search engine that they are two different keywords. This makes your site more search engine friendly. At the same time your customer or a potential customer might forget to put the hyphens and land on a different site or worse still on a competitor's website.

7. Plural of a word is again a tricky point. If your first choice word for a domain name is not available your registrar might suggest that you take up the plural of that word (if that's available of course). Again I prefer to stay away from plurals. The visitors might forget that it's the plural of the word that they should type and land up on your competitor's site.

8. If you have a popular product in your company then consider registering that product name as a domain name as well.

9. Check and make sure that you are not infringing any domain name trademarks when signing up for a domain name.

10. Go with a reputable internet domain registration company.

11. Also beware of the different spellings for some words in different countries. Which ever country is your primary customer base go with that country's spellings.

And finally don't miss the renewal dates for your domain name...If they expire then you have to start the process all over again. Set up appropriate reminders and renew your domain names before they expire.

Sandy Naidu runs a website called .com Domain Registration. On this site she has step by step tutorials about registering a domain name, choosing the right hosting provider, setting up your website with the hosting provider and how to start wordpress blogs. All the tutorials have images which makes understanding and implementing them easy. Visit her website for tutorials on Affordable Web Site Hosting Services.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Breakthrough Domain Names - 4 Basic Things to Remember about Domain Names


Often times, domain names are the commonly overlooked and most ignored part of the ebusiness. Everyone is so concerned about the design of the website and the contents to plug onto it. Business owners are particularly concerned about how to gain back the investments that they have poured into it. So often the domain name is given the least attention by these people.

Little did they know that the name chosen for the web site is a crucial element for any ebusiness to succeed online. Below are some of the things that you need to remember about these names:

1. Domain names are what set you apart from all the other sites on the net. Your name serves as your primary identifier as an existing entity on the net. Thus, if you would like to be popular in the World Wide Web, you have to give you website a catchy name so it can easily be remembered by your target market.

2. Domain names make your site known to the search engines. These search engines are the primary programs that control and manipulate the existence of any site on the net. When your site does not have an effective name, you will most likely have lower page ranking.

3. Domain names should not deviate from what your business site stands for. Since the name is what people remember when they want to access the site, therefore, the name that you provide to your site must be able to relevantly speak about what your site is all about.

4. Domain names should bear significance to the search engines. Since the search engines are the primary programs that assess and evaluate the usability of the site based on what it contains, including the name, therefore, you need to make it a point that your name also speaks relevantly with your site.

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Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Value Of A Domain Name!


So you just registered 20 names and don't know what to do with them. Then you ask people at your favorite forum what they think about the names you just registed. Come to find out they are worth nothing. At this point you are thinking they don't know what they are talking about. This guide will point out why some domains are worth nothing and why some are worth millions. This guide will also help you find great domains to buy and get them for a great deal.

Keywords

First things first lets talk about keywords. Keywords are very very important when looking for domains to register or buy. These keywords will determine ad competition, popularity, and also search volume. By looking at the keywords you can pretty much tell if they are good or not. Good way to find out if a keyword is popular or not check out Google Keyword tool this site will tell you if the keywords have search volume and ad competion. Very useful tool when determining the value of a domain. Lets take Games.com for instance if you do a search with this tool for "Games" you can see that the Ad Competition is very high and that search volume is high as well. Look for keyword rich domains. Also make sure that the keywords go good with each other. If you have 2 really good keywords but are not related to each other the domain may still be worth nothing.

Length

Length is also an important part in the value of a domain. Basically the shorter the domain the better. This does not mean that it will automatically be worth more if it is 7 characters in length. As stated before remember keywords are very very important.

Age

The age of a domain matters. Its not a big factor but a domain that is 10 years old is probably going to be a little better than a domain that was just registered. I can also add here that PR(Page Rank) is important also. If a domain has a good PR is will be worth more as well. This can also tell you if there was a site up on the domain as well. This is attractive for buyers because if a site was once up it could be still getting traffic. To see if a website was once up on a domain you own check this site out Way Back Machine it will show you the site that was once up on the domain if any.

Traffic & Revenue

Traffic is important because domainers are looking for domains that have built in traffic. If a domain is getting 15k Unique Visitors a month then it is probably going to be worth a lot more than if it has none. Traffic is what is going to drive revenue. Revenue can be collected from a number of different resources. The most popular ways are from parking the domain or putting adsense on a mini-site. Most people will pay for the price of a domain and 1 years revenue. For instance lets say Games.com was for sale. Lets say the price of the domain in the sellers eyes is $2,000 and is making $4 a day in revenue in parking. The domain would sell for $3460 ($2,000 for the domain and $1,460 for the revenue.)

Google

Google is the biggest search engine on the planet right now. So most people use google and want to get their pages ranked in their rankings. So when you see people say 2,000,000 results for Plastic Jugs or something to that affect it is probably not acurate. The acurate way to search the keywords in google is to put "" around the keywords. For example if you search for Movie Porch on google it comes up with 577,000. If you put the words in quotes("") it only come up with 257 results. Google can be misleading if not used right. Google adds to the value because it shows how many times those key words pop up together in websites. The more the better.

Backlinks

Backlinks are a sign of a website being used at one point or there was some marketing for the domain done. These are good if you want some traffic that is existing for the domain. To see if you have backlinks on your domain check out Marketleap.com. It will tell you if there are back links on major search engines.

Bad Value

Things that can take away value from a domain name are "-", Numbers, misspellings, and domains that just dont make sense.

Evaluation

Let me take you through a process of how i evaluate a domain.

MoviePorch.com is the domain i will evaluate.

Google: 257 Frequency:103 Backlinks:145 Ad Score for these 2 words together are zero. The search volume is pretty much non existant. Just over 2 months old. The 2 keywords do not fit together. There is a site up on it now but not bringing in much revenue. Length is kind of long for a domain like this. I would classify this domain as a Brandable. Which basically means for this domain to have any value it would have to be marketed and branded by a website. So as far as reseller value i would value this domain at Low $xx mark. For an end user it could be worth millions.

Another point i want to point out is that any domain can be worth anything. An end user might want an off the wall domain to brand themselves and buy that domain for $x,xxx. This guide is to show people what a domain "MIGHT" be worth to a domain RESELLER. If you don't think your domains are worth anything then try developing mini-sites for them. Making a good website always adds value to the domain name. Also this guide is for .coms but can also be applied to ccTLDs and other extensions.

YGrab.com Find this article and more about domaining including and Intro to Domaining Guide!

http://www.ygrab.com Find this article and more about domaining including and Intro to Domaing Guide!

Friday, January 11, 2008

A Better Way To Choose A Domain Name


If you're like me, you want the best domain name for your online business. You probably did some brainstorming sessions yourself and possibly asked for opinions from friends, family and/or associates. You narrowed your choices, selected the "best" candidate, and then registered the domain name for your online business. However, if you're like me, you probably agonized over the final the selection after you narrowed down the choices.

You can avoid some angst and most likely make more money by picking more than one domain name and letting your customers make the final choice.

Start by having a brainstorming session ideally with some other people and even better if the group has diverse opinions. Give each person a Post-It note pad and have each person write down as many different domains names as possible within 5 minutes. Place all the notes on a table, wall or white board and review all the alternatives. The first brainstorming session may initiate further creative ideas, so have a second session of similar length to pull out additional possibilities. At this point, you should verify which domain names are available. Also, you will potentially discover additional choices during the verification process if you use a tool that makes domain name suggestions like the one at GoDaddy.

Let's assume you want to finish with five domain names. Give each person five votes, and allow them them to place their votes next to the alternatives they prefer. You can give one vote to 5 choices or five votes to one choice (or any other combination totaling 5). Any ties can be decided by repeating the process for the options that received equal votes. You complete the process by selecting the alternatives with the 5 highest votes. If you have a lot of alternatives, you could start with 10 votes and work down from there. Once you are finished, register the winning domain names.

Using the domain names from the previous step, start a Google AdWords campaign to find the final winner. Set up separate ads for each domain name and use identical ad text except for the different domain names. Run your campaign until a clear leader or leaders emerge. If you have several very close front runners, you might try changing the ad text a bit and run a new ad for the front runners again changing only the domain names.

Split testing potential domain names will:

  • eliminate some of the stress (and potential procrastination) of picking the "perfect" domain name
  • let you know which domain name your customers respond to the best
  • increase your profits by selecting a domain name that is proven to drive more traffic to your website

Another variation would be to test conversion for each domain name name and use that option as your winner. Experiment a bit, and you'll be confident that you've made a good choice for your domain name.

Steven Hill works full-time in corporate finance and part-time in internet marketing and consulting.

Get more affiliate marketing and internet business tips on his blog at http://cliqpreneur.com/

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Domain Name Registration And Web Site Hosting For Newbies


Logging on to the Internet for the first time can be a very overwhelming experience for someone. When it comes time to register a domain name and find a web host, the new Internet surfer can become very confused with all of the offers thrown at them and find some of the terminology hard to understand. I will cover some of the basics things that you need to know if it is your first time with domain name registration and web site hosting.

Domain Name Registration

In order to have a website you need a domain. You can compare it to your house address but it is in the virtual computer world. A domain name tells a computer where you are located online and how to drive to your house. Without a domain name, you will not be found online.

Before you get a hosting service for your website you need to register a domain name first. There are some hosting companies that do this for you but you are better off doing it yourself. You will save money and be in full control of your domain. You will find that there exist many domain registrars that are a little expensive, but you can get the same service for much cheaper through services like GoDaddy and NameCheap. There is no need to spend $30 a year to get a domain name.

You might want to register your name as your first domain. This can be your starting point to getting your name out on the Internet through a blog or a website and establishing a web presence. Don't worry if you can't get a .com name. There are many other popular extensions like .net, .org, .info or .ws that are available for you.

The registration process is very easy. First you enter the name you want. If it is available you then proceed to fill in your billing information. There are a couple of options that you can add on to your purchase like a WhoIs guard that can protect your identity and contact information from the public if someone is trying to look up the domain name owner.

That's about it for getting your first domain name. After you register it you will get a confirmation e-mail. You can then log into your account and tell the domain to point to your web host which is known as changing the DNS servers. This simple step is all you need to do to get your website up. When you find your web host and sign up they will give your a DNS number that you can use to point your domain to your website. It is like giving the domain driving directions to your house or web host where your website is located.

Web Site Hosting

Now that you have your domain name you are ready to find a web site hosting and put up your site. First you have to decide what type of site and how many you are going to put up to determine what type of hosting you will need. You might be tempted to get free web hosting, but just be aware it will come with many advertisements on your website. You can get hosting for real cheap that is reliable and fast.

There are a couple of different types of plans that you can choose from. You can get a dedicated server which is on the expensive side, but you get a whole entire server to your self with no other websites and get tons of space to put up as many sites as you want. You probably won't need this much power but if you are looking to start a business or anything else that requires speed and space, then this might be for you.

The other choices are reseller or shared hosting plans. With shared hosting you share the server with a bunch of other websites. It is kind of like a bunch of domains all living in one house. The domains all point to there own websites, but they all live together. This might be a good option if you are on a budget or are not looking for a lot of space for your website. You can find some really good shared plans for $20 a month and under.

A reseller plan is where you own a portion of the server and you can divide it up as you see fit. It is kind of like your own shared hosting. You own a couple of rooms in the house and you can rent it out to people or domains. This is the kind of plan you might want if you want to make some money selling web hosting or you don't want anybody else living in your house.

You will find many web hosting companies also offer things like website builders which are a plus. These can help you build a website from scratch if you do not have any knowledge of HTML or design skills. That's about it for domain name registration and web site hosting. Now that you know the basics, you are ready to conquer the Internet with your very own domain and website.

Check out the official registry for the .ws domain name at Global Domains International. An affordable $10 a month package with domain, hosting, email and website builders. GDI offers an incredible income opportunity. Learn more here: http://www.MoneyFlowForLife.com

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Website Blunders - Lengthy or Non-Memorable Domain Name


One thing that can put off potential customers before they even visit your site is the use of long or hard to remember domain names. A domain name that is long will be hard to remember and many people won't bother to write it down. If the name is too ordinary or bland it will be hard to remember as well. Many people don't write down web addresses but instead rely on their memory. If your domain name is hard to remember you can lose visitors.

Finding the perfect domain name for your business can be tricky. The name should be short enough to remember easily yet should describe your business. In addition, you need to be sure that the domain name is not in use by anyone else. You can test domain names easily through any domain hosting site.

Use your own market research to help find a good name. Try brainstorming with your business associates to come up with a list of suitable domain names. Narrow your list down to several and then ask friends and relatives their opinion of the names. Sometimes the perfect name may not be the one you think it will be. Keep an open mind because the ultimate goal of the domain name is to help attract customers to your site. Once at your site, the web site needs to look good and do its job of selling your product or service.

* Your domain name should be short enough to remember
* Make it memorable - stay away from non-descript wording
* Your domain name should describe your company, product or service.
* The tone of your domain name should be tailored to your target audience
* Don't use names that are too cute or trendy as they won't last
* Choose a name that sounds good
* Spell the name out to make sure it looks as good as it sounds
* Ask others for input and reactions once you find a name
* Your name defines you. Make sure it sounds professional.
* Names that are too long will not work well
* Stay away from awkward or phonetic spelling that can be confusing to potential customers.
* Practice typing in your potential domain names to see which ones are easier to type
* A shorter domain name will be easier to fit onto business cards and brochures

To discover the Top 30 Website Blunders and how you can avoid them when launching your next website, please visit http://www.7dollarguides.com/blunders

Monday, January 7, 2008

Sell Your Domain Name For Profit Or Should You?


These days as a professional domainer I do very little selling. I don't like to, nor do I need to.

I have come to the conclusion that the longer I hold something the more it is going to be worth. Just look at three-letter .com's, .net's, .org's, .us's, and .biz's. There are zero left "out in the wild" to be registered. (Three letter domains I am talking about here, not three-character domains, though all three-character .com's have been registered as well).

These three-letter domains always go for, well, let's just say much more than the registration fee. regardless of the extension.

As the value of good generic names keeps increasing, there is very little reason to sell your domains names at this stage at the game. Yet, people do. You would do well to learn one thing concerning the domain name market very early:

PATIENCE. If you are eager to spend money then there will be sharks salivating and lining up, happy to take it from you. The point is, that you don't want to spend money just to spend it, you need to make sure the buys you are making are quality buys.

However, if you do come to a time and place that you want to sell your domain name, you need to keep a few things in mind.

If you are going to make a business out of domains and you are going to open your own company, you need to make enough to pay any taxes that may be incurred. This is a big area of debate and I'm not a tax expert, so consult your tax adviser.

You obviously need to make enough to cover the original purchase price, but you may also need to factor in other expenses such as renewal fees, how much PayPal, escrow fees (sedo or other escrow company) are going to take from you when you make the domain sale.

Can your domain names make more money if you wait a bit longer for a different person who may want this more?

Is there a big enough market to where other people would be willing to buy this name so they had an "edge" on the competition?

Or are you selling to a "reseller"? (a person just as yourself who is buying the name to hold and resell later).

Is it really the "right" time to sell your domain, if you wait will the product/service/etc become more widely known or will the domain bring in more traffic?

Do you really even "need" to sell or do you just want to? You may need money for other ventures, but if you don't, then what is the point?

Is it an offer that you just cannot refuse?

I have had offers on domain names that I could not refuse before, it's not common but it happens. I had just registered about 20 .us domain names and shortly thereafter someone got a hold of me and offered $500 off the bat for one of them. Considering that I just registered the domain name, and the mere fact that the .us market has really not picked up, it was probably a good decision to sell. I sold him the domain for $500 total. That sale paid for the purchase of the other 19 .us's and also the renewal fee for them along with some money to spare.

In a case like the above, unless what you just registered is a true gem, there is probably no reason to decline the offer. But before you sell make sure a transaction will even be worth your time. If the same guy came to me and said he would have given me $40 for the domain name (and that would be as high as he would go), then there would have been very little reason for me to sell.

Remember, your time is worth money too. However, if you are a "time" person, then these are the types of sales you need to target and you need to target them over and over again until you reach a healthy base with domain name parking revenue. Once you become a "money" person, these types of things are not worth your time at all in the slightest. Remember, you want to become a money person as soon as possible.

So if you decide to keep your domain names or not which is completely up to you. Just be sure to make a well thought out decision.

Sean Stafford is a recognized domainer and author of just released book "Domaining - Tapping the Online Mines".

For more information on buying and selling domain names for profit please visit http://www.domaingraduate.com

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Choosing the Right Domain Name for Your Online Identity


What's in a name? Yes, it's a clich?question, but it is of paramount importance when it comes to your Website. The seemingly trivial task of "pick a name" takes on a whole new meaning when you must consider the way that the Internet handles domain names.

You will find yourself having to answer a series of other questions in order to make the right decision. Will your domain name "work" (will it be understandable) when you remove the spaces between the words? In addition to the .com and the .net variations, should you also protect your identity by getting the .info, .biz, .org, etc? Should you register it for one year, or for several? Is your name easily misspelled, and if so, should you also register the common misspellings so customers "accidentally" find you on purpose (or intentionally find you by accident, depending on how you look at it)?

Now that you have all of those answered, you go to register your well-conceived name. But alas, it isn't available. You're back to the drawing board! For Pete's sake, how hard can it be to pick a name? (And you thought it was a two-minute process!) REGISTERING the name is a two minute process, once you find one that is available. Getting to that point involves (potentially) a lot more work.

Here are a few points to ponder when you set out to pick a name. This guidance is in addition to the advice I provide in the book, Website 411: Business Survival in an Internet Economy.

  • Search engines have started looking at the length of time that domain names are registered. Since so many scams, "link farms" and other gimmicks typically only use domains with one-year registrations, you have a better chance of being found if you register your name for 3 or more years, ensuring that you renew it before it is within a year of expiring.
  • Domain names do not use spaces, and they do not use punctuation beyond underscores ("_") and hyphens ("-"). Your company name might look cute and memorable on a business card when punctuated properly, but it may not represent you so well as a domain name. For example, if you have a shoe repair business called something like "Shoes Heal Sew Fast", will your customers intuitively remember the correct homonym spellings of your name? Was it "Shoes Heel Sew Fast" or was it "Shoes Heal So Fast"? In this case, neither. What if you ran a newsstand called "Your News Exchange"? Take out the spaces, and is it "YourNewsExchange.com" or "YourNewSexChange.com"? Identity crisis! You may find that you are attracting a different audience than you intended.
  • It's an unfair practice (and unethical in my opinion), but your Web-savvy competition may register the variations of YOUR domain name and point them to THEIR site... Because of that, it's a good practice (and cheap "insurance") to register the variations yourself at the time you register your main domain name. Protect your identity!
  • Domain registrars (the companies that sell domain name registrations) don't like to leave money on the table. Therefore, if someone has shown interest in a domain name by checking its availability, registrar companies collect the information of domains that have been checked-but-not-purchased, and they sell the lists to bidders. Then, if any of the checked domains seem "catchy" or worthwhile, the domains gets purchased and auctioned by the person/company who bought the list. In other words, if you find a domain you like, BUY IT... If you wait, you'll probably lose it and have to potentially pay hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars to get it back!
  • Beware of bogus renewal notices. It's a common practice (much like long-distance companies did in the 1980's and 1990's) to solicit customers and try to get them to swap providers. Unless you have registered a private domain and kept your contact information confidential, it is easy for companies to find out who owns a particular domain name. Most domain registrars have a link to the WHOIS database (an acronym created from the words "Who Is") that lists the contact information and expiration details of each public domain name. You will get unsolicited mailings from predatory companies urging you to renew your name before it expires. (In fine print, the paperwork will notify you that the mailing is an advertisement, not a bill... but it will sure look like a bill). If you unwittingly send the "non-bill" back with your payment, the fine print also states that you are agreeing to transfer ownership and registration to THEM... at which point they own your identity, and can charge you whatever they want to let you use it!

It's a shame that I need to share all of these warnings on how to protect your interests... the list goes on. In a perfect world, there wouldn't be a need for it, but then again, we're not in a perfect world.

Now for a piece of advice on email accounts using your domain name. This overlaps into the topic of marketing, but it's worth mentioning here. When you have your domain name, what's your next step? What do you do with it besides connect it to your Website? (Your Web developer can help you do that. It's pretty straightforward.)

Email addresses, you may have noticed, all end in .com, .net, .org, etc. They are tied to domain names. You may be using email that your internet service provider supplies to you, using their domain name (like verizon.net, comcast.net, earthlink.net, cox.net, etc.), or you may have an email address from a third party provider that you check by logging into their Web-based service (like aol.com, msn.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, gmail.com, etc.). Either way is fine.

Once you have your own domain name, why not start using it for your emails? It's part of your identity and marketing. You'll have more credibility and better exposure when people go to YourName@YourBusiness.com rather than SomeNickname@AnotherProvider.com. Give it some thought. I've even seen some Website designers (usually small freelancers) that either don't have their own site, or if they do, their email address is linked to a generic email service provider... It makes me scratch my head. Along the same lines as the old expression "Never trust a skinny cook," how experienced and savvy is a Web developer without a Website, or one that doesn't have an email address from their own domain? Pet peeve of mine... Things that make you go "hmmmm. "

Just the same, you should work under your own flag versus flying someone else's. If you are "married" to your third party or Internet service provider's email account (meaning that you don't want to stop using or miss anything going into those accounts), most of them allow you to forward incoming message to another account (Your domain's).

The best advice I can give you is to find a reputable service provider that offers complete solutions (including domain name management), get a consultation to define your identity online, and let them register it on your behalf (ensuring that YOU own the rights to it.). You can manage your domain name(s) yourself, but if you'd rather not tangle with the process, your Website solution provider can handle the technical details, annual verifications, and periodic renewals.

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Please visit http://www.website411book.com and http://www.webdrafter.com for more information on Websites, search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM), domain names, hosting, e-commerce, merchant accounts, and more.

Tom Elliott is the author of Website 411: Business Survival in an Internet Economy, the president of WebDrafter.com, Inc. and an international Internet trainer.

His undergraduate degree is from Purdue University, and his Masters in Information Systems is from Florida Institute of Technology.

He served 13 years as a United States Naval Officer, followed by two and half years as the Director of Internet Training for a large marketing company while simultaneously building his own business. He is a Board of Directors member of the Central North Carolina Better Business Bureau, and has been the president of a Business Networking International (BNI) chapter. He also serves on the bachelor degree advisory board for a technical college, and is a keynote speaker.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Choosing the Right Domain Name


Domain names are to websites as book covers are to novels. If they are not interesting enough, or don't properly convey what a website is about, visitor will have no desire to enter them in their browsers. Yet, excessive creativity doesn't make for a good domain name either. Why is this so? It's because if a domain name is creative but not keyword-rich, search engine bots won't be able to index it in search engine listings. So, ultimately, your domain name must be both catchy yet search engine optimized. This article will explain how you can achieve both objectives.

First and foremost you will need to find a popular search engine keyword that can be incorporated into your domain name. A keyword analyzer can help you in this task. These can be found pretty easily with a basic search engine query. When you find one, enter in a keyword that best summarizes the purpose of your website. The keyword analyzer will return different versions of this keyword. If the more specific instances can also fit within the nature of your website, choose one. This is because when it comes to search engine optimization, more specific keywords are better since they are less likely to be used by other webmasters.

Now you can start selecting your actual domain name. Most domain name companies will allow you to see whether or not your domain name is available. If it is not available, it will return a list of recommended domain names. Take advantage of this tool by first entering your selected keyword. If your keyword as a domain name is not available, consider the suggestions the domain name company gives. If the main keyword is still included in these suggestions and it ends with .com, consider it. Otherwise, you will have to be more creative.

For example, you can use 'filler' words, numbers or phrases within your domain name to still include your selected keyword. Fillers could be 'a,' 'an' or 'the.' Search engines tend to not look at these words, so you still have a good shot at getting indexed while having a domain name that is memorable and catchy. You can also consider fillers at the end of a phrase, such as '101'.

What if you do these things and you still can't get .com? Well, there are some situations where it is better to stick with a lesser-used extension because the keyword is just that popular. Extensions that still get noticed include .net, .biz and .org. Additionally, you can also consider using country or state-based extensions if you don't mind international or local-based marketing. It's better to be number 1 in France's version of Google than to be number 200 or worse in America's version of Google.

In conclusion, choosing a domain name that will get the right buzz from both humans and search engines doesn't have to be hard. The keyword analyzer will help you with 90% of your domain name, while your wit with fillers can help you the other 10%. And, if after an immense amount of pondering, you still can't get the .com, you can opt for other extensions.

The definition of Internet Marketing does not cover all the aspects of what it really means. What to learn more? Come visit us at http://anthonyelias.com

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Targeted Domain Names - Tips to Advance in Domain Names in 4 Ways


A domain name is sometimes the most overlooked item in any online business. Most of the time, website owners do not give too much fuss about naming the domain website. Reasons may vary from ignorance or negligence probably about the severe impact that they bring into the website. Below are some of the ways on how you can advance in naming domain names:

1. Engage into researching several domains that you can choose from. There are several sites that you can go into to address your need for more sample of good domain names. From there, you can make comparison about which ones are far better to work and generate more possible income.

2. Experiment on various names. Make name combinations and produce output. From these various names, you can then check for yourself if this may be yielding positive result for you. What is important here is the fact that you have options and the options are all good options.

3. Choose domain names that are short and yet very impacting to potential clients. It may not need to be very controversial but what is important is that it should be able to arouse interest from your potential clients. In addition, short and compacted domain names make easy recall. When people are looking for sites to visit, the one that creates an easy recall either by the impact that it creates or because of the shortness of the site's name are most likely the ones to be visited and accessed.

4. Usually high end domain names are the ones that are correlated to well-established and tenured website domain names. You may want to buy these types of them however; they are quite a bit expensive. I would suggest that you look for ones that have been inactive for quite some time and that they are still available.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Productive Domain Names - 4 Ways to Make More Money With Domain Names


Choosing your online identity is one of the most crucial decisions you will ever make to ensure that your website will be highly visited. Here are the 4 best tips in choosing the perfect domain name for you:

1. Choose the right extension. If you are running an ebusiness, .com is highly recommended. It is the first extension that people search for when they go online. However, to make sure that your competitors will not use your domain name using other suffixes like .net, .tv, or .org, register all suffixes for your domain name.

2. Keep it short. To make your domain name easy to remember, make it a combination of 2-4 words. For easy recall, include keywords and your most popular product line.

3. Register your domain name as soon as possible. Once you have picked a great name, register it right away. There are so many people who are making great money by registering and selling them. Before they grab your great idea, don't waste a single second and register it now.

4. Avoid using your company name or your given name when you are just starting up. If you haven't made a mark in the online arena yet, it is not advisable that you use your name for simple reason that no one knows you yet.

5. As much as possible, avoid using special characters or numbers on your domain name. Online users are not trained to type hyphen or numbers when they search for a website. If you don't want your visitors to be directed to your competitors, stick with letters.

6. If your chosen name is no longer available, don't fret just yet. You can send the webmaster an email to inquire if the domain is up for sale. A lot of people are into selling these names and you might be just lucky to buy your preferred online identity.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.