Now, if you think a domain name hack is a simply a trick created by spammers and/or webmasters with no life, think again.  Yahoo obtained the rights to both blo.gs and del.icio.us, despite their unusual-looking format.  There are also popular organizations that are actually known by domain name hacks.  Examples include who.is, (a site that lets a webmaster know the specifics behind a domain name and their associated website), and whocalled.us, (a site that allows consumers to list the numbers of telemarketers).  Even other countries use domain name hacks in their own languages.  Consider Germany’s popular Schokola.de, (which means chocolate in English).

So, does this mean webmasters should consider using domain name hacks?  The answer is it depends.  It is important to remember that while domain name hacks are witty, many of them can be inconvenient for web surfers.  Some may even wonder if the site is legitimate, since the most common extensions are .com, .net, .org and .biz.   However, since there are domain name hacks that still receive a healthy amount of traffic, it is possible that website visitors might overlook how a domain name hack is titled if the site it is pointing to proves to be worthwhile.  There is also the option of having a second more normal-looking domain name point to a domain name hack.  This gives website visitors two ways of being able to access one’s website.

How can a person think of a good domain name hack?  First, they need to get a list of all the extensions that are possible with a domain name.  They then need to find a domain name company that sells that sells the extension they are looking for.  Then they will need to think of any word or phrase that includes the letters used in the extension.  But they will need to make sure these letters are at the end of the word, since extensions conclude a domain name.  An exception could be made if a person considers using third-level domains.  In this situation the letters of the extension could be used in the middle of the domain name hack.

If a webmaster finds they are having trouble thinking of a word or phrase that contains their selected extension, they could use a keyword analyzer to help them.  Overture and Google offer keyword analyzers for free, though webmasters might find more use from paid keyword analyzers.  This is because paid keyword analyzers offer more information about a keyword than free ones.

.Mobi is the extension of choice for websites that are being formatted for cell phones, pdas and other mobile devices.  It can be bought from most major domain name companies such as Godaddy or Network Solutions.  As far as registering a .mobi domain name, one would go through the same type of procedure that is associated with traditional domain names.  This involves first choosing a .mobi domain name and seeing if it is available.

If it is not available, the domain name company will offer suggestions on what a person can use.  Either way, the customer will be given another chance to select another .mobi domain name.  Once they get one that is not taken, they can proceed to purchase it.  The contract will last one to two years, depending on what they agreed upon with the domain name company.  When the contract is up, a person will have to renew their .mobi domain name if they want to continue to keep it.

So, why would a webmaster decide to invest in a domain name that is restricted to mobile devices?  Well, it’s mainly because they get an opportunity to center in on a market that is relatively new.  Since most webmasters or companies are trying to take advantage of the .coms or the .nets, the .mobi has become somewhat forgotten.  This means that it is prime for search engine keywords that would normally not be available for traditional domain names.  It can also allow a webmaster a branding opportunity for their company. 

However, since a .mobi domain name means a webmaster is creating a website specially designed for a mobile phone, it cannot have the types of frills that it could have if it was being promoted on a computer.  Good mobile websites need to be mostly textual with very limited number of pics, (if any).   Granted, plain text is not fancy, but it doesn’t require much loading time.  Mobile phone sites should also not be very large nor should they be created with frames or other more complicated layouts.

A webmaster may also want to consider trying to divert the mobile website visitor to a regular website.  One way this can be done is by advertising the domain name that is associated with a traditional website.  But it must be made clear that the site will only display appropriately on regular computers.  Another option is trying to capture the person’s email address by offering them something free, such as an e-book or low-cost merchandise.

When they sign up to the email subscription, their first newsletter could advertise the traditional website a webmaster wants promoted.  By doing either of these options, webmasters can still take advantage of pay-per-clicks or affiliate programs, revenue generators which may not be promoted on .mobi websites due to viewing limitations with banner or text ads.

Buying domains today is a lot different from buying domains in 1999. For one, the internet has moved from a hyped up novelty to the very core of our daily lives. Today, we connect with friends, get our news and opinion, share movies and music, and play games online. The guidelines for picking domain names, therefore, have changed accordingly.

1. Rules such as “.com only” for domain extensions are outdated today. The success of sites such as Del.icio.us, Bit.ly, etc. has meant that more and more people are okay with alternate extensions. If you can’t find your desired domain in the.com extension, by all means feel free to pick a more creative and “daring” extension.

2. Long or short, the length of your domain doesn’t really matter anymore. While past guides would cap the length at around 8 or 9 characters, nowadays, you can have the domain as long as you want, provided it conveys your site’s purpose and is easy to remember. Sites with long domains like ‘ICanHasCheezburger.com’ etc. have maintained popularity despite the twisted name. While you should try to get the shortest domain possible, if you feel that a longer domain would bear more marketing benefits, by all means, pick it.

3. Google, Digg, Scribd, Tumblr – these are examples of sites that have proven to be massively successful despite the apparent misspelling in their names (though Google is a bonafide dictionary word today). Creatively misspelled domain names can give you some powerful marketing horsepower. Not to mention that misspelled names are usually available while their correctly spelled counterparts may cost you thousands of dollars. So get creative and don’t hesitate to pick a name that might just not spell right.

4. Lastly, avoid hyphens in your domain name unless your keyword demands it, or when the domain would be difficult to read without it. Hyphens are an old fashioned way of picking domains and have no obvious benefit other than making your domain name more difficult to type. Avoid them at all costs.

You’ve chosen a great domain name for your new website or blog, and you sit and wait for the hordes of visitors to gobble up your content. You wait, and wait, but the flood is only a trickle. What could possibly be wrong? You picked a great domain name, and provided compelling articles or so you thought. here we’ll show you some common mistakes webmasters make when starting up a new site.

They heard it through the grapevine

Or did they? One of the first mistakes made is with the actual site name itself. I call this the “passing the phone call test”:

If you can say your website name over the phone to a friend, and they can enter it without being told how to spell it, then you’ve got a winner.

A shorter name is good, but a memorable name is even better. Word of mouth viral marketing is a quick and effective way to get noticed. If the.com Is too long or too hard to remember, you’ve lost that crucial advantage from the very start. If I hear it, I should know how to spell it. So take some time and think of a really easy to remember moniker for your blog.

Your clothes match, so should your site

You wouldn’t go out with clothing that did not match right? Well neither should you send your website out into the world wide web without making sure that the site name matches the content inside. For instance if you’re selling widgets, you’d want to make sure to have widgets in the site title. Many times I see webmasters that make this simple mistake, this can make it harder for the search engines to find your blog, thus costing you much needed traffic.

If you’re unable to purchase widgets.com you can try a variation of the name such as greatwidgets.com, or bluewidgets.com, or widgetreviews.com see the pattern here? By including your keywords in the title, it can increase the chances of getting to the first pages on the search engines, and increasing your visibility.

Tags r us

Another tip to help propel yourself to the top of the search rankings is: don’t neglect your meta tags. Right-click on your website and select “view source” there, at the top you will see a section for “meta name keywords, description, title” etc. make sure these are filled in and optimized to match what you’re promoting on your main page. Smart webmasters know this, and take great advantage of this hidden text to surpass competing sites and leave them in the dust. Don’t get left behind, be sure and use this handy tool.

A little bit of this, but not too much of that

Have you ever been to those sites where it looks likes the Vegas Strip? With tons of blinking, animated ads, and silly cursor trails, or even falling snow? Avoid these like the plague. Not only are they annoying, but they can lead to a slow-loading page which may turn off anyone at the start and cause them to bounce right off of your website.

The internet is one vast landscape with narrow slices cut out that are websites, much like the land carved out in real estate. When you think of the internet in these terms, you can also picture those who buy out swaths of land and do nothing with them except hold onto them against the day when they might be able to resell the land for a greater profit. This is what domain hoarders are.

Domain hoarders buy out as many domain names as they can and do nothing with them in the hopes of selling them when the market becomes starved and are willing to pay outrageous prices to own the names. You may think that they are lone people with cash to burn, a nasty streak towards humanity and an even wider streak of greed, but in fact, many of these hoarders are actually companies with the capital to buy out thousands of domain names to hold onto them for some undisclosed time; basically until they can slowly leak them out for high prices. The problem continues because it’s certainly not illegal to buy as many domain names as one can afford; but it’s highly irritating.

The main problem with hoarding domain names is that it then slows up the development of internet business as a whole. Legitimate online businesses cannot use a name that makes the most sense for their content because it’s already been purchased meaning that they have to use less obvious domain names and thus they have a harder time getting ‘walk-in’ traffic; that is, traffic that has just stumbled upon their site while looking for what is being sold. Less clear domain names are also harder to market and harder for customers to remember later. Hoarding domain names also makes it a lot harder for new businesses to develop and thus stymies the development of the internet into something truly global overall.

There is no legal action that can be taken against domain hoarders; it’s not illegal to buy domains and in whatever numbers one chooses to purchase them in. The only real thing that can be done is to be creative about choosing your domain so that you’ll still be memorable and make sure not to give in to these company’s outrageous demands for high cost domains when you can get a cheaper one with a bit creativity and time used to research a good name.

Don’t give into domain hoarders! The best action against them is a lack of action by not purchasing a domain name from any company that is not specifically a web hosting company that gives you other perks like website building.

While selling domains at the low level market prices are not a big deal, one can sell a domain in the domain name forums for couple of dollars. There is usually limitation for the number of sales he can do and the amount of money he can get in that specific level, because of the low ROI and the fact he needs to sell a lot of domains to buy a domain that will push him towards the high domain market.

Most of the successful domainers in the industry agree that choosing a niche and sticking with it, will help a domainer to succeed faster because of the benefits of having a niche.

Here are some of the benefits of having a niche in the domain name market:

Choosing a niche in the enormous domain trading market is one of the definite must. The reasons for that are that there are many domains in the market and without some kind of uniqueness, a new domain name trader have no real advantage above other domain traders in the industry.

When you are small it’s hard to have any power to sell the domains you own, unless you have a niche. If you can build a niche then you have a point of differentiation from others, and you know better who are your potentials costumers and where they can be found.

I suggest investigating even more, trying to search for other domainers in the same or related niche. That way you can find out what is your competition in that niche and maybe you can create some kind of joint venture that will help you and your partners to achieve more success with your doubled effort.

With that concentration, you gain some power if you take the time to learn your market well and build a niche targeted domain portfolio. If you get enough in that one area of your choice, you can directly recruit advertisers, get special CPA deals, and build a common brand.

More than 50 million domain names have been registered and more are registered every day. Are you ready to join in and get your own domain? This article covers some of the important things to consider.

To get started choosing your domain name, grab a piece of paper. Write down your business name and your name as well as a list of the products or services you offer. These are your starting points. Keep this list in mind as you go through the points below.

1) Your domain should be easy to spell and easy to remember.

Do not choose a domain name which is difficult to spell or people trying to access your site may be frustrated and confused when they misspell it and end up at a different website or no website at all.

2) Consider including your keywords or phrases.

Having a domain name that includes your main product line makes it easier for customers to remember and will give you a boost in the search engines. After all, if you use the domain JohnsAlaskanRealEstate.com the chances are pretty good that you are offering Real Estate in Alaska and your site would be relevant to a search for Alaskan Real Estate. Of course, a domain name alone won’t rank you #1 for the word or phrase you’ve used, but it does help.

You could also consider a domain name like keyword-keyword.com such as Alaska-Real-Estate.com (but don’t go crazy with four or five hyphenated words, see point 1 above and point 3 below!). If you do use a hyphenated domain I recommend also purchasing the non-hyphenated version, in this example that would be AlaskaRealEstate.com, for use in offline advertising and 301 redirect it to your main website.

3) Keep it simple. Shorter is better.

mywebsiteisawesomeandmybusinessnameismybusiness.com is not something people are going to remember or want to type out.

4) Check out similar domain names.

.net or.biz are fine domain extensions if the.com is taken for the domain you want, but keep in mind that some of your potential customers may mistype the domain to end it in.com and if the.com is a site you don’t want them visiting (such as an adult site), you need to reconsider your choice.

5) Be careful with numbers.

You can use numbers in a domain name, but try to avoid 0 (zero) because it may be mistaken for an O (letter o). Also be cautious with L, l, and 1.¨

6) Read it in various ways.

Have others look at your idea and read it… because sometimes the words can be combined differently and not quite as intended. You may have seen examples of domains registered by companies who did not have considered alternative readings and ended up with inappropriate words in their domain names (it’s widely circulated on the internet as a humorous forward email).

7) Check domain history.

You really don’t want to purchase a domain that was previously used by spammers or an adult site. Go to waybackmachine.org to find past sites on a domain. With these seven tips in mind, take that piece of paper and start brainstorming ideas. Once you’ve got a few you like the next step is to see what’s available for registration.

When Google slaps your traffic they will usually deactivate your ads and then try and force you to pay as much as $10 a click to get your ads activated again so you can get more traffic to your site. In this article I want to show you 2 strategies you can use in order to avoid the next slap.

You have to realize that one of the most important factors Google looks at when they are evaluating your site and account is the age of your domain name. The reason that this is such an important factor is because if you have an older domain name that is related to your market, the chances are better that you are a legitimate marketer who is going to try and give your visitors good value. So make sure you are using an aged domain name in your campaigns so you can easily avoid the next slap in your niche market.

Google wants to make sure you are focused on being as relevant as you possibly can in your ad groups. So what you have to make sure you are doing is focusing on only using one keyword for every ad group that you have. If you only have one keyword in an ad group you are going to be able to target that search term to one ad that is related & you will be able to target the landing page to that search term as well.

The better job you do at all of this, the more relevant you will be and you will be more then likely to avoid a slap.

Why would one want to have a fake pagerank? Google PageRank is a factor that determines a websites price. Usually the higher your pagerank is the more cash you can get for your website or advertising space on your website. Many webmasters are also buying pagerank for their website(s). A link to you on a website that has a pagerank of 8 will pass some juice to you and google’s robots will see this as a good vote for your website. Sometime later your web page may end up with a higher pagerank. The popular belief is that pagerank is all it takes to make your website more popular and thus appear in search results more often.

While it is one factor to determine the positions of your web pages in search engines, it certainly is not the only and most important one. The recent google penalization of selling text links has cooled down matters a little bit, but websites with forged google pageranks still appear daily in the webmasters markets. Now that the reasons of why one should fake a page rank are known, we will look how this is done and how to avoid purchasing such websites or advertising on it.

SPOTTING A FAKE PAGERANK

There are two possible indicators that show google pagerank may not be valid. One is when a page shows pagerank in online tools but does not have any or very few backlinks in google. For example a website claims to have a pagerank of 7, but when you check it with the previously mentioned tool it shows no or very few backlinks (50 is very low for a website of PR7).

The Second possible scenario is when a domain is masked to redirect to a higher PR site. The masked page will temporarily gain the pagerank of the page it was masked to, even after the domain masking is taken down. All a person has to do in order to fake a pagerank is use a redirect for their domain and point it to a high pagerank domain. In the Google toolbar it will show the PR of the page it was pointed to.

DETECTING A FAKE PAGERANK

Detecting a fake PR is fairly simple. If you think that a site is showing a fake PR, then simply take a look at its cache version on Google. Make sure you check both instances, with and without the www prefix. One may be redirected, while the other not!

* Check cache by going to google and typing in info:yourdomain.com

* Check cache by going to google and typing in info:www.yourdomain.com

If you type the name of one domain, but results return a different domain, than this means an obvious sign of PR faking. To do that it is either doing a 301 / 302 redirect directly or with the use of cloaking. 301, 302, 200 are status codes which tell your browser what to do next.

* 301 – Permanent Redirect

* 302 – Temporary Redirect

* 200 – Connection Established and The Request Has Succeeded

To find out whether it is doing a 301 / 302 redirect directly or indirectly with cloaking, you have to look at its HTTP Header.

SUMMARY

So next time you buy a website, domain or advertising on a particular webpage, be sure to check out these indicators! If you are suspecting a faked pagerank, leave this website and search for another one.

SEO or search engine optimizations are website elements and activities to emphasize some content of the site. This important content are keywords that you are trying to rank for. The first step of SEO is selecting keywords or search phrases that have low competition and high search volume. The next step is modifying web pages to contain relevant keywords in elements like page title, meta description, url, header tags and other important places. The final SEO action is promotion of the website. This is done mainly through various link building strategies. Every backlink to your website contributes to its popularity and authority. But the most important on-page SEO element is the domain.

Domain is the name of the website as it is seen on the internet. Therefore, it should be either short easy to remember word or keyword related to the content of the web pages. If your website is build around one keyword or search phrase, the best approach is to use this keyword also for the domain. This means trying to register MyKeyword.com on the first place and if this name is already registered to try alternative names. Having the main keyword in the domain name has two benefits. Such domains clearly describe your website without visiting it and consequently the domain is SEO friendly meaning that it explains the content of the site also to search engines.

If the target keyword is not available for the com top level domain you can try with org, net or info domains. There is no significant difference among them–they are all general purpose domains with no specific geographic target area. If you can still not find a free name you need to slightly modify your keyword by adding a word that makes sense in the context of the site. For example MyKeywordReviews.com, MyKeywordInfo.com or MyKeywordShop.com are typical solutions where the main word is already registered. Such variations have still your main keyword in the domain and are still considered SEO friendly.

With proper additional word it is almost always possible to find a free domain name. But in some cases it is also possible to use only the keyword as domain name and selecting one of the country top level domains. If you are targeting only one country or only one geographic area then this approach is equally effective as using general top level domains.

In every case you should choose domain that is somehow related to the website. If it contains the main keyword it will be easily remembered and SEO friendly.

One example of SEO friendly domain name is the http://restaurantpizzaovens.org/ website. It contains the main keyword restaurant pizza ovens which clearly describes what the page is about. Since the com domain was already taken the next alternative with org was used.

Remember, domain name is very important part of internet marketing. Domain registration is the next step after deciding the name and purpose of the website.