Domain names are the real estate of the Internet and the people that have invested wisely in them have become very rich.  When I mean rich, I’m not talking about the “Life’s Been Good To Me So Far” wealth of some of my search marketing friends.  I’m talking “F*** You” rich.  When I attended the 2007 Domain Roundtable, I was made keenly aware that I was in the same room with 2 Domainer Billionaires (Frank Schilling & Kevin Ham)…and I’m sure that others present were only 1-2 zeros shy of those two distinguished gentlemen.

How did these very smart individuals amass their wealth?  Clearly, they bought premium domain names before the masses had figured out their value.  However, they also had to know how to choose the “cream of the crop” based on nothing besides their keen intuition and while we’re not going to ever see the opportunity again that Frank & Kevin took advantage of, people can still make smart purchases using tried & true methods.  I’m here to share some insights into what one should look for in a domain name.

Domain Name Extensions

Everyone knows about “.com”.  It’s permeated the fabric of social consciousness.  You can’t escape it.  However, here’s a little known fact about what .com stands for…

.com = “Common”

At registration fees, pretty much all the .com’s have been mined out by the same herd followers who think they are smart enough to be the next Frank/Kevin (and to get a premium .com name is outside the budget of most folks).  .net & .org have been heavily mined as well.  So, what to do?

Get a unique extension where keyword rich domains are much more available.

Here’s a list of extensions and I’m sure almost the entire list is new to most folks.  There is an incredible variety of names to choose from when all these extensions come into play.

To illustrate, .co.ck is the domain extension of the Cook Islands and with a little searching, I determined that https://10inch.co.ck (and many similar variants) are available for purchase.  If these aren’t keyword-rich premium domains worthy of any domain portfolio, I don’t know what are.

Keywords In Domain

One of the strongest ranking signals used by Google is “keywords in the domain”.  Therefore, you really should purchase domain names that contain the keywords that you wish to rank for.  If you are a smart marketer, you know that to get lots of traffic to your site, you’ll need to rank well for lots and lots of keywords.  Therefore, it’s smart to stuff your domains with as many keywords as your registrar allows you.

As an example, most Internet Marketers know that the insurance space can be extremely lucrative online.  Many websites attempt to monetize many different types of insurance products (just as many insurance agents carry different lines).  However, if these sites were smart, they would put all their main keywords in their domain which is not only good for SEO but branding since customers will know what types of products are offered simply by examining the domain name.

So, when I see a domain name like https://www.cheap-car-auto-life-home-health-pet-travelers-insurance.com, I know that I’ve found a destination site that not only can services all my insurance needs but a webmaster that knows the intrinsic value of this important SEO (and domaining) principle.

Website Content

Domain parking revenue has collapsed and for a myriad of reasons, very few domains will get enough type in traffic to make domain parking a valid revenue model.  Therefore, a premium domain should be built out with rich keyword-focused content so that (combined with the other SEO factors) it has a chance of ranking well, bringing targeted traffic that can be monetized. 

Getting good quality content affordably can be a challenge but in the misfortune of others lies tremendous opportunity for the bold…

Google’s recent “Farmer Update” has decimated the traffic of many highly visible content-rich websites.  Lots of formerly visible content in Google has disappeared.  Since the content won’t get search traffic any more on the original site, there isn’t any reason why it shouldn’t get traffic on your site…after all, it’s the website that got penalized, not the content. 

So, go to one of the sites on the penalty list and search for a relevant article (like this one about mesothelioma).  Now, Google already has this article cached in one of their servers, so copying this article verbatim won’t be the best play here. 

Instead, copy the article into Word and do some smart & savvy “Copy / Replace” to make the text not only relevant to your website but uniquely yours. 

So, text like:

For people working in the trades describes above, make sure that workplace regulations as defined by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for mesothelioma prevention are in place. Some asbestos fibers may attach to hair, skin, and clothing, and you can put your family at risk if brought home. For mesothelioma prevention, federal laws now require workers to follow several precautions including:

• Showering before leaving the workplace
• Storing clothes separate from work clothes in the workplace
• Changing out of work clothes into street clothes before leaving the workplace
• Washing work clothes at workplace (source)

Can be repurposed for your Drunk Driving Lawyers website as follows:

For people working in the trades describes above, make sure that dwi attorney regulations as defined by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for dui lawyers prevention are in place. Some drunk driving law firm fibers may attach to hair, skin, and clothing, and you can put your family at risk if brought home. For dui lawyers prevention, federal laws now require workers to follow several precautions including:

• Showering before leaving the dwi attorney
• Storing clothes separate from work clothes in the dwi attorney
• Changing out of work clothes into street clothes before leaving the dwi attorney
• Washing work clothes at dwi attorney

Rework a few articles thusly and you have enough good content where, combined with strong link popularity, could produce an online revenue powerhouse.

Conclusion

I’ve given you an overview of how you can strategically purchase and develop your domain investments.  I encourage you to try out my process for yourselves…after all, people who won’t try to purchase and monetize domains because “it’s tough” or “all the good names are taken” are https://www.fullofsh.it

The post The Smart Guide To Domain Name Investing appeared first on SEMpdx.

Local search became an emphasis in January 2008 and has increased in frequency since.

Greg: Local Link Development

#1 thing to be concerned with in local search (and search engines in general) is inbound links. The best method for building a link development plan is competitive analysis – viewing strategies of sites who rank higher.

Great first step is directory listing. For example, list your site in niche directories regarding your city and category (e.g. New Orleans, Plumbing). Yahoo Local, Best of the Web, and other local directories are local specific and can really help with geo-targeted rankings.

When listing, provide all info: address, phone number, hours, etc. Most importantly include zip code. Including phone # and address in Title tag or meta Description can help with local rankings. Furthermore, keep all other phone numbers (fax, mobile, etc.) and addresses off the page as it confuses the bots (or use images for other phone #’s). Keep it simple – provide the information within the meta tags and correlate it on-page.

Search engines are getting better at identifying spam content and verifying actual business listings. Therefore, it is important to be consistent and accurate.

Mary: Optimizing for Local Search Success

Challenges for Local Businesses

• Local search is different: need to rank well in universal search, ten pack, local SE’s, online yellow pages, local social websites (Yelp), and vertical directories – Ton of work to do!
• Need to be present wherever potential customers are looking for you

On-Page Optimization

• Build releavance and trust in location + target – marry location with keywords
• All usual SEO efforts with a geographic slant
• Use hcard format for location info on pages

Optimizing for Multiple Locations

• Create a separate page for each location
• Local info on each page
• Internal links include location plus keyword
• Use other location-centric terms: airport code, intersections, highway exits, etc.

*Give business a tagline: make it very clear where you are and what you do (e.g. Austin’s Best Pizza)

Standardization Builds Trust

• Standardize your information across the web – same business name, address, and phone #
• Go to sources of business data and standardize there
• Use a local database directory – profile aggregator (universalbusinesslisting.org and getlisted.org)

Optimize Your Business Listings

For Search Engines:

• Use main keyword phrase and complementary terms
• Grab long-tail including products and services, brands you carry, etc.
• Choose or create the right categories and submit to as many applicable categories as possible
• Give your listing attributes – add categories (e.g. town served, types of rentals, etc.)

For customers

• Enhance your listing to attract attention, answer questions, build trust
• Use photos, videos, reviews, coupons – leave nothing blank
• Learn from competitors

Create Citations – web references (pages or site that mention your website)

• Citations help Google build trust
• Citations drive targeted traffic (e.g. Better Business Bureau)
• Citations generally easier to get than links

Impact of Reviews – reviews and local search: perfect match

• People want review; people use reviews
• Ratings influence rankings (e.g. Yahoo Local)
• Highly rated sites can get more exposure
• Users sort results by ratings
• Ratings and reviews influence CTR

Solicit reviews from happy customers

• Create a plan
• Use surveys and follow up emails
• Bribe people to submit reviews (discounts, promotions)
• Send reviews to a variety of web sites

Off-Page Optimization

• Target incoming links from local sites (Chamber of Commerce)
• Look for links on sites that rank well for your targeted terms
• Use your connections/network

Matt: Hyperlocal Blogging

Local blogging is good for local search marketing.

(Hyper) Local Blogs

• Take advantage of an opportunity to rank for local searches

Content Anyone Can Create to increase traffic & long-tail visibility

• Combined sale, Flickr, photos and blog post
• Photo of country singer + blog post + upcoming concert
• Community pool closing + blog post

Why Local Blogging Works

• Growing interest in local stuff online
• Traditional media declining
• Local websites often lacking
• Search engines love good blogs

Tips

• Write about local stuff
• Use photos & video
• Think ahead
• Do basic SEO
• Don’t overdo self-promotion

Q&A

Quantifying ROI: organic listings difficult to measure – same holds true for local blogging. User count is easiest metric to measure – effort leads to increased exposure and traffic

Diluting pages with too much content: use local info where necessary – keywords most important in title, limit use of local content if appears overcrowded. Use subdomains for local pages (e.g. chicago.example.com) – provides increased internal linking

The post Little is the New Big: Local + Hyperlocal Search Marketing appeared first on SEMpdx.

So, I learn about John McCain’s “relationship” with Vicki Iseman on Twitter slightly before 5PM Pacific Time. Immediately, I go to my domain registrar of choice and check to see whether vickiiseman.com is available (something I’ve trained myself to do in similar situations even if I’m not interested in purchasing the domain).

I see the following:

Somebody reserved the domain at Network Solutions. Well, we already know about Network Solutions and “Front Running”. If you look at the DNS, it even shows “NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM” (and the record says “Client Hold”)…so clearly, a person reserved the domain name with the intent to purchase it later at Network Solutions.

However, this explanation defies logic…somebody racing to get the domain name of a now “public” figure isn’t going to reserve the name to buy it later…they are going to buy it ASAP so they can monetize it immediately via parking.

So, I go over to Network Solutions and query the domain name.

It’s available. Oddly enough, somebody has bought the .net but not the .com (in real life, that never happens).

I go all the way through the checkout process…but then stop before actually buying the domain (because I’d don’t want it). Theoretically, I can purchase the domain myself only through Network Solutions.

Which gets me wondering, did Network Solutions reserve the domain themselves so they and only they can sell it at their ridiculously high registration fee? I would like to hear their explanation of what I just described.

The post Vicki Iseman: Did Network Solutions Poach VickiIseman.com? appeared first on SEMpdx.

However, this is a simple way to change this…to use your tax rebate money to stimulate “The” economy and “Your” economy.

Use your tax rebate to buy a premium domain name.

For instead of buying consumable “goods” that have little or no future value (or paying off goods that you’ve already purchased), you are buying an appreciable asset that can generate income (from parking revenue and or site development) while you own it.

Now, based upon my circumstances, I believe that I will receive $1,800 from our government. Here are examples of domain names I’ve could have purchased for roughly the size of my upcoming rebate check (sourced from DNJournal Domain Sales):

Populararticles.com ($2,188)
Totalpolitics.com ($2,288)
Publicmarkets.com ($2,000)
Chemicalbusiness.com ($2,000)

With a little more money, I could have purchased:

Eventpromoters.com ($3,000)
GastricHealth.com ($3,200)

With the right development strategy, each of these (and many other domains) offers me the opportunity to earn income while substantially growing the value of my asset.

So, when that check comes in the mail later this year, Americans will be faced with two choices. Most Americans will “consume” their rebate until it’s all gone…though perceptive folks who smartly invest that money in a premium domain will reap financial rewards well into the future.

The post Use Your Tax Rebate To Purchase A Premium Domain Name appeared first on SEMpdx.

From the features page:

Address Bar Browse by Name
Browse by Name helps you find a site even when you don’t know its URL. Just type the site name into your browser address bar, and Toolbar will take you there automatically. For instance, try typing “oxford” into the address bar to go directly to the university’s home page at www.ox.ac.uk.

OK, but what if you’re looking for Oxford, Mississippi? Google is deciding which “Oxford” the searcher is intending which is an extremely inexact science. It appears from the few queries I’ve been running that Google is choosing the #1 SERP result as best representing the searcher intent rather than the dot com domain of the keyword.

So, let us take a domain well known in the domaining community: Rick Schwartz’s Candy.com.

When I type the word “candy” into my Opera browser bar (that doesn’t have a Google Toolbar installed), I end up at Rick’s website. Rick clearly has a parked page monetized for his benefit, but the page offers the searcher many possible choices for candy-related destinations…so searcher intent is clearly served.

When I type the word “candy” into either my IE or Firefox browser (both containing the Google Toolbar), I end up at Candywarehouse.com, which currently owns the #1 SERP at Google.

I’ve seen other scenarios where typing the keyword into the browser brings the searcher to either a Google or MSN SERPS page containing the top results for the queried term. The domaining community has strongly argued that usurping browser type-in traffic and sending it to SERPS pages is a way for the search engines to steal and monetize type-in traffic…but at least the searcher is presented with a page full of possible choices that should ultimately meet their needs. However, when Google sends a searcher directly to one site without offering alternatives, they are not only taking type-in traffic away from domainers but they offer the user only one outcome to their query which flies in the face of what a search engine is supposed to do…offering the best possible user experience to answer queries via presentation of multiple alternatives.

Google’s corporate mission is “is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” How is presenting only one alternative to a typed query best serving that mission?

The post Domainer Type-In Traffic Under Attack By Google’s Toolbar 5 appeared first on SEMpdx.

So I tried it myself…
I just went through the process at Netsol – (Logged in) and looked for this domain – netsol-is-within-their-rights.com

It was available, so I added to cart

Then I clicked around, went back to cart – removed item – logged out – went to Godaddy

Where I found this…

I searched the Whois, and got this –

Hmm – seems like it’s true, but so what? This forum currently has 25 pages of opinions, but here’s my thought…

Why is it so controversial? It seems like common sense to me, that you’d expect a good idea to get grabbed up. If you casually told a real estate agent about a hot piece of property without a non-disclosure agreement, then you didn’t buy it from them, could they buy it?

I see no problem with what they’re doing, and I’m surprised all registrars don’t do it. Why shouldn’t Netsol (or why wouldn’t they) buy it?

The post Is Network Solutions Poaching Domains? appeared first on SEMpdx.

“I was recently asked by a fellow domainer how I felt about the current prices of domain names in general. Here’s my take on Generic Domain Names, International Domain Names, Typo Domain Names, and other factors such as financing and the dissemination of knowledge.”

Read The Full Blog Post

The post Domain Prices Are Going Up and Down (by Scott Fish) appeared first on SEMpdx.

The phone rang at the appointed time.

“Mitch, it’s Denny Fowles…I’m the person who emailed you about purchasing your domain forecasttheyears.com.”

“Hello Denny. You know, I’m quite puzzled by your interest in my domain. I purchased it name for its sentimental value and to get a total stranger to offer me $500 for it out of the blue is somewhat suspicious to me. Can you explain to me your sudden interest?”

“Well Mitch, I collect domain names and I really like how your name sounds.”

“That’s the only reason? Do you know the etymology of the phrase ‘forecast the years’? Does it have any special meaning for you?

“No and no. I just really like the phrase…how the words sound together.”

“It’s strange that you could be drawn to this name without understanding or knowing its origins or history. In case you’re curious, the phrase ‘forecast the years’ comes from Tennyson’s ‘In Memorium’:

But who shall so forecast the years
And find in loss a gain to match?

Those two lines have always resonated with me and that’s what caused me to purchase the name. As you can tell, I’ve never developed the domain.”

“Again Mitch, because I really like how the name sounds, I’m prepared to purchase the name from you for $500. If you can show me that the domain is earning parking income that would justify a better price, I would consider making you a higher offer…otherwise, $500 is what I’m willing to pay.”

“Well Denny, I really like how $5,000 sounds and I will sell you the domain for that amount.”

“Mitch, I think you’re trying to take advantage of my generosity. I’m offering you $500 for a domain that’s not likely earning you enough parking revenue to pay its registration cost. I believe my offer is more than fair. If you can get a better offer for your domain, feel free to take it…however, I’d be shocked if anyone besides me would offer you a premium price for a domain that has only sentimental value.”

“Denny, let me think about it and get back to you.”

Two Weeks Later

From: Denny Fowles
To:
Subject: Forecasttheyears.com

Escrow is closed on this domain and it is in my possession. I will now begin the process of transferring it to the client. I’m attaching my commission invoice for $2,000.

Eighteen Months Later (at the movies)

Ralph Fiennes is Liam McTeague. Teenage tragedy drove Liam to the breaking point. But, Liam couldn’t know that surviving such a catastrophic youthful calamity allowed him to develop tremendous inner strength enabling him to overcome an adult horror that would have devastated lesser men. After Liam discovered his wife’s affair with his business partner that threatened both his emotional and financial stability, he didn’t fall apart…he fell into action.

Ralph Fiennes in Forecast The Years. Cate Blanchett, Clare Danes, David Strathairn & Terence Stamp.

Directed by John Boorman

See the trailer at www.forecasttheyears.com.

The post The Domain Collector (a Parable) appeared first on SEMpdx.

Another reminder as you learn new facts and ideas to train your mind to check if a relevant domain name is available…and to grab it if you can.

The post Maywood Park, Oregon is MINE!!! appeared first on SEMpdx.

• Once it’s gone, it’s likely gone forever.
• It’s becoming more and more clear that the dot com domain name of a person’s full name will be a major part of their digital identity. A digital identity will be much harder to establish on a dot net or dot org domain.
• Online reputation management will continue to increase in importance and it’s much harder to do if somebody else is controlling your dot com domain name. With minimal work, your dot com domain name should be the top result returned on any search engine search of your name…so it’s important to control the message of that top search result.

So, even though my wife will never do anything with her own URL and my daughter and son are too young to do anything with their own domain names, I bought them anyway…smarter to have them in my own portfolio instead of someone else’s.

The post Buy Your Spouse / Kids Names As Dot Com Domain Names appeared first on SEMpdx.