Archive | Advice

Hyphenated Domain Names

Posted on 05 January 2009 by JL Hill

You think of a perfect domain name. It contains a keyword that is found in search engines, has no trademark issues and is memorable for website visitors. You try to register your domain name with a domain name company. It appears to be taken. So, you put a hyphen in it. That version of your domain name is not taken, but should you go on and invest in it? This article will explore what webmasters need to consider if they are deciding to use hyphenated domain names.

First, they need to think about their website visitors. Most people are not accustomed to using hyphenated domain names. Even if they like a website, it may be simply a matter of forgetting to include the hyphen. If this happens then the unhyphenated version of the domain name will be what receives traffic, which is definitely not what a webmaster wants. Of course, if a domain name is not hyphenated in the first place, then such an issue would never arise.

However, a hyphenated domain name that is keyword-rich has a higher chance of getting a good ranking from a search engine than a non-hyphenated domain that is not SEO optimized. A higher search engine ranking might outweigh the initial disadvantage of how inconvenient a hyphenated domain name is. This is because if a website has a high search engine ranking, people won’t need to type in the domain name in order to access it. They can simply click on the listing given in search engine results. And if they like the site, they will bookmark it, an action that is preferable, since it shows they are really interested in what the site has to offer.

Webmasters should also consider whether or not their domain name is more understandable if they use a hyphen. Consider the unusual domain name molestationnursery.com. This is actually in reference to a website that talks about mole nurseries, not molestation. Yet, what will most website visitors think if they saw the domain name in that manner? Including hyphens can make such a website much clearer.

It would also be better for SEO, since search engines would index mole-station-nursery.com with keywords related to moles.

So, basically, there are advantages and disadvantages to using hyphenated domain names. If a webmaster thinks their domain name is going to bring them a lot of search engine traffic, they should go for it. And in some cases, a hyphenated domain name is necessary to make its meaning easier to understand.

Otherwise, webmasters should try their best to create non-hyphenated domain names, since these are the types of domain names that rule the Internet world. If they are having trouble coming up with a better domain name, they can consider using a domain name generator. Many domain name companies provide rudimentary domain name generators if a selected domain name gets turned down. Webmasters don’t have to settle for these type though, since there are more sophisticated domain name generators that can offer even more suggestions.

Comments (1)

Transferring Domain Names

Posted on 02 January 2009 by JL Hill

In the olden days of the Internet, domain name registration was handled by Network Solutions. However, after a while, the government decided that it wasn’t fair for one company to have sole control over the domain name market. Therefore, it opened up the business to other companies. Since then hundreds of domain name companies, ranging from sole proprietorship to corporate enterprises have capitalized on a market that generates millions in revenue each year. So, for webmasters, this means there’s no shortage of companies to choose from when they register their domain names.

Yet, what happens if they register with one domain name company, but decide later they want it to be operated by another company? Fortunately, they can get their wish through the process of domain name transferring. This is when a webmaster gets another registrar to handle their domain name. All payments are forwarded to the new registrar, as the old registrar is no longer in the picture, (at least when it comes to the domain name). If the registrar is handling a webmaster’s hosting, they still need to make the necessary payments to make sure their website stays in tact.

The actual process involved with a domain name transfer will depend on the registrar a webmaster is working with. For instance, if they charge a payment for domain name transfers, this fee must be received before anything can be done officially. Otherwise, the process begins as soon as a webmaster makes a request to do so. Some domain name registrars will require a webmaster to send a notarized letter informing their intent to transfer. Others may allow the request to be done online. Once the registrar authorizes the domain name transfer, it will take 1 to 7 business days for the process to be completed.

Sometimes a domain name may not be transferable. This could be for a variety of reasons such as legal issues with the domain name itself or the original domain name registrar. An example of the former could be trademark problems. For the latter such legal scenarios that could cause problems include bankruptcy and/or issues with scamming. There is also a possibility that a domain name registrar simply refuses to transfer the domain name.

How can a person prevent these types of problems? The best solution involves reading any fine print the original domain name registrar offers. A person should also check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure the domain name registrar doesn’t have any outstanding legal issues associated with it.

In conclusion, if a person wants to switch domain name companies, there is the option of doing a domain name transfer. If it is successful, the domain name will work as it originally did, with the only difference being who is managing it. However, if a domain name cannot be transferred, a webmaster must stick with the original registrar or consider a URL redirect service.

With a URL redirect service, the original domain name becomes masked by a new domain name. It is not as good as an official domain name transfer, but it is still better than nothing if transferring is not an option.

Comments (0)

Tags:

Buying & Selling Websites For Profit

Posted on 30 December 2008 by JL Hill

As many people say, selling they say is the oldest form of trade. This can be proven by history itself because since time immemorial, people would sell and buy everything that is worth something. And now, even until this modern age, people are still at it—selling clothes, food, used items, and with emergence of Internet, even buying and selling websites.

That’s right, website trading. There are some people nowadays that make money off of trading new websites, old websites and even abandoned websites. Just like a hot item in the market people are biting off a big chunk in this new industry. But why do people buy websites and not just make them. One reason is convenience. Sometimes people don’t want to go through all the hassles of making a website that they just look around for a person selling his change things here and there and voila, new website.

The buying and selling business is attractive but given the towering costs of making the acquisition it is fairly tricky to start, particularly as young capitalist. If you set out erroneous you may possibly end up loosing a bundle of money, so you in actuality desire to be in no doubt of your skills and ability prior to investing.

The Internet is extremely new and the entire online business industry is presently establishing advertising practices that work. Quite frankly, the majority of the people running businesses online have dreadfully poor websites. A lot of communities running well liked sites are not taking advantage of their traffic by monetizing it—this could be by preference or lack of knowledge or possibly an e-commerce site might use a quantity of search engine advertising or some alteration to an AdWords movement may do the trick, or better still, monetize, optimize, associate and upsell for utmost gain—make use of all the advertising tricks at your clearance.

If people do some numerical sampling of the web industry search engine optimization techniques would be understood by a marginal of webmasters and implemented well by even smaller number. Search engine optimization is fetching mainstream success and no uncertainty as the web continues to establish additional people will learn, experiment and construct better websites, but it’s absolutely still early days.

What this tells is “business opportunity.” For people with the knowledge on how to buy and sell websites, the energy to employ and a tad bit of funds to procure the sites there are huge gains to be made. What makes it even more tempting, particularly for youthful or fresh entrepreneurs, is the price - we are talking about a lot less finances than it would take to put in stocks, buy assets or acquire a bricks and mortar business. Websites with prospective go for as low as a few hundred dollars, can you imagine that?

The big advantage of buying and selling websites is one doesn’t have to establish an audience and wait for the site to be indexed within search engines. Most webmasters, even those that don’t know their SEO from their XML, will understand the benefit of link exchanges. Even the most poorly managed sites should have some form of backlink network developed and return a result in the major search engines. It may not be a top ten search result but it will be a result ready for you to optimize and improve.

Comments (0)

Tags:

Points To Consider When Buying & Selling Websites

Posted on 30 December 2008 by JL Hill

In the past years, many people have seen the steady climb of the Internet as a staple in almost all sectors of the human life. In more ways than people know, there are only few individuals making money from people who visit the Internet regularly. Some of these people don’t even know the basic of how to make websites but they make good money just by buying an existing website and operating it or reselling it to a different person.

If you are jobless or somebody who would want to try other business, you can try buying and selling websites. This can be a lucrative business if you contemplate on the following considerations:

1. Buying and selling websites is a viable business because of its growth in the recent years.

Today, the industry of buying and selling websites has become an overnight industry because most of the commercial success of the people who have been doing it disclosed the high income and profit of the industry. If you are just starting with this business, it is only normal to not know everything about it. But as time would go by, you would find yourself learning the ropes and you will eventually memorize some formulas for success.

2. Skepticism can help you a lot in getting all the information that you have get about the website.

In this day and age, a lot of sellers are just honest people who try to earn for a decent living. But, every buyer should move toward all information granted in the deal with a little cynicism. Buyers are making a most important monetary verdict and ought to be careful in considering all information accessible throughout a thorough due diligent process.

3. Something must be wrong with the product if the seller is too much of an “eager beaver.”

Every time you glance at any website for sale, you should move toward the state of affairs with a huge deal of prudence. You should make it your business to confirm all of the particulars feasible concerning the website, as well as determining the grounds for sale. There are a number of exceptionally superior inspirations for sellers to sell and other ones that are not so good. Usually, the best reason for a sale from the buyer’s point of view is a trade necessitated by ill health.

4. Most potential website buyers never buy a website.

This on your own may be rationale enough for a vendor to record their website with a staid online-market. A certified website market shields the website retailer from the countless non-qualified possible buyers to get to a small number of people who actually do have the means and impetus to buy a website. Once the incompetent likely buyers have been culled out, still only anywhere approximately 50 percent of these individuals eventually buy a website.

5. Assume that they are always skeletons in the closet.

Before buying and selling websites, it is a must that you are very particular about everything that concerns it. This is because most websites have some unconstructive features that the peddler will be indisposed to talk about. You can be certain that any troubles will come up to later as buyers commence analyzing the website and it could exterminate the sale if the troubles are apparent as cover-ups. So you better be careful in checking its any websites’ background to check if you are getting a good deal or not.

Comments (0)