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Articles (39):
Why I rarely build forums
May 11, 2009
Forums are a legitimate way to develop a domain but I rarely use them. Proponents argue that the content is created by users and it brings life to a website. This is true but does that outweigh the negative aspects of forums? In my experience, forums are rarely worth developing except in certain cases.
Using A/B testing to optimize your website conversions
May 04, 2009
A/B testing is one of the standard ways to test two different products against each other. Savvy ecommerce business owners use this regularly to maximize their profits. It is also used to test landing pages for those who run ad campaigns. This kind of testing is not just for big business. You too can run A/B testing to optimize your website design to increase the number of visitors that sign up for a newsletter, subscribe to a feed, purchase a product (e.g. a domain) or any other action. Here is how to go about it.
A new domaining tools website
April 21, 2009
The type-in traffic finder uses the Google AdWords keyword tool to find potential domain names and then checks to see if they are registered for any keyword you enter. Domain names that are not registered are highlighted in green. It is certainly nice to have 2 in 1 tools like this which saves you copying potential domain names from the AdWords tool to a registrar.
Ugly websites can make more money
April 08, 2009
Often when people are developing websites, they want the best design and layout and it is a natural impulse to develop the nicest looking website possible. Interestingly though, the prettiest websites do not always make the most money.
To develop using templates or content management systems?
March 19, 2009
A common dilemma for many domain owners interested in developing is whether to use templates or content management systems (CMS). There isn’t a one size fits all answer to this and so I wanted to talk a little about the strengths and weaknesses of each and how those fit with some business models.
Making lots of money a month from AdSense
March 12, 2009
Some people really do get rich on AdSense earning tens or hundreds of dollars a month from their websites. I came across a post from a couple of years ago about AdSense superstars on The Worst Business Ideas blog and it is not the only one to name some of these top AdSense earners. The top earner is estimated to get about $300,000 from AdSense a month and those that earn over $10,000 a month have been referred to as the Fedex Club because there are unconfirmed reports that they receive their checks by Fedex. So how do they make this kind of money?
Bringing new money into the domaining industry
March 04, 2009
Is the industry growing through new domainers bringing in new money or through sales of domains to end users effectively bringing in new money or is it stagnant with money (and domains) being recycled within the industry? I wanted to think out loud and see what you had to say.
Getting traffic to your mini-site
February 25, 2009
A mini-site is not worth anything without some sort of traffic. Traffic can be converted any number of ways or combination of ways but the amount and quality of the traffic is critical to the success of a mini-site. Since content on a mini-site is a lot less than that on an ordinary website, can you really compete for organic search traffic? Are there other sources of traffic you should be looking at? The answers in my view are “maybe†and “yes†respectively.
Dot com or die?
February 18, 2009
Many domainers have lived by the mantra "dot com or die". They are sometimes locked into .com for legitimate reasons and sometimes from personal beliefs or assumptions. When should you look beyond the .com world? Can ccTLDs make money?
Your website breeds new domain names
February 11, 2009
If you already have a website, you have access to some unique information. It is so often seen but rarely acted upon. The search terms web users type in to find your web site give you some real insight into what are the most popular search terms in your arena. You can leverage these to obtain new domain names and capture more people from these queries.
Buying the domain name of a bankrupt company
February 05, 2009
We are hearing about more and more companies going bankrupt in these hard financial times so domain names held by these companies may come on the market in the near future. Trademark domains may be off the table but some of these companies may hold generic domains. So how do you go about finding and buying such a domain name?
What is a quality website according to Google?
January 30, 2009
A Google document from 2007 entitled “Google Guidelines For Quality Raters†was released into the wild last year. I wanted to analyze it a bit because if you are going to develop a domain, then this document describes what a quality site is, in Google’s eyes. Much of this information is what you should be doing anyway when building a website but it also describes possible traps you should try to avoid.
Market your local domain names
January 23, 2009
Most small businesses these days know that they need an online presence. How can you tap into that need and build up local clients that can lead you to bigger clients over time?
Adsense optimization - surprising results
January 14, 2009
I have read before about optimizing your AdSense ads including position, color etc and read the stories of big success mostly on the AdSense website. I always passed it off as not being terribly important to the bottom line but when redesigning one of my websites recently, I decided to play with the position. The results were surprising.
Domain sales are not based on real value
January 06, 2009
Rick Schwartz had a post recently reminding everyone that it is all about the sales. It reminded me that domain sales are not based on real value but on perceived value. It is focusing on that perception that can help you maximize your sales and your profit.
Another way to sell domains
December 23, 2008
Have your own customized wedding website. Thats what WeddingChannel.com is offering their visitors including domain registration. A clever way to sell a domain name and website template and still tie them to WeddingChannel.com. There is a lesson to be learned here for all of us. Adding value to a domain name and marketing it as a package is a great way to push non-generic names.
Food recalls - a domaining opportunity
December 18, 2008
Food recalls have been increasing in the last few years with some very high profile cases. While I am not a fan of taking advantage of other people’s misery, in this case rapid communication to the public of any problems with the food supply is a good thing. So lets take a look at the opportunities for domaining in this area.
Theming your domaining
December 15, 2008
Have you considered theming your domaining? You may know particular markets better than other but do you focus on these or buy wherever you see an opportunity? Identifying your strengths can give a real focus to your domaining and help you carve out a niche.
Domaining with Google Groups
December 08, 2008
What could be better than a ready made audience for your domain or website? As you know, I am always on the lookout for new inspiration for domain names and websites. Google Groups can provide that if you take the time to look around and even better, the group is already interested in the topic i.e. a ready made audience.
Using competitions to generate content for your website
December 03, 2008
Continuing the theme of how to generate content for your website, I wanted to talk about using competitions as an incentive to get “free†content. Writers, photographers and artists love to have recognition for their work and what better recognition than to have the bragging rights to winning a competition.
Domain name survey
November 24, 2008
I surveyed 100 domains to see what was on those domains. I found that 4% had nothing, 71% had something other than parked pages and 25% were parked.
Graphs as link bait
November 19, 2008
It is especially hard to find quality content that will attract the much treasured one way inbound link. I want to share one idea that works very well for me and requires minimal effort.
Digital business
November 07, 2008
With all the discussion about the downturn in domain sales and pricing and the expected reduction in ad spend, now is the perfect time to re-examine your business model and see if it is ready to survive under stressful economic times.
Preserving website value
November 03, 2008
Buying a domain with a website can often be a great investment. There are many domains that are poorly developed but indexed by search engines and available for purchase. The advantages of a search engine indexed website are easily lost upon transfer of ownership. Here are some ways you can preserve those advantages.
Domain Aging - Fact or Fiction?
October 27, 2008
Domain age has been touted as a factor in the valuation of a domain but is this really true or is it a popular myth?
Mindshare versus attentionshare
October 22, 2008
Rick Schwartz has a nice post on his blog talking about how purchasing category-killing domain names for end users is a no brainer. This is true in the “real world†also where buying a shop on main street is always better than buying a shop on some side street. The latter requires far more advertising and effort to drive customers through the door. Location, location, location.
What to do with your domains during a recession?
October 15, 2008
During difficult financial times, taking a hard look at your portfolio is a prudent thing to do. What can you do to recession-proof your portfolio? I already touched on strategies that are recession proof such as targeting the wealthy using premiumization.
Medical symptoms as domains
October 06, 2008
More and more people are getting medical information on the web. Surveys have suggested that at least 50% of patients are getting medical information from the web. Direct to consumer (DTC) advertising has been increasing on TV and on the Internet. These trends make for a nice business opportunity.
Premiumisation and Recession
September 25, 2008
Premiumisation (or premiumization) has been a major trend for marketing this year especially in the food sector but also in many other areas. An article on premiumisation in the New York Times today caught my eye (you may need to register for free to read). Perhaps it was the contrast to the horrible financial news today that drew my attention to it. The financial news made this trend all the more relevant today than when I first heard this term at the beginning of 2008.
Google Suggest
September 19, 2008
I recently talked about Google Suggest from Google Labs and now this tool is going mainstream. According to the offical Google Blog, this will now be the default for the Google search box. You can turn it off if you wish by choosing Preferences and choosing your preferred option under Query Suggestions.
Wellderly and illderly
September 01, 2008
Of course someone has already snapped up Wellderly.com and parked it. The article goes on to talk about the opposite population: ill elderly or “illderly†As of the time of writing, illderly.com is available.
Disease associated domain names
August 12, 2008
I want to have a look at domain names associated with diseases and what to look for in those domain names. Domain names associated with diseases may be worth investing in.
Domain Development - part 5
May 16, 2008
I wanted to discuss direct commercial domain development in this post including lead generation, services and e-commerce. The financial return is often more direct on these types of websites rather than indirectly through advertising.
Domain Development part 4
May 07, 2008
Here I am going to cover community type development strategies. Perhaps one of the more trendy development paths, community websites have significant issues all their own.
Domain development part 3
May 02, 2008
Many domainers have domain names clustered around themes and I want to talk about a development strategy built around those themes.
Domain development part 2
April 29, 2008
The mini-sites I discussed in my last post are really designed to generate income with minimal effort similar to the domain parking strategy. The next strategies I discuss focus on development to increase purely resale value.
Domain Development
April 25, 2008
Development of domains opens up a whole variety of opportunities.
How much is my domain worth: Part two
April 07, 2008
Continuing my review of criteria for valuing domains. This time I want to cover criteria that do play into the potential valuation of a domain name.
How much is my domain worth?
April 02, 2008
This is probably the most common question that new domainers have. They want to know if they have struck gold with their latest brainwave or at least a little more than it cost to register that domain. | 
