SEO Moz On Site Age & Domain Name Registration Length

If you have 10 minutes, you will not be disappointed with the latest Whiteboard Friday video from Rand Fishkin of SEO Moz. Rand touches on site age, domain registration length and age of backlinks and his answers are very encouraging for those of you that may be new or just getting back into the swing of things. Rand points to recent chatter on the forums about these very subjects as the reason for readdressing these topics and talks in a very understandable manner. Rand is one of my favorites in the business to learn from and I owe quite a bit of my success to things I have learned from him along the way. This is a great video and dispels several myths at the same time.

SEOmoz - SEO Software

Perfect Domain Article

Heather Lutze has a regular article in Website Magazine and this month she authored a great article on the Perfect Domain. In her article she list 5 major points in an Action Plan to determine if a domain should be acquired and for what price. She includes great links to Sedo Domain Law and the USPTO which really should be in everybodys bookmarks.

Also if you do not have a subscription to Website Magazine, you should put it on your Christmas list or give it to yourself for Christmas. It is an excellent resource that every webmaster should have. I have subscribed for years to both the print and the web version. Good stuff and well worth the money.

Cutts Shooting Down Domain Age As Ranking Importance

I missed this video a few days ago and just got around to seeing it. In the video below, Matt Cutts all but shoots down domain age as a HUGE ranking factor in Google. This has been debated back and forth forever, but as Matt let slip, 6 months to 1 year is a great starting point to start targeting ranking good. Read between the lines. I have always targeted 6 months and my results go along with what he is saying. Interesting response nonetheless.

Why I Like Name.com For Domain Names

I have used many, many domain registrars over the many years in this business. For the longest time I used Godaddy until about a year and half ago. That is when I came across Name.com. If you have used Godaddy in the past, you know how hard it can be to be to just get from point A to point B in just getting a domain name registered or renewed. On top of that they want to upsell you at every turn and make navigation very difficult. Now this post is not to really knock Godaddy, as I have used them over the years with only one domain stolen about 7 years ago. It was my own fault and I got it back with the help of Godaddy. This post is to point out how easy Name.com is to use and navigate. It is super simple to transfer over domains there as well when the come up for renewal. All you need is the authorization code for the domain name you are transferring from your current registrar. You will get a few emails of course to confirm the transfer, but I have never run into any problems. Name.com is also active on Twitter and have a blog in which they alert you to upcoming specials. I have nothing to gain by referring you, I just like to give credit where credit is due and by the end of this year, Name.com will be the registrar for all my domains. Give them a look.

$5.99 Domains & Another Google Web Based Rank Finder Tool Surfaces

Time and time again I get emails from readers who think they rank in position x for their keyword in Google and wonder why they are not getting any traffic. Often times I come to find the person does not actually rank where they think they rank. This is because the rankings they see in Google on their end are influenced by the searchers IP address, the language of your computer, past search history and other factors linked to the new "Google Personalized Search" feature. Now true rank finder tools are nothing new, but a another free one called Scroogle has surfaced that gives you a clean, unbiased search to truly see where you rank in Google for certain keywords. The site is not new, just one that has resurfaced over time. It is fun to play with, especially if you do not use the Rank checker plugin offered up for Firefox. Play with it yourself and see how it fits your need.

Also one final note. Name.com has $5.99 .COM & .NET domains for sale today only. July 1st, all registrars are going up as I previously reminded you. This is for new registrations only and you need to use the coupon code in the blog post before checking out. This is sort of like a last call at a bar. Take advantage of it.

One Last Domain Name Price Increase Reminder

Sorry for the late post as my baby brother is in town and I took him out in the boat fishing. With the way the oil keeps coming, it might be his last chance to do so. Any ways in checking my late email, I had a reminder from name.com about the forthcoming price increase by VeriSign on .com & .net domains that takes effect on July 1st. The price for .COM registrations will increase by 7% and the new price for .NET registrations will go up by 10%. The price increase as explained will apply to new registrations as well as renewals that occur on or after July 1st. I highly advise you renew any of your domain names that are even close to expiring before June 30, to take advantage of the savings. If you own as many as I do, this can save you quite a bit of money. The same goes for new domains as well. Nothing wrong with letting them stay parked until you can build on them.

Example Of Exact Keyword Match In Domain

The fine creators of Market Samurai have a new blog post up where they break down having an exact keyword match in the domain name can help you in ranking. Now do not read too much into this and let it run you off of a keyword with low competition, just because the exact match in domain names is taken. By all means though, if the exact match is available, register it. This really hasn't been a secret, it is just better reinforced in a post as this.

Another thing, don't think this is an invite to use trademarked names. As tempting as it is, it just is not worth it. You can attack a great trademarked keyword without having to register a trademarked domain name. Research it first by all means though as some names are more usable than you think, but you better ask permission. I have found a few myself that allow this, but it took some research and emails. When in doubt though, stay on the safe side.

Also if you don't own Market Samurai, yet, you really should consider making the investment in it, it is a solid tool.

Domain Name Tools

I am still very sick today and am trying to get the essentials knocked out in between coma like sleep. Seems this time of year when the weather changes to Spring, I tend to go down a few days. Finding the perfect domain can take a little time and other than just going to a registrar like GoDaddy or Name.com, there are some great free tools out there that will let you sift through and find the perfect domain for your next site. In no particular order or likes, I have listed a few below.

Domize - Domize is a domain name search engine that begins looking up the availability of a domain name as soon as you start typing it. Domize provides a secure and private environment to search for your next domain name.

Domainr - Domainr is a fast, free utility for finding and registering domain names for your website or short URL service. Search .com, .net, .org and other top-level domains, instantly check availability, and connect to the registrar of your choice.

BustAName - Free tool lets you quickly check domain availability. Domain search engine combines the words you enter and tells you which combination's are available.

Dot-o-mator - Use Dot-o-mator to create domain name suggestions. Just enter a word (or words) in the left box, and choose some endings (or enter your own). Click to combine them. If you see a name you like, you can check its availability or save it to your list

DomainsBot - Place to go to find a great domain name: Available domain suggestions, name spinner, expired and expiring domain name searchs.

.COM/.NET Prices To Increase July 1st

Effective July 1st of this year most diomain name registrars, such as GoDaddy will be raising their prices on .com and .net domain name registration due to VeriSign raising their prices. VeriSign is the registry for .COM and .NET, and have notified registrars of the increase in prices. .COM domains will go up 7%, while .NET domains by 10%. If you have a domain name that renews after July 1st, you may want to consider renewing it early to take advantage of the old pricing. If you own as many domains as I do, this can save quite a bit of money. Mark your calenders now to remind you about this very important date. Consider this your heads up.

Buy A .Net Get A .Com For $1.00

Name.com is running another great deal until midnight where you buy a .net domain and get a .com for $1.00 more. You would be crazy not to take advantage of buying at least a few of these. After this post, I will be purchasing about 5 or so for later use. Also do not be scared of the .net extension. I have never had problems getting them to rank as I would a .com. I will race you there!!!

Cool Ajax Domain Name Finder Tool

I came across a cool domain name finder tool today in my travels. It works off of Ajax technology and lets you know instantly if a domain name is available for registration. All you do is type in a domain name and its availability will appear instantly. You do not have to include an extension to your domain name if you do not want to. If none is specified, instant results are based on your preferred extensions settings on the right hand side. The site also list some coupon codes from Godaddy as well. Not that they are any secret, but just a little window dressing. This is not a must bookmark, but sure makes it quick and simply to see if something is registered already or not.

Name.com Offering $5.99 .com & .net Domains Today

I just saw on Twitter that Name.com is offering new domain registrations on .com and .net domains for $5.99 all day long. I have used them quite a bit myself and they are a great domain registrar. Also they offer free domain privacy on new registrations as well. I plan on picking up about 10 or so new domains myself here in a bit. The .net REALLY is a great deal as they are usually a bit higher. Do not worry about it being .net unless you are truly worried about branding. If it is a site that predominately pull organic traffic or rank traffic, .net domains are just as good as .com. Go get you a handful today at this fantastic one day price.

Google Can See Your Private Domain Registration

Google sees everything and I mean everything. I was asked via email whether using private domain registration will hide your info from everyone, Google more importantly. In a short answer, no. You see, Google actually is a Domain Registrar. (see #895) While Google is partnered with GoDaddy.com to actually sale domain registration. Being a registrar themselves, lets them peak behind the curtain whenever they feel like it. Now private domain registration does offer some protection from your everyday snooper and spammer, do not think you can get away with anything out of the ordinary because of it. In my opinion you are not penalized for private registration in the eyes of Google, but you will still be held to the same standards as a public registered domain. So file this in your FYI folder.

In Search Of The Perfect Domain Name

I use to waste a ton of time looking for the perfect domain name. Perhaps you have too. I use to want it stuffed with my keywords thinking it would give me that extra edge in the SERPs. Domain names do have a role in rankings, but not enough in my honest opinion to risk trademark infringement or looking ultra spammy.

Lets look at the keyword phrase: ford repair manual
Using the Google keyword tool and using match type exact, we see it has a 2,400 Global Monthly Search Volume.

Now look at the Google results for the phrase: ford repair manual

As you can see there are tons of different domain names in the results, the neatest being: www.myhonestmechanic.com

When searching for a domain, do not get so caught up in it having all of your keywords in it. Think in terms of LSI, brand ability and easy to remember. Ranking a site in Google goes much much further than a domain name. On and off site SEO, backlinks, anchor text and content are what you really should be concerned about. Sure you might get some type in traffic for a keyword filled domain name, but not enough to make it a priority. So stop wasting time looking for that perfect domain name as any one you choose can indeed be perfect.

Domain Pigeon Cool New Twitter Application

Domain Pigeon is a cool new tool that lets users search unclaimed Twitter usernames in addition to domain names. It is amazing how many applications have been spawned off of Twitter. If you are good at programming and have an out of the box imagination, you ought to be playing around with the Twitter API to see what you can come up with. There are new Twitter applications being born everyday.

Choosing A Good Domain Name

When buying a new domain name for a new found niche you have discovered a few things should go through your mind.

Is is spammy? By spammy I mean; red-fuzzy-widgets-for-sale.com. Several will tell you that multiple hyphens are fine, but all in all it is spam and used in ranking manipulation. There are so many things that go into the ranking of a site that spamming up a domain name will not help as much as you think.

Does it contain trademarks? You may get away with it, you may not. It just is not worth the effort and risk. Once again in the whole ranking scheme of things, you just do not need Oakley in your domain name if you sell Oakley sunglasses.

Is it brandable? Is the domain name easily remembered by the surfer? Let's face it, Amazon is not another word for books, but everyone knows they sell books.

Is it LSI related? Latent Semantic Indexing is not going anywhere. If you owned DiscountVideos.com and where trying to rank for the phrase "cheap movies", then you made a great domain name choice. Google knows that discount also means cheap and that videos are the same as movies. Use LSI to your advantage.

Is it a Top Level Domain? If it is not .com or .net, I leave it alone for a commercial site. Buy only top level domain names.

All in all people spend TOO much time hunting for the perfect domain name. The perfect domain name is one you can buy and build a authoritative site around and build backlinks to. If one put in enough effort, you could rank the term "buy red roses" with a domain name called NoGreenRosesHere.com

Godaddy also has some great tools on finding domain names with related keywords to terms you give it. You should really play around with it next time you are choosing a good domain name.

When Trademark Domain Lawyers Attack

I received an email from a regular reader named Pedro yesterday. Pedro recently received an email from a representative of the Lego group claiming a domain he owns that uses the word Lego in it, violated their trademark. The representative has said that Pedro must turn over the domain name to them. I think Pedro learned a good reason, but know must move on and move quickly. He does not intend to fight it, but I gave him a suggestion. I told him to hurry and register a new domain and use LSI terms instead of the word Lego, like maybe bricks and then transfer over all content to the new site and 301 redirect all the old domains to the new domains. The quicker you can do this the better, as to hopefully get the SERPS to quickly index the new domain and maybe get a temporary rush of the good page rank he had. Then I told him he should wait for the second notice before relinquishing the domain name. The longer you can hold them off, the better. Now I am no lawyer, so do this at your own risk. They second notice will likely follow in a few weeks. Hopefully in that time frame you will at least be able to get everything indexed and have a bit of time to change whatever backlinks you have control of to point to the new domain. You can read about Paul's ordeal on his blog post here. And here is a link to Pedro' Blog.

Private Domain Name Registration Makes Sense & Cents

Since the early beginnings of Niche Store building, people are always sniffing out others niches to exploit. This is understandable and happens in other e-commerce as well. After about my first 20 stores I smartened up myself and started going the private registration way with Godaddy. Sure it cost a bit more, but I consider it part of my business expense and a smart business decision to boot. I also now have newer domains registered under my business name which will be incorporated soon as well. I am also in the process of going through all domains to privatize them as well as they come due registration wise. I see these snoopers in my stats weekly and three are indeed members of the BANS forum, which is not surprising knowing who they are. You can't really keep these people from doing what they do with exposed domains, but you can keep them away from privatized ones. Another thing I like to do with my niche store domains is to register them for three years at a time. It shows the SERPS you are serious about your business and are not a one year spammer. Time length of registration is a filter factor with some SERPS, especially Google. Godaddy gets a bad rap here in there, especially on their hosting, which I agree does stink. As far as being a domain name registrar, I have never had a problem with a single domain and I own tons of them. Right now Go Daddy has $7.49 .com sale going!


Regardless of where you do register your domain names, I highly advise you look into privatizing them and also registering them for longer terms. It makes good business sense and good business cents.

Making Use Of The Info Domains

I have read where quite a bit of Build A Niche Store builders have suffered getting info domains deindexed for the time being. Some have made it through and most have not. Luckily I did not get caught up in this on BANS stores, but do own a couple of info domains myself. It could be a Google glitch or it could be a filter on Google as well. Personally I feel Google will let these creep back into the index over time. Perhaps a solid backlink or two will get them back in. Here is my suggestion for those uneasy with it.

If the domain name is niche specific in nature, I suggest putting a niche specific directory up on the domain name. You really have nothing to lose. There are great free scripts out there, more notably PHP Link Directory. If you can set up a Build A Niche Store, this script is a breeze. I am sure you are saying not another stupid directory, but I will tell you that there is a shortage of good niche specific directories out there. I would populate the directory with 12 to 20 good categories and fill in some links in each category. Throw up some Google ads and a few niche specific ad banners from Pepperjam or Commission Junction and let it fly. I would also set it to demand reciprocal links for submissions as well and set the feature link price at about $3.00 each. Demanding reciprocal links from like sites should not be a problem, because even I have no problem linking to a site on a link trade that is in the same close realm as I am. The best part about being the niche directory owner is you can also link to your own BANS store. Perhaps you have moved the initial build to a top level domain already. If you haven't, this might not be a bad idea. Lets face it, you already bought the domain, so why not take an afternoon at put it to work for you. Google likes niche specific directories a ton more than the standard all encompassed crap that is out there. Make sure the submissions you receive pass the mustard and are relevant to the directory. Do not take just any submission. You can also submit your directory to some of the directory list out there. There are a ton of list that will list you, just do a search for them. Also if you have a US Free Ads account, make an add asking for link submissions. Tons of affiliate marketers browse those as well. Turn those lemon info domains into juicy lemonade.

Build A Niche Store Budget

You need to ask yourself before going any further what your attitude is towards Build A Niche Store and niche store building. Are you in business or are you just dabbling in it? If you are truly dedicated to the process then you need to start treating your BANS stores like a business and get out of the shoe string budget attitude. If you are treating BANS like a $97.00 script then read no further.

If you have decided that you are treating your BANS projects like a business, you need to budget in cost and tools for success of each store. Now not all tools are needed and most are free, but many save you tons of time going forward. I only promote tools and services here that I use and stand behind. Many you will never see as if it is junk, no need for me to suggest it to you. Free or not. I buy my share of products, but can usually can tell real quick if I need it or not.

Lets look at cost associated with each store.

1. BANS script - $97.00 - Hopefully you have already bought this as it is the basis for everything we do here. The more stores you build, the more value you get out of it.

2. Domain name - $7.15 - I use Godaddy as it is friendly and I have yet to run in to any problems with them. You can figure on spending this amount on every new store you build, so budget it in.

3. Hosting - $110.00 - for year with Hostgator for unlimited domains and reliable service. The more stores you build, the more value you get out of it.

4. Directory Submissions - $15.00 per store. The Package is designed to submit your site to 100 High PR Directories and your choice of ten unique anchor titles & ten unique descriptions. This is not mandatory, but a huge time saver and well worth the money.

5. Wordtracker Subscription - $329.00 a year and well damn worth it as one great niche found can easily earn it back in one month. This is not mandatory, but will play a great role in your success at uncovering niches.

6. USFreeAds Gold membership - $10.00 a year. Not mandatory, but a well written ad will bring in traffic via Google. You do not get backlink love, but if you can write at least a targeted ad or two a week it will produce.

7. Other tools - $300.00 - Some good tools come down the line all of the time and it is good to budget this in as a yearly cost.

The total is $868.15 for one store. I know you are thinking that is alot, but after the initial cost the only thing you will need to buy is more domains a directory submissions for each if you so decide. Being how domains are so cheap, at the very least you should be able to build 20 stores in 4 months. 20 stores when targeted and promoted correctly will bring back that investment in no time flat. So less than $1000.00 and the best opportunity to earn a residual income forever. Working from home in your own spare time.

Get serious about this thing and it WILL produce.