The ABCs of Domain Names

Everything on the Internet starts with a domain name!

I know that may come off as a bit over reaching - but its true. From email to news, search, video or anything else on the Internet - you have to know where you're going which is only achieved by a domain name.

The ABC's of domain names, which as a title may come off as a little corny to you, is an exercise that makes you think about your industry or business, what you're doing in it, and how you go about doing what you do as it relates to domain names. The use of the ABC's format is to provide a simple, back to basics approach to deliver fundamental concepts that provoke thoughts, ideas and questions on domain names and how they are a part of your world.

So, whatever all of that means - lets dive into the ABC's of domain names and find their relevance in your line or work, personal life, hobbies, educational background, experience or special areas of interest to see what jumps out and comes naturally to you:

A: Advertising - domain names offer the perfect venue to advertise your product or services or to provide potential revenue by domain parking and/or affiliate programs.

B: Branding - the brand is in the name. Having a great targeted domain name can really build a brand, or can actually be the brand (eg: Google.com)

C: Community - the Internet is all about an interconnected community. Through domain names, you create a real destination and an identity for what can become a community.

D: Direct Search - having a generic word based domain name is your best path to direct search traffic. Direct Search is here to stay and will likely take an increasing share of the overall search marketplace. Direct search bypasses the likes of yahoo.com and google.com as the user types in the destination site directly into their browser (ie: www.computers.com).

E: Ecommerce - want to conduct business online - you need to start with one primary thing - a domain name. Ecommerce is one of the leading uses of the Internet.

F: Friends & Family - connect with your friends and family with domain names - either by email, your favorite websites, or photo sharing sites and videos, etc.

G: Global - synonymous with the Internet - domain names (particularly .com) have mass broad appeal on a global basis, with global potential.

H: High Returns - where else can you buy a piece of virtual real-estate for $8.00 and sell it within a matter of weeks or months for over $1000? Fund.com just sold for $9.99 Million in March of 2008.

I: Investment - domain names are appreciating more than any investment for the price. Similar to investing in stocks, bonds, real estate or insurance - domain names offer what I believe to be stable long lasting appreciation with the potential to create astonishing returns. Want to learn more about domain investing - you can always check out www.domainprofitsbook.com.

J: Justify - Justify your web presence and online business with a great domain name that demonstrates who you are and what you do.

K: Keywords - domain names can be based upon major key words for your industry or target market. Just the same, the key words you use in your Internet marketing can be generated from the domain name you choose and how it relates to your target industry/product/service/noun/verb.

L: Localization & Location - targeting niche audiences by location and a specific geography has proved to be a very strong, identifiable marketing opportunity for anybody online. Embracing localization for your domain investment objectives is a great path to consider.

M: Monetization - making money and creating multiple sources and streams of income are the cornerstones to the potential and reason why people buy savvy domain names.

N: New Markets to seize - new products and services are always being launched, just as new companies and markets are being formed. Finding with a good strong domain name to capture the essence of your business or target market for your online presence is always a great starting point.

O: Organization - a domain name is the perfect way to identify with your organization. Whether it's a product, service, or brand - your domain name is your face on the Internet.

P: Profits - Domain are a great way to make money and profits. Invest wisely and you can find yourself with a great windfall.

Q: Quest - Like any business venture, you are on a quest to explore, learn and make money.

R: Revenue - domain names offer a myriad of ways to generate revenues. There are numerous ways and avenues to generate revenues with domain names, however, in some cases are closely held ideas and resources. Becoming educated about domain names and being focused on creating a long lasting business is a great path towards generating revenue.

S: Search Engines - Search engines are the gateway to choices on the Internet and essentially, a directory of domains classified by the type of information, product or service they offer. Search engines are a powerful marketing tool and a source of traffic for the domain name owner.

T: Technology - simply, without technology, there are no domains, websites, search engines, email or the like. The beauty of domain names is that you really don't have to understand or learn too much technology to get started, or to make money.

U: Unique Users - people coming to your website/domains generate traffic. The more unique users that visit your website - the more traffic they create. The more traffic - the greater the value. The best way to create long lasting value with domain names is creating a venue where a consistent and growing base of unique users visit your domain name/website.

V: Virtual - Domain names are virtual real estate. Some represent ocean-front property while others can represent sky scrapers, apartments or vacant land in the middle of a barren desert. Build your portfolio of virtual real estate for the longer term or flip your domain name for a quick sale and profits.

W: World Wide Web - The world wide web and its beginning started with domain names and/or their underlying numerical identities. With the advent of the world wide web, email, search engines and the increasing convergence of communications and media - business and industry has created high demand and appreciating values for good domain names.

X: The X Factor - there is a mystique and certain unknowns regarding the true value of domain names, how to create revenue and profits, and what strategies are best to create traffic to your domain name or website. The more knowledgeable and prepared you are to dive into the domain name world - the better off you are in managing the X Factor when it rears its head.

Y: You - buying, selling, and owning domain names is a reflection upon you, what your goals are, where your interests lie, and how you want to make money with this virtual real estate. You need to decide what your objectives are and how you are most comfortable in approaching your investment and dedication towards making money with domain names.

Z: Zeal - approach your domain activities with passion and enthusiasm. The more positive your thinking and focus is with domain names - the better you will be able to manage it, be prepared, and have an open mind to seize new opportunities and make money with your domains.

We hope you enjoyed this article and find that each time you read it you take away something new and different that can add value to your world of domain names.

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About the Author
This article is written by Chris Kern. Chris has been a serial entrepreneur, corporate finance specialist and domainer for the past 13 years and is the author of the authoritative resource book on domain name investing "How To Make Money With Domain Names" which can be found online at: http://www.DomainProfitsBook.com. "Everything On The Internet Starts With A Domain Name" is a Service Mark of Chris Kern

Business Owner: Does Your Website Need Help?

by Rodney Ringler

Does Your Website Need Help?

There are a lot of small business owners that we talk to that are not happy with the results of the website that they paid a design company to build for them, or the traffic they paid an internet marketer to generate. They complain that the site is plain or is hard to update or that is has received little traffic or generated the few sales.

Development

The blame lies with the small business as much as the web site design company. When small businesses hire web site companies they tell the designers basically what they want but leave most of the decisions up to the designer. This is a mistake. Building a website is very similar to building a house. When building a house you pick out the house plan not the builder. You decide the colors of the walls, the type of siding, color of the shingles, what carpet, which cabinets, and so on. But with a website people leave this all up to the designer.

If you are going to have a website built then you need to take responsibility for a lot of the design and most of the content. The first thing to do is develop a set of goals for your website. Is it going to be used to generate new business or a place to direct existing customers? These types of questions will determine what kind of website is best for your needs.

Then you need to develop a list of functionality and information that you want the website to contain. Also, note what information will need updating and which will be static and will never change. It is important to have an easy way to change information that is changed often. There are to many outdated websites on the internet already.

Next, scout other websites on the internet until you find one that has the look you like or some functionality that would be good for your site to have. Or several that you like parts of. Being able to show a website designer an example of what you have in mind makes it very easy for them to meet your needs.

This is the easy part so far. You have enough info to give your designer a list of functionality and some example websites that look like what you have in mind. Now you have to decide what color schemes you want, what kind of font. The colors and font of a website set its tone. Is it professional or casual? Is it serious or fun? These might seem like trivial details but they matter. No matter how good the designer you need to direct them. You don’t need the exact font, but tell them weather you want a professional or casual font; Soothing or bright colors. All of this extra work will help you be more satisfied with the end product.

Traffic
Next comes traffic. This is usually the job of an internet marketer but most web companies offer both services. We often hear complaints by people who launch an internet business and then do not receive the traffic they expect.

First of all, submitting your website to the hundreds of search engines will not produce a lot of traffic. It is a small part of an overall internet marketing campaign. Also, this is a service that is provided free by most web hosts and you should not be spending money on it. This merely helps get your website listed in the various search engines. To receive traffic you need to gain enough strength so that when a searcher searches on a keyword relevant to you that your website shows up. This takes time and effort and will not be achieve by simply submitting your website. [Editor's note: there are plenty of SEO articles on SR which can help you with just that]

A lot of websites are used as a tool for its organization to spread information or as a brochure for a small business to direct its customers. These kind of sites are not looking to generate traffic and do not need an internet marketing strategy. But if you are running an ecommerce site or a website to generate sales leads for your business then you need an internet marketing plan.

This plan will consist of several parts a search engine strategy for both organic listings and paid listings, a grassroots plan to generate traffic by writing articles, posting in forums, and in general becoming an online expert for you niche. And an online advertising plan for banner ads.

Long term, establishing yourself as the online expert in a field and developing a strong search engine ranking for the keywords relevant to your business is very important. This will allow you to generate traffic without spending advertising dollars. Early you will need to advertise to generate visitors and revenue but over time your advertising dollars should decrease. This should be the long term objective of all internet businesses.

To achieve this you will need a comprehensive plan, and the discipline to stick with it when no one is visiting your website. It is hard to outsource some parts of an internet marketing campaign to an Internet marketing company because you are the expert. It is hard for an internet marketing company to produce your level of expertise in your business. Internet marketing companies are excellent for managing ad campaigns, creating banner graphics, and teaching you search engine optimization and grassroots marketing. In search engine optimization and grassroots internet marketing a lot of the work is producing content(articles, guides, tutorials, etc.) in your niche and becoming known at expert sites in your area and forum boards that you are an expert in this niche and a place to go. You cannot outsource this expertise. You can hire someone to teach you how to do it but you need to do it.

To get satisfaction out of your website and have it generate the traffic and new business that you want, you need to take ownership and be involved in the design, content, and internet marketing. You can have a web company build the site but you need to drive the design and functionality. You can also have an internet marketing company setup a marketing plan and teach you the basics of search engine optimization, but you need to become the online expert in your niche and produce as much quality content for that niche as you can.